May 21, 2008
Hoover, Ala. – Blake Dean’s solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning capped a four-run rally as LSU defeated South Carolina 5-4 in the opening game of the 2008 SEC Tournament. LSU improves to 40-16-1 on the year while the loss drops the Gamecocks to 37-20 on the year. Carolina will next play on Thursday morning at 11 am ET against the losing team from the Vanderbilt-Florida game.
South Carolina was in control of the game for most the afternoon and held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. LSU, who came in to the game with a 16-game winning streak, then mounted its rally as the Tigers started off the frame with back-to-back walks to Blake Dean and Micah Gibbs. Both batters went to full counts against reliever Will Atwood before earning a pair of bases on balls to give the Bayou Bengals two runners. Atwood got the first out of the inning then with a strikeout against Derek Helenihi. The Tigers however began their surge and crept to within a run as Matt Clark launched the first pitch he saw for a three-run homer into right center. Carolina would bring in reliever Brandon Todd to face DJ LeMahieu, who worked another full count before reaching base on the third walk of the inning. Todd would get the second out of the inning as he set down Nicholas Pontiff on a strikeout. LSU then would tie the game as Ryan Schimpf knocked a bloop double that was just within a foot fair down the left field line to score LeMahieu all the way from first base. LSU reliever Jared Bradford came on in relief in the 10th inning for the Tigers and got out of the inning to set up the dramatics for Dean in the ninth inning. On a 2-0 pitch from Carolina reliever Alex Farotto, Dean hit a homer to about the same spot that Clark did in right center to win the game for the Tigers.
Bradford earned the win and is 10-4 on the year. He pitched one scoreless inning of relief to pick up the victory. Carolina reliever Alex Farotto suffered the loss and is 0-1 on the year. He worked 0.1 innings.
The loss spoiled a solid outing by Carolina freshman right-hander Sam Dyson, who pitched 6.2 scoreless innings in his first start vs. an SEC team. Dyson kept the LSU bats at bay as he allowed just two hits and struck out six to three walks allowed. His 6.2 innings marked his second longest outing of the year.
“It was an incredible comeback by LSU,” said South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner. “We got a tremendous outing by Sam Dyson and we looked pretty sharp in the early going. We ended up walking two LSU guys and it came back to haunt us. LSU came into this game winning 16 in a row and I think that tells you how off a team this (LSU) club is. LSU never gave in today and kept the game within striking distance and finally came up with a couple of big home runs.”
Phil Disher would put Carolina ahead 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run, his 17th of the year and 40th of his career. Disher tagged a first pitch from LSU starter Ryan Verdugo over the center field wall to give the Gamecocks a one-run edge.
Carolina extended the lead to 3-0 in the sixth inning with a key two-out RBI hit from Harley Lail. The Gamecocks loaded the bases against Verdugo as he walked Whit Merrifield, James Darnell and Phil Disher. With two outs and the bags full, Lail blooped a single into left field two score both Merrifield and Darnell. Verdugo would go six-plus innings and allowed three runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and five walks for LSU.
Carolina grabbed a 4-0 lead in the top of the ninth inning as Reese Havens singled up the middle for a RBI to score DeAngelo Mack. The Gamecocks looked to score more as they loaded the bases with one out on a double by Whit Merrifield and an intentional walk to Justin Smoak. LSU reliever Louis Coleman got out of the jam though as he induced James Darnell into a 6-4-3 double play to stop the bleeding and keep LSU within four runs.
South Carolina finished with six hits to LSU’s five on the afternoon. No player on either team recorded a multi-hit game. Disher’s home run marked the team’s 100th home run for the year, the sixth time in nine years that South Carolina has recorded 100 homers or more in a season.
