Tigers to the Super Regionals! LSU Rallies to Win 10-6

Never a doubt!!!!…okay maybe a little bit of doubt

Postseason baseball isn’t supposed to be easy, and if LSU ever needed a reminder of that lesson, Little Rock proved to be quite an effective teacher.

The Trojans grabbed an early 5-1 lead in the decisive Game 7 of the Baton Rouge Regional, but the combined efforts of Casan Evans, Luis Hernandez, and Ethan Frey helped lift LSU to a 10-6 win and its 17th Super Regional appearance.

Casan Evans pitched the game of his life, coming on in relief of a struggling Zac Cowan and throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts, including nine straight Ks. Cowan, like Jaden Noot last night, was only able to get LSU four outs and a disaster of a second inning almost ended LSU’s season.

LSU had a 1-0 lead after the first inning thanks to a solo home run from Ethan Frey, who was batting in the No. 2 spot that is normally held by Jared Jones. After pitching a clean first, the bottom fell out for Cowan in the second.

Cowan opened the inning with a four-pitch walk and then hit the following batter to put two on with nobody out. Little Rock first baseman Angel Cano, who had five RBI in the Trojan win last night, hit a grounder up the first base line but Jared Jones allowed the ball to roll foul and that ended up being a costly choice because Cano used the extra chance to rope a single down the line and tie the game at one.

Little Rock laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance runners to second and third, and Cowan followed that up with another walk to load the bases. A single by Alex Seguine scored two runs to give Little Rock a 3-1 lead and that was the end of the road for Cowan.

Then things got real silly. With runners on the corners and one out, Evans entered the game and induced a ground ball that should have ended the inning. Instead, Daniel Dickinson botched the flip over to Steven Milam and the Trojans were able to score again and make it 4-1. Two pitches later, Ryan Geck had a bloop single fall into no man’s land in right making Dickinson and Chris Stanfield crashed into each other and allowed Little Rock to score again and make it 5-1.

LSU looked as dead as can be and after the Tigers whiffed on a bases loaded opportunity in the third inning, the Alex Box Stadium crowd had to be wondering if they were going to witness the worst loss in program history. Instead they were treated to a rally that we’ll remember around these parts for a long time thanks to Evans and Frey having the games of their life.

While Evans threw up zero after zero, Little Rock pitching could not get Frey out if their life depended on it. In the fourth inning, Frey reignited The Box crowd with a bases clearing double to get LSU back to within a run. Frey went to the plate six times Monday night and reached all six times: 4-4 with a double, homer, 4 RBI, drew a walk and was intentionally walked in the ninth.

LSU scored in each of the final four innings of Monday night’s game. The Tigers tied the game in the sixth inning with a solo home run by Luis Hernandez.

Then, in the seventh inning, LSU took the lead thanks to a run-scoring groundout by Milam that scored Frey.

Evans worked so hard to keep Little Rock off the board and give his offense time to grab the lead, and had to work just as hard to hold onto that lead. It was easier said than done as Evans walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, but his career-best 12th strikeout ended the threat.

Luis Hernandez liked going deep in the sixth inning so much that he decided he’d do it again in the eighth to give LSU an insurance run.

Evans ran out of gas in the eighth inning, and Jay Johnson pushed all his chips in and went to Anthony Eyanson. Eyanson came on with two on and one out and while he did give up a run to make it a 7-6 game, he settled in and got the five-out save to send LSU to the Supers.

Of course it also helped that Eyanson’s offense gave him a couple of extra insurance runs in the ninth inning. Jones, who was batting sixth tonight, hit a two-run home run to left center field that proved to be the dagger. Two batters later, Hernandez followed with his third RBI of the night, a single to left field that scored Stanfield and give LSU its 10th run of the night.

The Tigers are now just two wins away from Omaha aka Baton Rouge: North. LSU will host West Virginia, who won the Clemson Regional, this upcoming weekend. Dates have yet to be determined.