Second baseman Cade Doughty launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to lift LSU to a 4-3 win over Georgia in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
LSU (29-14, 12-9 in SEC) returns to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when they play host to Nicholls in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game will be broadcast on 98.1-FM and streamed on SEC Network +.
LSU entered the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday trailing 3-2, but third baseman Jacob Berry led off the frame with a single off of Georgia reliever Jaden Woods. Doughty followed with a blast into the left-field bleachers, giving the Tigers the victory.
The homer was Doughty’s 10th of the season and his second walk-off hit of the year. He provided a walk-off single to defeat Missouri, 4-3, on April 22.
“I am extremely proud of our team today,” LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson said. “This was a great victory against a Top 5 RPI team, and to win two out of three here at home is awesome. I felt like we deserved to win the game with the way we played today. We maybe didn’t play our best, and it was hard, but I thought we deserved to win. It was great getting Cade up in the ninth with a chance to do it; I just looked at him and thought, ‘Man, we’re going to win this game right now.’”
Woods, who entered the game at the beginning of the bottom of the ninth, fell to 1-1 with the loss.
LSU reliever Paul Gervase (2-1) earned the win after pitching a perfect top of the ninth inning for the Tigers, including one strikeout.
LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews unloaded two solo homers in the contest, one in the first inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead, and one in the fifth to tie the contest at 2-2. Crews increased his season total of home runs to 13.
Georgia (30-14, 12-9 in SEC) reclaimed the lead in the eighth when third baseman Buddy Floyd was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on pitcher Devin Fontenot’s errant pickoff attempt, and scored on a sacrifice fly by centerfielder Ben Anderson.
LSU starting pitcher Samuel Dutton combined with relievers Grant Taylor, Fontenot and Gervase to limit Georgia to just two earned runs on four hits with nine strikeouts.
Dutton worked a career-long 4.2 innings, limiting the Bulldogs to two runs on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Fontenot pitched three hitless innings, allowing only an unearned run with no walks and four strikeouts.
“I’m proud of our pitchers, they’ve done a great job for us all year,” Johnson said. “What you can’t quantify is how mentally solid they are and how competitive they are.”
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