True Freshmen the Catalysts Behind No. 8 LSU Baseball's 5-4 Win Over Nicholls
Behind the phenomenal relief outing of true freshman Blake Money and some late inning hitting, LSU was able to survive an otherwise off afternoon at the plate, defeating Nicholls State 5-4.
LSU (7-1) loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth as Zach Arnold picked up a hit while pinch hitter Hayden Travinski and freshman Dylan Crews drew walks to set up Tre Morgan.
The freshman first baseman sent a flyball to deep left field to bring home the winning run in walkoff fashion.
After a successful first outing on the mound, freshman Javen Coleman earned his first start of the season but a series of walks led to two runs against the freshman pitcher and saw the insertion of fellow true freshman Money in relief.
Money did a phenomenal job of not letting the Nicholls lead become insurmountable as the Tigers offense tried to find its footing. The true freshman fired 4.1 innings of relief work resulting in no runs and two hits by mixing up his pitches and having total command of all his pitches.
The performance from the true freshman was undoubtedly the highlight of the afternoon as LSU's bats struggled to get much going.
"The [freshman] class as a whole is unreal," Money said. "Guys like Dylan Crews and Tre Morgan and Brody Drost at the plate are hard to come by. It's a pitcher's worst nightmare for the opposing guy but on my side I love it. It says a lot about our class to come in and perform right away. That's the expectation coach Mainieri has for us."
The LSU offense couldn't get much going off of Nicholls starter Trever Kilcrease or Devin Desandro in the first two innings. A pair of two out hits was the only offense the Tigers could muster but when the Colonels put Tyler Theriot in the game, the LSU batters lit up.
A solo home run from freshmn Brody Drost followed by back-to-back doubles from Cade Beloso and Gavin Dugas immediately tied the game up and woke up the offense to some degree.
That ignited a solo home run in the fifth inning from the smooth swinging freshman Crews to give the Tigers a 3-2 advantage. Through eight games, the Tigers have hit 17 home runs but the offense struggled with getting guys on base against Nicholls Tuesday afternoon.
The team only struck out four times and hit some hard balls that typically would've dropped found their way into the gloves of the Colonels fielders. Facing a 3-3 score in the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers relied on the bats of two of their five true freshmen starters to get the go ahead run home.
Morgan led off the inning with a double to centerfield which he was able to stretch into a triple off a Colonels error. Then it was freshman centerfielder Drost, who had already gone 2-for-3 with a home run on the afternoon, who produced the sacrifice flyball to bring the go ahead run in.
When the Tigers were able to string together it's eighth inning mini rally, Mainieri went to Devin Fontenot to close the game out. For the second straight save attempt, a pair of singles helped the Colonels tie the game up in the ninth.
LSU will be back in action at 6:30 p.m. to take on Southern for part two of the double header against Louisiana schools.
Photo courtesy of LSUsports.