Caleb Gilbert offered an emphatic response to any questions of his fitness to remain in the weekend rotation, even if Mother Nature made LSU wait until morning to even up its series against Vanderbilt.
LSU defeated Vanderbilt 6-2 in a game resumed from Saturday night with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Gilbert pitched seven strong innings of two-run ball to give LSU a chance at a resounding road series win, which would be its first in Nashville since 2005.
Game 3 of the series will start at 12 p.m. Sunday, and it will be a seven-inning game that will be televised on ESPN2. Ma’Khail Hilliard will start for LSU while Vanderbilt has yet to announce a starting pitcher.
LSU grabbed a 1-0 in the top of the first inning when rightfielder Antoine Duplantis launched a solo homer to right-centerfield, his second dinger of the season. The Tigers extended the lead to 3-0 in the second against Vanderbilt starter Patrick Raby on an RBI triple by leftfielder Daniel Cabrera and a run-scoring double by third baseman Chris Reid.
Vanderbilt scored its first run against Gilbert in the bottom of the sixth on rightfielder JJ Bleday’s run-scoring single, but LSU responded with two runs in the top of the seventh. Shortstop Hal Hughes and second baseman Brandt Broussard each delivered RBI singles to extend the lead to 5-1.
The Commodores narrowed the deficit to 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by leftfielder Alonzo Jones. LSU answered back again with a run in the top of the eighth on a two-out RBI single by designated hitter Beau Jordan.
Nick Bush, who replaced Gilbert to begin the eighth, returned to record the game’s final four outs for LSU.
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