Tigers take series from No. 4 Razorbacks

Published 6:00 pm Monday, May 7, 2018

LSU pitcher Matt Beck

Special to the American Press

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BATON ROUGE — At least the often-volatile LSU bullpen is learning to put out its own fires.

For the second straight game, an LSU reliever rescued one of his own as Matt Beck finished the final three innings to help the Tigers hold off No. 4-ranked Arkansas 7-5 Sunday and take the crucial SEC series two games to one.

“I guess the Tigers showed their pride and their true grit this weekend,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said after the Tigers won the final two after another bullpen implosion sabotaged Friday’s game. “I thought we played three tremendous ball games … even the game we lost on Friday night.”

LSU, 28-20 overall and fighting for a spot, any spot, in the NCAA tournament, evened its SEC record at 12-12 by taking a series from the SEC West leading Razorbacks (33-15, 14-10) for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons.

“Man, we had so many clutch hits today,” Mainieri said.

Zach Watson went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and five other Tigers had an RBI apiece.

But it took an unlikely hero as that bullpen is still a big box of Forrest Gump’s chocolates — Mainieri can’t be sure what he’s getting when he makes the call.

LSU starter AJ Labas (6-1), a freshman making his first SEC start, gave the Tigers six strong innings, holding the Razorbacks to just one run — Heston Kjersted’s solo homer in the fifth — on four hits while watching the Tigers stake him to a 6-1 lead.

But LSU’s four-run fifth inning came at a cost.

“He was tremendous today,” Mainieri said of Labas. Unfortunately that long inning, he tightened up. His velocity dropped to like 83 (mph). He gutted it out to get through the sixth. Their hitters thought he was thinking he was throwing changeups and they were fast balls and they were way out in front.

So Mainieri dared dip into that dicey bullpen.

Nick Bush had been the most reliable of late — it’s a short list — but he didn’t retire any of the four batters he faced after coming in to start the seventh.

Next?

Bush left with two runs already in — 6-3 — and left runners at second and third with no outs for…

Beck had had three rough outings in a row, but got the call anyway.

He got the first two outs with no further damage on a strike out and a short pop fly, and should have gotten out of the inning on a high chopper to first base. But Austin Bain misplayed it, allowing two more Razorbacks to score and close the gap to 6-5.

But Beck got the final out and eventually his first save of the season by limiting Arkansas to one walk over the final two innings.

“He had been struggling and look what he did for us today,” Mainieri said. “He was the hero for us.”

“He almost pitched out of the second-and-third, no out … should have, did his job. Eighth and ninth inning, he was terrific.”

Bain shook off the two-run error with his second double of the game to lead off the bottom of the seventh, leading to much-needed insurance run.

LSU’s big inning was the fourth when the Tigers broke a 1-1 tie with four runs on five hits, including an RBI single by Duplantis and Zach Watson, a run-scoring double by Bain and a sacrifice fly by Daniel Cabrera. LSU broke the ice in the fourth on backto-back two-out doubles by Watson and Hunter Feduccia, but the Razorbacks tied it in the top of the fifth.

The Tigers will be back in action Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. when they host McNeese.