March 21, 2009
Columbia, S.C. – LSU homered three times in the first four innings and received seven strong innings from starting pitcher Louis Coleman on its way to a 10-3 win over South Carolina to even a three-game SEC baseball series. The rubber game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with first pitch set for 1:30 pm. The game will be televised live on SportSouth and can also be heard on the Gamecock Radio Network. South Carolina is 14-5 and 2-3 in the SEC with LSU 16-5 and 3-2 in conference play.
The Tigers had productive days from several players in the lineup including Sean Ochinko, who was 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. Jared Mitchell also had a 2-for-4 day at the plate with a homer and three runs scored and Micah Gibbs and Leon Landry each drove in two runs as well to lead the Bayou Bengals. Andrew Crisp was South Carolina’s leading hitter with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a homer and two RBI. Crisp now owns a nine-game hitting streak. DeAngelo Mack also had a 2-for-4 game with one RBI.
LSU got off to a strong start with two runs in the top of the first inning. Mitchell poked a single to left field and then advanced to third base as a pickoff attempt by Westmoreland went past first baseman Nick Ebert. Mitchell would then score on LSU’s first run on Chris McGhee’s infield single. McGhee would eventually make his way to third base and score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ochinko.
South Carolina fought back to tie the game at 2-2 with single runs in both the first and second inning. Jackie Bradley, Jr. led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on Mack’s RBI base hit. The second inning saw Jeffery Jones walk, Justin Dalles single and a RBI base hit off from Crisp.
LSU regained the lead in the top of the third as Mitchell tallied a solo home run for his second hit of the game. Mitchell now has four homers on the year. The LSU outfielder roped the first pitch from Westmoreland that just cleared the wall in right center.
The Tigers continued to use the long ball in the top of the fourth inning extending the advantage to 6-2 on back-to-back homers from Micah Gibbs and Ryan Schimpf. Both homers were to right field with Gibbs blasting a two-run homer and Schimpf hitting a solo shot. LSU added a pair of runs in the sixth inning benefiting from three walks that loaded the bases for the Tigers with one out. The inning opened with Sean Ochinko walking with Gibbs and Schimpf each drawing one-out walks to fill the bases. Leon Landry would score one run with a sacrifice fly and Tyler Hanover contributed with a RBI single as the Tigers built a six-run cushion. Andrew Crisp tried to help the Gamecocks rally as he made it 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning with his fifth home run of the season. LSU struck back in the eighth and ninth innings with single runs.
LSU starting pitcher Louis Coleman allowed just three runs on seven hits to pick up the victory. He is now 5-1 on the year. Coleman struck out eight and walked only two batters. Westmoreland suffered his first career loss and is 2-1 for the season. He allowed seven runs, six earned, on six hits in five-plus innings. He struck out three and walked two.
