Tigers Rally Against Wofford to Stay Alive

Griffin Herring you are a hero

LSU was able to overcome a disastrous first inning to stay alive in the Chapel Hill Regional as the Tigers beat Wofford 13-6 in an elimination game.

Griffin Herring pitched the game of his life to keep LSU alive. He came on in relief of Nate Ackenause in the first inning and threw a career-best 6.1 innings and 89 pitches. Herring struck out seven, gave up five hits, and only allowed one run.

As mentioned above, the first inning damn near cost LSU its season. The Tiger offense went down quickly 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and Wofford responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Nate Ackenhausen got the start and the less I say about it the better. The final line on Ack: 0.2 innings, three hits, five runs, four earned, a walk, and two Ks.

While Herring came on in relief and threw up zeroes, the LSU offense finally woke up and chipped away slowly but surely.

The Tigers got two back in the third inning thanks to a Michael Braswell sac fly and an RBI single by Jake Brown. LSU and Wofford traded runs in the fourth to make it a 6-3 game.

The fifth inning is when LSU struck back. Josh Pearson hit a clutch two-run homer to get LSU back within a run.

Then, with two on and two out, Jay Johnson called on Brady Neal to pinch hit for Hayden Travinski and the gamble was rewarded with a game-tying knock.

LSU’s first lead wouldn’t come until the seventh inning when Jake Brown hit a sac fly with the bases loaded that scored Pearson, who drew a leadoff walk to start the inning. LSU’s lead was pushed to two runs thanks to a RBI single by Alex Milazzo.

LSU would score three more runs in the eighth inning to blow the elimination game open. Pearson would pick up another RBI that scored Bear Jones, and Brady Neal came through again with a clutch two-out hit that scored a pair of runs.

LSU would tack on two more runs in the ninth inning. Jones brought home Tommy White, who reached after taking a pitch off the wrist, and Pearson collected his fourth RBI of the day to make it a 13-6 game.

We’ve been begging the LSU offense to wake up and they finally did: 13 runs off of 21 hits. White was 2-5 batting leadoff, Milam had a pair of hits out of the 2-hole, and Bear Jones was 3-6.

Pearson of course was another big winner today with a 3-4 effort at the plate and a team-leading four RBI. Michael Braswell was 4-5 and scored three runs, and Brady Neal might have made his case to stay in the lineup. Neal was 2-3, with two RBI, and also drew a walk.

The youngsters also chipped in today. Ashton Larson and Jake Brown each had a pair of hits and the duo combined for three RBI in the bottom third of LSU’s lineup.

LSU’s got some experience coming out of the loser’s bracket and it’ll take more efforts like what Herring gave from the other Tiger relievers. Fortunately, LSU’s pen is as about as stocked as you could hope for. Kade Anderson and Will Hellmers each pitched one inning, so both could be called upon later today against North Carolina. Gavin Guidry also only threw one inning in the first game against Wofford. Justin Loer, Aiden MoffeWe haven’t seen Thatcher Hurd or Fidell Ulloa yet. Hell, Nate Ackenhausen could even get a shot at redemption.

LSU will get its second shot at North Carolina in about two and a half hours. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 P.M. and at the time of this writing, the game appears to only be available to stream via ESPN+.