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LSU opened the Baton Rouge Super Regional on Saturday by setting the West Virginia pitching staff on fire.
The Tigers plated 3 runs in the fourth inning, 7 runs in the fifth inning, and then 6 more in the sixth inning to run away from the Mountaineers and win Game 1, 16-9. Game 2 will take place Sunday evening with the Tigers just a win away from punching a ticket to the College World Series in Omaha.
LSU was slow to start on Saturday, but once it going the bats going, the floodgates opened.
The Tigers went down in order in the bottom of the first. They produced 2 baserunners in the second, but those came courtesy of a fielding error from West Virginia and a HBP. A fly-out ended the inning without any damage. West Virginia’s starting pitcher, Griffin Kirn, walked the leadoff batter to begin the third but forced ground balls to end the inning in quick order.
In the fourth, Kirn’s control started to let him down. He hit Luis Hernandez with a pitch, then hit Daniel Dickinson with a pitch on the next at-bat. Derek Curiel stepped to the plate with 1 away and smoked a 3-run homer.
A single and consecutive walks to open the frame loaded the bases for Steven Milam in the bottom of the fifth. West Virginia replaced the guy who replaced Kirn and it didn’t matter one bit. Milam took the fifth pitch he saw and sent it out of the park for a grand slam.
LSU added a couple of RBI singles later in the inning to go up 10-1 on the Mountaineers. When the bottom of the fifth finally — mercifully — ended, LSU had recorded 7 runs on 4 hits and faced 4 WVU pitchers.
West Virginia scored 4 in the top of the sixth to halve the deficit, but the hope of a comeback was short-lived. A double, a walk, and a HBP loaded the bases again early in the bottom of the sixth for the Tigers. With 1 gone, Curiel walked to score a run. Then Ashton Larson walked to score another run. Then Josh Pearson smacked LSU’s second grand slam of the game.
West Virginia plated 2 runs in the seventh and 2 runs in the ninth, but never threatened LSU again.
Kade Anderson earned the win, his 10th of the season, after going 7 innings and striking out 7. He gave up 9 hits and 6 earned runs, but most of the action came late with LSU nursing an insurmountable lead.
Game 2 between LSU (47-15) and West Virginia is slated to begin at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
