(Photo Credit: Michael Bacigalupi)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
LSU is one win from the College World Series.
The Tigers (47-15) blasted visiting West Virginia, 16-9, Saturday afternoon behind an offensive explosion featuring a trio of huge home runs.
Derek Curiel’s opposite-field, three-run homer gave LSU the lead in the fourth. It was the Tigers’ first hit against Mountaineer ace Griffin Kirn.
Steven Milam pumped a grand slam just inside the right field foul pole an inning later to spark a seven-run fifth inning that gave LSU total control of the game. Josh Pearson’s grand slam in the sixth removed all doubt.
West Virginia (44-15) head coach Steve Sabins made a couple of puzzling moves as Kirn exited with no one out in the fifth with LSU leading 3-1. He turned to freshman JJ Glasscock who had only worked six innings all season. Glasscock walked Ethan Frey and Jared Jones on nine pitches which ended his day.
Next up was Cole Fehrman who had only worked 6.2 innings on the year. He surrendered Milam’s grand slam and then hit Luis Hernandez and walked Daniel Dickinson.
Going to your most trusted bullpen arms while trailing is always a difficult decision. Sabins went the other way, and LSU’s lead ballooned to nine runs quickly.
West Virginia did answer the Tiger seven-spot with four runs on three hits in the sixth. Kade Anderson was seated for a long time in the fifth. The Mountaineers pounced courtesy of a pair of RBI singles and a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
That underscores the differences between the two offenses. West Virginia needed to string singles, bunts and walks together. LSU just brought out the power.
That power was aided by a ton of help from the end of the West Virginia bullpen. For the day, the Mountaineers walked eight and hit five more. Ten of those 13 free bases came around to score.
West Virginia’s two home runs came too late. One was a two-run shot by Gavin Kelly over the wall in right to cut LSU’s 16-5 lead to 16-7. The second was a towering blast by Kyle West in the ninth to make it 16-9.
The Tigers did not lose any of Anderson’s 10 home starts during his stellar sophomore season. His six earned runs allowed were the most in his Tiger career, but he pitched to the scoreboard. After West Virginia grabbed a 1-0 lead, he hung four consecutive zeros to allow the bats to break out.
LSU was able to navigate the game without the use of key relievers like Casan Evans, Zac Cowan and Chase Shores. Of course, West Virginia did not use its top arms beyond Kirn either.
DJ Primeaux, William Schmidt and Mavrick Rizy combined to record the last six outs.
THE SCORECARD
Kade Anderson’s line: 7IP, 9H, 7R, 6ER, 2BB, 7K, 113 pitches, 77 strikes
Griffin Kirn’s line: 4IP, 2H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 3K, 82 pitches, 47 strikes
Josh Pearson: 2-for-5, HR, 4RBI, 2R
Derek Curiel: 3-for-3, HR, 5RBI, HBP, 3R
LSU scored all 16 runs in three innings.
West Virginia outhit LSU 11-8 and scored in four of nine innings.
Steven Milam entered the game with three errors on the season. He made two Saturday, one fielding and one throwing.
Game time was 3 hours, 46 minutes
THE QUOTES
West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins on his bullpen decisions…
“Kirn has been so good for us all year. He’s been our workhorse. I didn’t think Kirn was quite as sharp. Probably had something to do with the fact that he threw twice in a week for the first time all season last weekend….We had some players throughout the season make these big jumps, and so there’s always some risk associated with it…We felt some of these pitchers have been really, really great throughout some smaller outings, some shorter outings, some sim games. We think they’re ready to compete at the highest level. And they certainly are. Didn’t go their way this week, but when you trail in the game, there’s always some balance of making sure that you go to win the game, but also that you have enough arms to compete and win a series. So, there’s always that balance.”
LSU’s Josh Pearson on getting Kirn out of the game…
“We did our best to make him work like teams hadn’t done all year. Just make him go out there and throw as many pitches as he can every inning. We knew it would be hot, so we knew he wouldn’t go out there every inning if we kept putting his back on the wall. We did a really good job of that today and got him out and got to their bullpen early.”
LSU’s head coach Jay Johnson on LSU’s lineup changes…
“I think it speaks to good players, meant strength, attitude, team over me, understanding their job and what’s required of them and have been trained for it. And there’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a reason we don’t skip a day of skill work.
We literally start the first day of school, when it’s a billion degrees, like it was today, and develop a process of being a good offensive player.
And you have guys for a couple of years or four years like Josh, and they’re always ready and prepared. And it’s happened a couple other times. And Griffin Kirn is good, really good. Not many teams have done much with him this year.
We really had to be on it, both from how we aligned it and then the execution of the players. And it was a good day for the offense today.”
Johnson on Anderson after he was hit by the batted ball…
“He was okay. He just wanted to throw a couple. It stung him pretty square on the forearm. And that’s why I stayed out there and stood behind the mound to see how the ball was coming out. Quickly turned and looked at the gun and it looked normal for a warm-up pitch. He’s okay. That was in the second inning, I believe. So to go six after that, he’s good.”
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU and West Virginia will square off again Sunday at 5:00. An LSU win means a trip to Omaha. A Mountaineer win means a winner-take-all Monday meeting at a time to be announced.
LSU will likely send Anthony Eyanson (1-2, 2.50 ERA) to the mound. All signs point to West Virginia going to junior right hander Jack Kartsonas (6-3, 2.94 ERA).
