GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
It’s a good thing LSU athletic department and game management officials listened to LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson on Friday night.
LSU officials discussed moving Friday night’s scheduled 6:30 p.m. game at Alex Box Stadium to Saturday because of bad weather at the time with more expected to be on the way, but Johnson insisted the game be played later Friday, which it was.
LSU SHOWS IT CAN WIN A LOW-SCORING GAME, TOO
The No. 5 Tigers and Mississippi State started at 9:06 p.m. and finished the game shortly after midnight with LSU winning, 2-1. LSU won 8-6 on Thursday night with no weather delays in the series opener.
Early Saturday morning, the LSU-Mississippi State scheduled 2 p.m. start on Saturday was moved to 6 p.m. because of bad weather in the forecast. And then as game time approached, more bad weather with lightning and rain moved in, and the 6 p.m. start has just been postponed to a time to be announced later Saturday.
“I just wanted to play tonight,” Johnson said after the 2-1 win.
He did not want to play Friday afternoon, which would have been a good idea as the weather was fine until the 6:30 p.m. game time approached.
“If you remember, I said we’re going to keep it at 6:30 p.m., and we might play a little bit later than that,” Johnson said. “And that’s exactly what happened.”
Had they not played Friday, LSU game officials would have been trying to get two games in on Saturday. And Southeastern Conference rules say no Saturday games can be moved to Sunday because of bad weather, which is a ridiculous rule.
The made-for-TV Thursday night games in the SEC create a natural rain day on Sunday, but the SEC has refused to use Sunday for rainouts. The SEC has a history of ridiculous rules regarding baseball going back for decades. Even when both teams are out of school late in seasons, the league does not want rain-delayed Sunday games moved to Mondays.
Starting pitchers for Saturday’s game were scheduled to be LSU sophomore right-hander Chase Shores (4-1, 4.88 ERA) against senior right-hander Karson Ligon (2-3, 4.76 ERA).
“Officials will continue to monitor the local weather patterns and will determine an updated start time as soon as possible,” an LSU statement said Saturday night.
The game could be rescheduled for a start Saturday night as late as 11:59 p.m., according to SEC rules.
LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM WON ON BIG SCREEN AT ALEX BOX
During the rain delay Friday night, the LSU women basketball team’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 victory over North Carolina State was played on the large video screen in Alex Box Stadium live. LSU came back from a 69-64 deficit over the final four minutes to win 80-73 and reach the Elite Eight with Johnson and his staff and players watching from the dugout and the LSU fans in the stands watching.
“Yeah, I watched it,” Johnson said. “Very tough-minded team, fundamental. They closed it out. Just like we did tonight. Pretty cool.”
LSU will play UCLA at 2 p.m. Sunday on ABC with the Final Four on the line.
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