Kentucky tops LSU to take series
BATON ROUGE – Top-ranked LSU fell to Kentucky in 11 innings for the Tigers' first series loss of the season Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The Tigers dropped to 23-5 and 5-4 in conference play with the 12-10 loss while the Wildcats improved to 18-10 and 4-4 in the SEC.
LSU reliever Parker Bugg (0-1) was charged the loss after giving up a solo home run to pinch hitter Greg Fettes in the top of the 12th inning. Bugg went 2 2-3 innings, giving up five hits on three runs. Spencer Jack (1-0) earned the win for the Wildcats. Jack went 3 2-3 innings and only allowed one hit and one walk.
“Obviously this is a very difficult loss, but we have to take it like men and recover from it,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “There were some unusual events throughout the series that we unfortunate for us, but we can’t sit around and pout about it and feel sorry for ourselves. We’re only at the halfway point of the regular season, and we still have seven SEC weekends to play. We have a very good team, and I’m confident we’ll rebound from the disappointment we’re feeling right now.”
Kentucky chased LSU starter Jake Godfrey Sunday after just 1 2-3 innings. The freshman gave up four runs on six hits. Godfrey gave up a solo home run to Dorian Hairston on the first pitch of the second inning. The Wildcats kept the momentum going with three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. Godfrey then walked Connor Heady to make it a 2-0 game. Kyle Barrett made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to left field. The Wildcats took to a 4-0 lead on an RBI single up the middle by Ka’ai Tom.
LSU responded in the bottom of the third to cut it to 4-2. First baseman Chris Chinea led off the inning with a double to right field. Left fielder Jake Fraley chopped a two-out single down the first-base line to score Chinea. Right fielder Mark Laird followed with an infield single before pinch-runner Kramer Robertson scored on an error by UK pitcher Kyle Cody.
The Tigers took the lead in bottom of the fifth inning, scoring four runs. Senior Jared Foster hit a two-run home run over the left field to tie the game at 4. Robertson followed with a triple and score on a fielding error by second baseman JaVon Shelby. Conner Hale added the sixth run with a solo home run to left field, his fourth of the season.
Kentucky responded with a run in the top of the seventh as Shelby doubled to left-center field to score Evan White and make it a 6-5 game.
LSU once again responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, all coming with two outs. Robertson scored from second after Shelby made a throwing error at second base. Kade Scivicque then doubled to the gap in right-center field to score Hale and give the Tigers an 8-5 lead.
In the top of the eighth inning, reliever Collin Strall gave up back-to-back hits and was replaced by Zac Person. Person hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. White followed with a single to right field to score two runs. Tom reached first on a fielder’s choice RBI, which tied the game. The Wildcats gained the lead on a RBI fielder’s choice by Hairston.
LSU scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to regain the lead once again. Chris Sciambra and Foster singled to right and left field, respectively. Laird singled up the middle to score Sciambra and tie the game at 9. Alex Bregman followed with a sac fly to right field to score Foster and give the Tigers a 10-9 lead.
Kentucky pulled off an improbable rally in the top of the ninth inning. With two out and nobody on, freshman pinch hitter Riley Mayhan hit what looked like a bloop single to left field. Foster misplayed the ball, which allowed Mayhan to round the bases for an inside the park home run.
LSU threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning after Chinea hit a one-out double to left field. Kentucky reliever Spencer Jack settled in to strike out Foster and Sciambra to push the game into extra innings.