LSU Headed Back to
Omaha
By Tommy Romanach
Special to
CollegeBaseballInsider.com
@TRomanach
BATON ROUGE, La. –
Entering the NCAA Tournament, LSU sophomore pitcher Jared
Poche’ couldn’t get a win. Since then, junior shortstop Alex
Bregman could not get a hit.
But as the Tigers’ College World Series-clinching 6-3 win
against UL-Lafayette taught us, baseball can change rather
quickly.
Poche’ continued his postseason resurgence with another
scintillating performance Sunday, and Bregman got out of one
of the biggest slumps of his career at the perfect time as LSU
won the Baton Rouge Super Regional and punched its 17th
ticket to Omaha.
“Different aspects of our team have done the job, taking turns
doing the job, and it’s a very selfless team that plays well
together,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “They genuinely like
each other, and I couldn’t be more proud of a team going to
Omaha.”
It’s the fourth CWS berth for LSU in the Mainieri era, but the
first in Poche’s career. The Lutcher, La., native went 7.2
innings, allowing one earned run and five hits and striking
out seven.
Couple that with a near complete game shutout in a 2-0 win
against UNC Wilmington in the Baton Rouge Regional, and Poche’
has allowed only one earned run and tallied 15 strikeouts in
16.1 innings of NCAA Tournament play.
Sunday night’s outing featured many early escapes, as ULL got
a runner in scoring position in five of the first six innings.
Poche’ credited his senior catcher Kade Scivicque and pitching
coach Alan Dunn in helping him dodge any early runs.
“It’s just kind of working with Kade, executing pitches that
Coach Dunn called,” Poche’ said. “A couple times when there
was a runner on second, you just kind of got to bear down and
make plays.”
For most of the night, Poche’ was outdone by ULL freshman
Gunner Leger, who allowed only one run in his first six
innings. The game seemed destined to be another pitchers’ duel
LSU had become accustomed to, but the Tigers bats came alive
down the stretch.
Scivicque posted the first run of the game with a solo home
run to left field with one out in the seventh, igniting what
had been a stagnant Alex Box Stadium. The score remained 1-0
in the eighth when the Tigers put men on second and third with
two outs for Bregman.
The All-American and highly touted MLB Draft prospect had been
hitless for the NCAA Tournament up to that point. In an
attempt to change his luck, he decided to shave his head
before Sunday night’s game.
In the seventh, Bregman slammed his bat into the ground,
disgusted after popping out and failing to reach base again.
One inning later, he was one of the heroes of the game,
slapping a two-run single into center in what was likely his
last at-bat at the Box
“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to go up the
middle,” Bregman said. “I ended up just the same why I came in
[to Alex Box], base hit up the middle, RBI single. It’s what I
wanted to do, not any other way.”
The inning continued as senior third baseman Conner Hale
followed Bregman with a two-run triple down the right field
line to push the lead to five. The Cajuns finally would garner
a run of Poche’ in the eighth and added two more in the ninth,
but the whole was simply too big to get out of.
For ULL, the loss ends a run that brought Ragin’ Cajuns from
the tournament bubble to an in-state Super Regional. Coach
Tony Robicheaux spoke highly of his players, proud of how long
his team hung around and kept fighting.
“They did not let their season define them. They defined their
season,” Robicheaux said. “For that I’m appreciative of their
hard work and effort. I’m proud of them.”
At no point was the ULL defense better on display than the
fourth inning, when junior center fielder Kyle Clement made
web gem déjà vu. Sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley led off
for LSU with a strike toward left center, headed for the gap.
But Clement made diving catch for the first out, quieting the
crowd. Bregman followed that with a hit to shallow center.
This time, Clement went full extension to keep the bases
empty.
With every play, Clement was only focused on giving his team’s
seniors another chance.
“I wanted to get us to the next day and just to enjoy another
day with them, and I think that’s what really let me get to
those balls in the gap,” Clement said. “Just knowing I was
going to do everything I could in this game to get us to
tomorrow.”
But Clement did not get his wish. The Tigers kept up their
stellar pitching, and their bats may have found their form,
too.
“We’re going to Omaha a very confident team,” Mainieri said.
“Based primarily on our pitching and defense, but knowing that
we’re capable of scoring runs as well.”
