Sciambra walk-off home run lifts LSU

By Tommy Romanach

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

@TRomanach

 

BATON ROUGE, La. – Alex Box Stadium went from boisterous to hushed with one swing of the bat in the top of the ninth.

 

Twelve minutes later, another swing switched the noise back on.

 

Senior designated hitter Chris Sciambra hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, ending a wild Saturday night in Baton Rouge and giving LSU a 4-3 win against Louisiana-Lafayette in Game 1 of the Baton Rouge Super Regional.

 

“I missed my first decent pitch, and then I got the second one,” Sciambra said. “Just got a good swing on it. It’s just an unbelievable feeling for me.”

 

The home run spoiled a comeback attempt by the Ragin’ Cajuns, who scraped together three runs in the final four innings, culminating in a game-tying home run by pinch-hitter Brenn Conrad in the top of the ninth.

 

For most of the night, the game featured a duel between freshman pitchers. ULL’s Wyatt Marks hung tough against highly-acclaimed LSU pitcher Alex Lange, and first-rate fielding on both sides helped keep the scoring low.

 

The scoring started in the first inning, when LSU junior outfielder Mark Laird leadoff with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley then got his stellar night started, slapping an RBI double to right to put the Tigers up one.

 

Laird and Fraley went right back to work in the third as Laird reached first on a passed ball on a strikeout. Fraley then slammed a line drive with just enough juice to reach the right field bleachers. It was only the second homer of the season for the Middleton, Delaware native and his fifth in his college career.

 

Fraley said Marks pitched inside for most of the evening, and he was just fortunate enough to not only get his bat around but get some runs off it as well.

 

ULL remained scoreless through five innings, and it began to appear as if Lange would tally his second consecutive complete game shutout. But the Cajuns remained unfazed and focused on getting back into the game.

 

“Even the beginning of the game I felt like we were fine to be honest,” Conrad said. “Throughout the game I felt like we kept getting more relaxed and more relaxed.”

 

Senior designated hitter Tyler Girouard got the Cajuns on the board with a two-out RBI double in the sixth, snapping a 25-inning scoreless streak by the Tigers. In the eighth, a large rainfall entered the stadium and three two-out ULL hits narrowed the lead to one, setting up Conrad’s big hit.

 

The home run was the first of the season for Conrad and ignited a wild celebration from the ULL bench. Lange was finally taken out as sophomore reliever Parker Bugg finished the ninth.

 

Despite giving up the tying run, LSU coach Paul Mainieri and his players were adamant about how essential Lange was to the win. And despite lamenting Conrad’s home run, the freshman felt positive about the outing.

 

“That hit is one thing I want back, but I’m just glad we won,” Lange said. “This is a team effort. Defense played great, and obviously guys like Jake and Chris stepped up big for me.”

 

Both teams will shift their attention to game two on Sunday, which may yield the same kind of low scores seen Saturday. ULL freshman pitcher Gunner Leger will start against LSU sophomore pitcher Jared Poche’, and both players own an ERA below 3.10.

 

For now, however, Mainieri is just thankful his team survived the night.

 

“It’s not how you draw them up, but we will take it,” Mainieri said. “I’ve been around this game for a long time and I’ve seen just about everything. That was one for the ages there.”