USC drops series to LSU, heads to Hoover with season on the line
LSU clinched the SEC regular-season championship before Saturday night’s game against South Carolina when Vanderbilt lost earlier in the day.
If the Gamecocks had any hopes the Tigers would relax with that news, LSU quickly extinguished them by playing like champions in an 8-1 victory at Carolina Stadium to win the rubber game of the series.
Freshman right-hander Alex Lange dominated the Gamecocks for five innings, and Alex Bregman and Chris Chinea combined for four hits, two home runs, and five RBIs in LSU’s 11-hit attack.
“LSU is a phenomenal team. They had a great regular season. They’re as advertised, obviously,” USC coach Chad Holbrook said. “I was extremely impressed by their pitching staff today. The Lange kid was as dominant of a young freshman pitcher as I’ve seen in this league in a long time. Our guys were ready to play. We had some juice and energy. He just stuffed us.”
South Carolina fell to 32-24 overall and 13-17 in the SEC, the program’s first losing record in the conference since 1997, former coach Ray Tanner’s first season. The Gamecocks won only three of 10 SEC series. The Tigers, who are ranked No. 1 nationally by Baseball America, improved to 46-9 overall and 21-8 in the SEC by winning nine of 10 conference series.
“I’m a big believer that every time you put the uniform on, you have a responsibility to represent your university and to respect the game and to go play the game the right way,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “I asked our starting players after we found out we won (the championship) if they didn’t want to play, and they said, ‘No, we want to play. Let’s go out and have some fun. and play the game hard.’ I thought they went out there and played remarkably well.”
The Gamecocks will be the No. 10 seed in the first round of the SEC tournament at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium. They’ll face No. 7 seed Missouri on Tuesday at approximately 2 p.m. Holbrook admitted the Gamecocks likely have their season on the line.
“We’ll move on to Tuesday and see if we can play well,” Holbrook said. “We have an opportunity to play in the postseason as far as the SEC tournament is concerned, and if we can play our best baseball down there, who knows?”
Lange didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, when Marcus Mooney lined an RBI single to help USC cut the lead to 5-1. Lange (10-0), a freshman right-hander, handcuffed the Gamecocks in his five-inning stint, as he struck out nine to lower his ERA to 2.11.
“LSU is a great program. They have a great pitching staff. Lange came out and had some good stuff tonight,” USC first baseman Kyle Martin said. “We couldn’t pick up on the slider very well. It is what it is. We’ve got a new season starting Tuesday, and we’re going to take one game at a time.”
Mooney was disappointed the Gamecocks couldn’t win the series after capturing the first game Thursday night.
“As a team you think when you get the first one, there’s a little pressure off your back. You want to come out and at least get one of the next two,” Mooney said. “They’re a great team all-around, and they certainly proved why they’re No. 1.”
He admitted the season has not gone as expected, especially with the losing conference record.
“We had high expectations before the season started,” Mooney said. “It was a little bit of a letdown, but we’re not done. We’re going to keep clawing and fighting in the SEC tournament.”
The Tigers jumped on USC starter Taylor Widener (1-5) early in the game, scoring a pair of runs in the second and third innings to take a 4-0 lead. Chinea, who leads LSU with 11 homers and 53 RBIs, blasted a two-run homer in the second.
The following inning, Bregman, who’s likely to go in the first round of next month’s MLB draft, drilled a solo shot, his ninth home run of the season.
Nagging injuries did not help USC’s cause, as both second baseman Max Schrock (wrist) and outfielder Elliott Caldwell (knee) had to leave during the game after begging their way into the starting lineup. Their status may determine how far USC can go in the SEC tournament.
“We’re capable, but we have to play some great baseball and we have to get healthy,” Holbrook said. “It’s going to be a struggle without Max and Elliott in there. Hopefully, they can get to a point where they can play Tuesday, but I don’t know if they can.”
The Tigers, who outhit the Gamecocks 11-2, poured on three more runs in the eighth inning off four USC relievers to put the game away. The only bright spot for USC came in the bottom of the eighth, when Martin singled in his final at-bat at Carolina Stadium. The senior was taken out at that point to a big round of applause from the fans.
“I kind of figured it was my last AB of the year here. It was really tough, but I’m glad I at least got out with a hit,” said Martin, who’s hitting .352 with 14 homers and 56 RBIs. “Coming off to the standing ovation, it was great. I’m going to miss the fans, and I’m going to miss the atmosphere here.”
Martin doesn’t want to see his career end Tuesday.
“We’ll come out as aggressive as possible. We know what’s at stake,” said Martin, whose eight-inning hit was the 200th of his career.
Holbrook isn’t ready to stop playing just yet either.
“I just want to go down there and play our butts off on Tuesday, see if we can win, compete in the double-elimination part of the tournament and see what happens,” he said.
BOX SCORE: LSU 8, South Carolina 1
This story was originally published May 16, 2015 at 11:35 PM.