For the second day in a row, a similar recipe worked for LSU against West Virginia's pitching staff — being patient and timely hitting.
The Tigers put up two crooked numbers, scoring five runs in the second inning and six runs in the seventh inning, as the Mountaineers were overmatched, falling 12-5, ending their season in the Super Regionals for a second straight season.
It was almost a three-hour delay ahead of West Virginia and LSU in game two of their Super Regional, but it didn’t slow down the Tigers’ offense, which scored 16 runs in game one yesterday.
The first batter of the game, Derek Curiel, hit a double off the wall as LSU was off to the races. WVU starting pitcher Jack Kartsonas struggled with command, just as the Mountaineer pitching staff did on Saturday. Kartsonas escaped the first inning, just allowing one run, but in the second, things fell apart.
Kartsonas faced a 1-2 count with two outs and no one on base. He would end up walking that batter, and eventually walked the bases loaded. LSU then cleared the bases on a double down the right field line, before two more singles plated two more runs, as the Tigers led 6-0 early within the first two innings.
LSU starting pitcher Anthony Eyanson flexed his firepower in the first inning, and WVU seemed to be overmatched early on. He struck out the side in the first inning, and the Mountaineers didn’t get a hit until the third inning.
Kartsonas would end up throwing only two innings on the night, giving up six runs on five hits, while he walked four, throwing 37 strikes on 67 total pitches.
In came Chase Meyer into the game for the Mountaineers, and he would be a steady force on the mound for WVU.
Meyer held the Tigers scoreless in the third and fourth innings before WVU’s offense got on the board in the fourth.
Sam White started things off with a solo home run to get West Virginia on the board, before Ben Lumsden backed him up with a two-run home run later in the inning as the deficit was cut to 6-3. In the fifth, West Virginia added another run, as Armani Guzman walked to start the inning, before he eventually scored on a single from White, as the LSU lead stood at 6-4. West Virginia then had the tying run on second base, with Skylar King at the plate. King would hit a weak line drive to LSU shortstop Steven Milam, ending the threat for the Mountaineers.
In the sixth, the Mountaineers threatened again, as Jace Rinehart was hit by a pitch to start the inning, ending Eyanson’s night.
In came Cooper Williams, as he used nine pitches to get three outs in a row, keeping the Mountaineers at bay.
Meyer and the Mountaineers would run into trouble again in the seventh, as their self-inflicted wounds cost them. Gavin Kelly’s second error of the night allowed the leadoff runner to reach, before a walk and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with no outs. That ended Meyer’s night, and then Reese Bassinger came into the game with things somewhat hanging in the balance. He gave up a single before two more errors extended the inning for LSU. They responded to that with a double from Milam and then a home run from Jake Brown as the Tigers took a 12-4 lead.
Meyer’s night ended with him going 4.0 innings, allowing two hits, one earned run, while he walked four and struck out one. Bassinger officially tallied 0.2 innings of work, allowing four runs on three hits in the process.
LSU's Eyanson finished the night going 5.0 innings, giving up four runs on five hits, walking three, and striking out seven.
Jace Rinehart hit his ninth home run of the season in the eighth inning for WVU, a 427-foot blast to left field.
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