Baton Rouge Regional Day One Open Thread

UGa 10, Ohio St 2 (5th)
Miami 2, Jacksonville 0 (3rd)

I’m pretty darn excited. Let’s start the march to Omaha!

Ugh

Ross gives up a first-inning homer. 2-0 SU at the end of the 1st. I think there’s gonna be a lot of runs scored in this game, so I’m not too worried.

I was all excited to come home early (yay summer hours!) and actually get to pay attention to this game. Time to pour it on boys.

A runner on 2nd and 2 outs, what do you do? Southern calls for a bunt. OK, I know I hate small ball, but what was the expected outcome of that play? How did that seem like a good idea at the time?

I should mention SU dug up a LHP to start this game. The book on LSU is in effect. 2-0 at the end of 2.

3 strikeouts with a single mixed in. Ross has officially settled down. 7 K’s through 3.

Schimpf reaches on a check swing single with two outs, but a little late to rally. Dean did get to 3-0 before popping out.

Disappointing…
How many hits do we have?

2 more K’s for Ross. He’s cruising right now.

Another 2 out hit, this one by Ochinko. He was stranded, of course. It would be nice to have a runner on with less than two outs, wouldn’t it? 4 hits total.

http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mbasebl.html?event=785892&sport=mbasebl

Southern gets the leadoff man and then bunts him to second. I will point out both of their runs came by virtue of the home run. The next two at bats: Strikeout and a groundout. Thank God they moved the runner over at the expense of an out against a guy WHO HAS STRUCK OUT HALF OF THE BATTERS HE HAS FACED. Yeah, let’s give up runs against that guy.

Mitchell saw one pitch. Nola saw two. LeMahieu saw four pitches before grounded out. That, my friends, is a miserable inning.

Ross outdoes SU with a three pitch inning. He’s been awesome so far.

SCHIMPF!! How much fun is this guy? Lead off with a double and then steal third, but scores on the errant throw. Just a guy who makes things happen. He’s been our best position player all season. I love his well-rounded game. Gibbs keeps the pressure on with a walk, which is good for multiple reasons, but mainly because it got SU’s bullpen busy. This game will be won or lost by the bullpens. OK, Mahtook hit into a double play, but this showed promise.

Great play. Nola doubles and drives in McGhee. Great running.

Another leadoff hit. Another bunt. Thank you, SU. The next hitter did get a hit, but the runner held at third, so it’s not like the bunt allowed him to score. Bertucinni came in with two outs and Bert gets the K. Another well-executed bunt which results in giving the defense an out to help prevent run scoring.

And LSU employs the sac bunt properly. Down by 1 in the 7th, we desperately need one run. Ochinko leads off, and Mainieri goes nuts with both a pinch runner and a bunt to move over McGhee. Then, against a LHP, we send up Mitchell (who can’t hit LHP) and Nola (who can’t hit period). This screamed for a pinch hitter.

And proving I write this as the inning goes on, Nola gets an RBI single! And advances to second! Huge base hit! Well done, Nola! Huge base hit! Super clutchiness! And he chased the lefty! That is, without a doubt, the biggest hit of his career. Actually, Nola can make a case for clutch hitting, as he has a pretty miserable stat line, but he is involved in a lot of runs for the few times he’s on base. I think in this postseason, he has a run or an RBI for every time he’s gotten on base. He doesn’t hit much, but when he does, it counts big. LeMaheiu drives him in! An out, it’s 2-1. Nola gets a 2-out hit, and it’s created three runs (Schimpf drove in LeMaheiu).

Huge friggin’ at bat.

Two base error on Gibbs’ at bat! SU’s defense is finally coming through for us. That scored another 2 runs. We got to the RHP, and things got ugly. By the time the scoring stopped (Helenihi with a two RBI double!), it was 8-2.

Tip your waitresses and be sure to drive home safely.

The game is freaking over!

SU went down without a fight in the 8th. All of a sudden, this game is fun.

And we start things off with a triple and then just keep scoring. Now Mainieri is clearing the bench like a Little League coach. Pontiff and Jones both pinch hit. Both walked. LSU strands the bases loaded, but who cares? It’s a blowout now.

Nola commits an error. I don’t really care. His basehit was so huge in this game that it’s worth the cost of an error. If he doesn’t get that two out hit, there is no massive rally and maybe LSU isn’t winning right now.

And then Nola makes the last out. Ball game!

got called into court for a 2:00 emergency hearing. such is the life of the kind of attorney I am. I saw none of the game. Glad we won. Hope we figure out lefties soon.