LSU beats California 4-3 on Smith’s ninth-inning hit
Josh Smith singled home pinch-runner Drew Bianco and Giovanni DiGiacomo with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give LSU a 4-3 victory against California in a non-conference game at The Box on Friday night.
HOW THEY SCORED
California first inning – Cameron Eden hit a leadoff home run over the centerfield fence. CALIFORNIA 1, LSU 0
LSU third inning – Brock Mathis tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to the leftfielder by DiGiacomo. CALIFORNIA 1, LSU 1
California sixth inning – With two out, Sam Wezniak singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Zack Hess. Brandon McIlwain and Hance Smith walked to load the bases. Wezniak scored on a walk to Eden. McIlwain scored on a passed ball by Mathis. CALIFORNIA 3, LSU 1
LSU seventh inning – With one out, Cade Beloso singled and moved to third on a double by Chris Reid. Beloso scored on a sacrifice fly to the centerfielder by Mathis. CALIFORNIA 3, LSU 2
LSU ninth inning – With one out, pinch-hitter Saul Garza singled. After Mathis flied out to the rightfielder, DiGiacomo reached on an infield single. Hal Hughes struck out, but he was safe at first on a wild pitch by Sam Stoutenborough to load the bases. Bianco, who ran for Garza, and DiGiacomo scored on a single by Smith. LSU 4, CALIFORNIA 3
LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME
Smith, whose hitting streak was on the line in the bottom of the ninth, dumped a two-run single into shallow centerfield to drive home the tying and winning runs. Smith, who was 0-for-4 prior to that at-bat, has hit safely in all 12 games in which he has played this season. Smith’s game-winning single was the only hit for a runner in scoring position for either team.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
Hits: California 8, LSU 8
Errors: LSU 0, California 1
Left on base: California 13, LSU 7
Runners in scoring position: LSU 1-for-6, California 0-for-13
Double plays: California 1, LSU 1
Stolen bases: California 3, LSU 0
Walks issued: California 2, LSU 8
Strikeouts recorded: LSU 7, California 5
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
LSU
Josh Smith: 1-for-5, 2 RBIs
Zack Hess: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
CALIFORNIA
Darren Baker: 3-for-5
Cameron Eden: 2-for-2, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs, 1 HR
Arman Sabouri: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Sam Stoutenborough: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
NOTES
LSU’s starting batting order was Smith, SS; Zach Watson, CF, Antoine Duplantis, RF; Daniel Cabrera, LF; Beloso, 1B; Reid, 3B; Mathis, C; DiGiacomo, DH; Hughes, 2B. Hughes made his first start of the season at second base. . .Watson extended his hitting streak to eight games when no one caught his pop up near the mound in the eighth. . .California starting pitcher Arman Sabouri retired 14 of the 16 batters he faced. Mathis had a leadoff triple in the third and Hughes drew a walk after DiGiacomo’s sacrifice fly. . .Trailing 3-1 in the sixth, Duplantis lined out to the second baseman with two runners on base and two out. . .The Tigers had an opportunity to tie the score in the seventh, but DiGiacomo flied out to the centerfielder with a runner on second and two out. . .In the eighth, LSU had the tying and winning runs on base with one out. Duplantis struck out and Cabrera grounded out to the second baseman. . .Hess turned in his best outing of the young season. He left the game with two out in the sixth and the score tied at 1-1. Hess was very effective with runners in scoring position as the Bears went 0-for-7 in those situations. . .Aaron George walked two straight batters in relief of Hess. Those walks put California on top 2-1. A passed ball by Mathis allowed the next run to score. . .Landon Marceaux gave up two singles and walked a batter in the seventh. A 6-4-3 double play enabled Marceaux to get out of the inning with no runs scoring. . .Devin Fontenot was lifted after issuing a one-out walk in the eighth. . .Matthew Beck, who was credited with the victory, gave up one hit and walked one in 1.2 innings. Beck struck out Korey Lee with runners on second and third and two out in the eighth. He retired Wezniak on a pop up to Smith with a runner on third to end the ninth. . .Andrew Vaughn, last year’s Golden Spikes Award winner, went 0-for-3 with two walks – one intentional. . .LSU is 10-3, including 4-1 in one-run games. California is 6-5. . .Due to the rain forecasted for Sunday, LSU and California will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. . .The paid attendance was 10,468.
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to California at The Box in a doubleheader Saturday. First pitch for the opener is set for 1 p.m. Central. The second game will start 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Both games are scheduled for seven innings. Cole Henry and Eric Walker will be the starting pitchers for the Tigers. The LSU-California games will be available on the SEC Digital Network.
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