Griffin Herring’s impressive performance out of the bullpen propels the Tigers to victory.
After a disappointing string of results for the 18th-ranked LSU, it finally gets a huge 10-6 win over No. 6 Vanderbilt on Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU improves its overall record to 21-10 and its conference record to 3-7. Vanderbilt drops to 23-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play.
LSU’s bats came alive tonight as they were the Tigers the Tigers went 6-for-18 (.333 batting average) with runners on base and 3-for-11 (.273) with runners in scoring position. That’s a far cry from Monday’s 12-7 loss against Southern when LSU went 2-for-23 (.087) with runners on and 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position (.071).
“We look like a baseball team tonight,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “We look like we should look. I’m proud of them tonight.”
Relief pitcher Griffin Herring was the key factor in LSU’s victory. Herring, who came in for a struggling Luke Holman, pitched 3.1 scoreless innings with no runs, three hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Herring earned his third save of the season.
Despite his early season struggles, Herring has been the go-to guy for LSU out of the bullpen since the start of SEC play.
“I radioed down one time, and I said, ‘Hey man, remember that dude in Omaha that told me to tell the pitching coach to go throw three sliders in a row [because] I’m gonna strike this dude out?’ That’s the dude I need to come into the game,” Johnson said about his turning point with Herring. “That’s who he’s been ever since then and I’m proud of him for that.”
After the first two and a half innings were slow, LSU decided to entertain the fans at Alex Box Stadium with a firework show. The Tigers scored six runs on four hits in what was arguably one of the best innings LSU has had at the plate all year let alone SEC play.
Right fielder Josh Pearson started the party with a solo home run to right field, his fifth of the year, for the first run of the game.
After Kling walked and Milam singles, Bingham would line a ground ball to Vanderbilt second baseman Jayden Davis and what would seem like a routine double play. However, Davis would make an errant throw, allowing Kling to score at home to make it a two-score game.
On the following at-bat, LSU third baseman Tommy White lined an RBI single up the middle, allowing Milam to score.
After Jared Jones grounded out, catcher Brady Neal lined a two-run single to left field to extend LSU’s lead to 5-0.
Michael Braswell capped off the six-run rally with an RBI groundout to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead after three innings.
In the fourth inning, the Tigers kept the party going as they were able to plate three runs to make it a 9-0 ball game.
Left fielder Bingham torpedoed a solo home run over the left field wall for his eighth home run of the season and designated hitter Hayden Travinski lined a two-RBI single to highlight the three-run inning.
Vanderbilt, seeing how much fun LSU was having, decided to throw a party of their own.
The Commodores would score four runs in the fifth inning after first baseman RJ Austin lined an RBI single and shortstop Johnathan Vastine launched a three-run home run over the right centerfield wall.
In the following inning, Vanderbilt would score two more runs when Jack Bulger lined an RBI single and Jayden Davis followed it with an RBI double to make it a 9-6 ballgame and cut into LSU’s lead.
Unfortunately for the Commodores, Herring played the ultimate party pooper by blanking Vanderbilt for the rest of the game, and the Tigers picked up an insurance run in the eighth when first baseman Jared Jones lined a single that brought home a run after an error committed by Vanderbilt centerfielder Calvin Hewett.
If LSU wins tomorrow or Saturday, it would be the Tigers’ first SEC series win this season. That is pretty significant but there’s even more significance when it comes against a respected program like Vanderbilt’s.
“There’s a different type of attitude guys are having, kind of a ‘prove it’ type of attitude. I wouldn’t say we are gonna be labeled as underdogs, but we’re coming right at you with everything we got [like underdogs],” Herring said about the team’s mindset following tonight’s win.