BATON ROUGE, La. – Junior catcher Micah Gibbs two-out RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted LSU to a 16-15 win over Vanderbilt Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
Blake Dean was hit by a pitch by Russell Brewer with two outs and Gibbs then lined a double down the left field line against a Commodore defense that was shifted towards right. Gibbs ended with four hits and six RBI in the game.
The contest lasted four hours and 44 minutes as both teams combined for 31 runs and 33 hits on the night. The total runs scored in the contest were the most ever in a game played between the two schools. The previous high between the two schools was 24 runs (LSU 19-5) in Baton Rouge in 1997.
The Tigers improved to 34-13 overall and 12-10 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Commodores fell to 33-13 and 10-10 in league action.
It was the first time VU has scored 15 runs in a game and lost since an 18-15 decision to Georgia in 1998.
Matty Ott (2-2) blew the save in the ninth but came back to strike out the side in order in the 10th in the winning effort. He allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts and a walk in two innings.
Russell Brewer allowed two runs on four hits in three innings of work with five strikeouts and no walks in the losing effort to drop to 1-2 on the year.
Joe Loftus led the Dores with three hits and five RBI and was a single away from hitting for the cycle.
The Commodores jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run double by Aaron Westlake. Brian Harris walked to lead off the game and moved to third on Anthony Gomez’ single down the right field line. Gomez stole second and after a popout, Westlake roped a 2-2 pitch down the right field line to score two.
The Dores added another run in the second when Joe Loftus doubled, stole third and scored on a RBI single by Anthony Gomez.
VU plated three more runs in the third to knock LSU starter Anthony Ranaudo out of the game. Curt Casali and Andrew Giobbi walked with one out and after a pop out, Joe Loftus crushed a 3-2 pitch to left-center that hit the wall allowing him to reach third on a triple. Mike Yastrzemski then laced his fifth double of the year down the left field line to make it 6-0.
The Tigers roared back in the third with four runs to cut the lead to 6-4. All of the runs came after Sonny Gray battled to record two outs with the bases loaded. Austin Nola lined out to third and slugger Blake Dean struck out before Micah Gibbs singled to left to score two. Alex Edward added a RBI single and Leon Landry reached an infield single to load the bases once again. Matt Gaudet walked on a 3-2 pitch to bring in the fourth run of the frame.
The Commodores answered their rally with five runs of their own in the fourth to extend the lead to 11-4. Gomez walked and Jason Esposito singled to lead off the inning. Both runners advanced on Westlake’s grounder to third. After Casali struck out, Giobbi doubled down the left field line to score two. Connor Harrell walked and Loftus crushed an 0-2 pitch over the wall in right-center to plate three more. It was his sixth homer of the season and pushed his RBI total to five for the game.
Once again LSU came back matching VU with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 11-9. Blake Dean had a two-run single, Gibbs a two-run double and Gaudet a RBI single to account for the scoring.
The Tigers knocked Gray out of the game in the fourth without recording an out. It was the shortest start of his career as he gave up seven runs on seven hits in three innings, with four walks and three strikeouts. The runs allowed tied a career high set against South Carolina on May 3, 2009.
The slugfest continued in the top of the fifth when Curt Casali belted a three-run homer to right-center with two outs to make it 14-9. It was his sixth homer of the year and third in his last five games.
The Tigers plated four runs in the fifth, two coming on a homer by Austin Nola and two more because of a fielding error by shortstop Brian Harris.
Gibbs solo homer in the seventh tied the game up at 14-14. It was his sixth homer of the year.
The Tigers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the eighth on Blake Dean’s RBI single to left-center.
Down to their last out in the top of the ninth, Anthony Gomez ripped a solo homer to right off of LSU closer Matty Ott to tie the game at 15-15. It was his first collegiate homer and second straight four hit game.
The Commodores and Tigers will play the second game of the three-game set tomorrow night at 6 p.m. CDT. Sophomore right-hander Jack Armstrong (5-1, 3.83 ERA) will take the mound for VU, while LSU’s starter is to be determined.
