ATHENS, Ga. — Three runs in the top of the 12th inning powered No. 5 LSU past Georgia 8-5 on Thursday at Foley Field.
“We fought,” Georgia’s Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin said. “That is the thing, we fought. We battled against obviously a really good baseball team. We went toe-to-toe, but we just came up short. We have to turn the page. We have Charlie Goldstein going tomorrow. We have a really good guy going for us tomorrow. We have to get ready to compete. If we compete like that, we are going to have another chance to win tomorrow. We have to finish good teams like that off.”
Georgia (28-25, 10-18 SEC) tallied seven hits on the evening, highlighted by a solo home run by graduate Will David to get the Bulldogs on the board in the fifth along with a double and home run by junior Sebastian Murillo. It was solo home runs by Murillo and graduate Ben Anderson that sent the game to extra innings after LSU led 5-3 going to the bottom of the ninth. Bulldog senior Nolan Crisp made his 15th appearance, blanking the Tigers for 2.1 innings in relief of starter Jarvis Evans.
LSU (41-12, 18-9 SEC) jumped ahead in the second as Brayden Jobert sent a two-run homer to right field and plated Jordan Thompson, 2-0. Evans was lifted in the fourth in favor of Crisp with two outs and a pair of runners on after throwing 92 pitches. The freshman tossed 3.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts as Crisp forced a ground out to close the frame.
After Georgia was blanked for four innings, a leadoff solo home run by David, his sixth of the season, put the Bulldogs on the board off LSU ace Paul Skenes. Murillo followed up with a double to the center field wall before graduate Mason LaPlante knocked an RBI-single to score Murillo as Georgia knotted the score, 2-2.
A solo home run off the bat of Hayden Travinski in the eighth gave LSU a one-run lead over the Bulldogs. Thompson followed with a solo homer of his own as the Tigers grabbed a two-run lead, 4-2. Georgia cut the Tigers’ lead to one run in the bottom of the eighth. Graduates Ben Anderson and Connor Tate drew walks as junior Park Harber reached on a fielder’s choice that advanced Anderson to third. A dropped pop up by LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson allowed Anderson to score as the Bulldogs trailed 4-3. Skenes finished with 12 strikeouts in seven innings and got a no decision.
LSU added a run in the ninth with the Tigers’ third solo home run of the night hit by Dylan Crews to left field, 5-3. The Bulldogs rallied in the bottom of the frame as Murillo and Anderson cranked solo home runs to force free baseball.
Sophomore Chandler Marsh struck out the side in the 10th and had four strikeouts but suffered the loss after giving up two runs on two hits. LSU’s Thatcher Hurd (4-2) earned the win, throwing five innings and scattering two runs on three hits. LSU used a two-run home run by Josh Pearson to score Travinski and a solo homer by Thompson to boost the Tigers in the 12th frame.
The second game of the series will be played Friday at 6:02 p.m. The matchup will be live on SEC Network+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.
