GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Tennessee, known for its oft-played “Rocky Top” song, had a rocky bottom of the ninth at Alex Box Stadium early Saturday morning.
Jared Jones hit THE dramatic home run of No. 4 LSU’s season so far with a three-run, two-out, 452-foot bomb over the center field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-3 victory over No. 5 Tennessee at Alex Box Stadium at 1:17 a.m. Saturday. Because of lightning, the game was pushed to a 9:50 p.m. start from its original scheduled first pitch of 6:30 p.m.
“There’s no better team at 1 in the morning than the LSU Tigers. That’s for darn sure,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson, whose team won two games over Mississippi State in the 1 a.m. hour in March at the Box because of weather delays.
Tennessee appeared to be at the top of the hill entering LSU’s home ninth after taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the ninth and was up 2-0 in the eighth. The Vols led since taking a 1-0 advantage in the sixth and were chirping and talking from the dugout most of the game as LSU had all of one hit through the first five innings off Tennessee lefty starter Liam Doyle.
So immediately after Jones launched his one-ball-and-two-strike moonshot off reliever Nate Snead toward Tiger Stadium, he stood perfectly still for a full three seconds at the plate watching it go. Then he turned and taunted the Tennessee dugout before taking his time rounding the bases with his team-high 14th home run, further aggravating the Vols, as Alex Box exploded.
The celebration continued at home plate as his jumping and rowdy teammates met him. Umpires quickly jumped in to make sure nothing happened between the two teams.
“What a game! Wow! It’s 2 a.m., and I’ll probably have a hard time sleeping tonight,” Johnson said.
LSU-TENNESSEE IS THE SERIES OF WEEKEND AGAIN
At least, LSU (35-8, 13-6 SEC) and Tennessee (34-8, 12-7 SEC) do not play again until 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU. Former five-time national champion LSU coach Skip Bertman will be signing autographs of his biography “Everything Matters In Baseball” from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. before joining a 25-year reunion celebration of his 2000 team – his fifth and final national championship team.
The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak, which included an embarrassing, 13-3, loss to Northwestern State on Tuesday in a game that was called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule.
LSU had two heroes before Jones in the ninth and a lot of help from Tennessee third baseman Dean Curley.
Ethan Frey started Tennessee’s “Good Ol’ Rocky” bottom of the ninth by reaching first base with a grounder to third on Curley’s airmail throw to first base. After Snead struck out Steven Milam, Curley booted Jake Brown’s grounder to third to put runners on first and second with one out.
Tanner Reaves then walked to load the bases, and the Box was fully awake as the clock ticked well past 1 a.m.
“I saw fans leaving earlier,” Johnson said. “Then I looked up in the ninth, and they were back.”
Then hero No. 1 stepped up in pinch-hitter/sometimes pitcher Dalton Beck, who was hitting .167 (1-for-6) on the season at the time. And Beck drilled a laser right back at Snead and into center field to get LSU on the board as he drove in two runs to cut Tennessee’s lead to 3-2.
“We gave a couple free bases,” Tennessee coach Tony Vitello said. “And then you’re one strike away and couldn’t get it done. They call on a guy (Beck) that is a two-way guy and he did what he needed to do— smoke the ball up the middle. But free bases in that inning is not a good idea.”
After Chris Stanfield flew out to left field for the second out, hero No. 2 walked to the plate. Derek Curiel delivered a two-out single on a one-ball-and-two-strike count to tie the game 3-3 at 1:15 a.m.
And then came Jones for his Warren Morris moment and the Tigers’ first walk-off win of the season.
“Derek Curiel did his job, and Jared, wow! What a night,” Johnson said.
Jones got LSU’s first hit in the sixth inning off Doyle with a single and stole second, but Daniel Dickinson flew out to center to end that inning. Pinch-hitter Josh Pearson got LSU’s next hit in the seventh with a two-out single after Jake Brown had walked. But pinch-hitter Ashton Larson flew out to left field.
LSU pitcher Jacob Mayers (1-0) picked up the win with an inning of relief in which he allowed one hit and one run. LSU starter Kade Anderson struck out 11 in seven and a third innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks. Snead (3-1) gave up all six runs on four hits in an inning and two-thirds for the loss. Doyle struck out six and allowed one hit and three walks in six and two-thirds innings.
“Just proud of the team,” Johnson said. “There’s rosters, and then there’s teams. This is a team. And they keep fighting.”
He liked the crowd, too.
“They came back,” he said.
Like the “Rocky Top” song says with a little editing, “Good Ol’ Alex Box, you’ll always be home sweet home to me.”
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