It was a magical weekend for LSU baseball. Not only did they stay alive over the first two days of the NCAA Baseball Tournament, but the manner in which they did so bordered on the miraculous. Here’s a recap of the games, plus the high school origins of the players who made the thrilling back-to-back comeback wins happen.
On Selection Monday, the Tigers drew the second seed in the Hattiesburg Regional with hosts Southern Miss, Kennesaw State and Army. They opened the series on June 3 with a matchup against third-seeded Kennesaw State. The Owls held an 11-4 lead by the eighth inning, due in large part to four-run innings in the third and fifth. Then the first of LSU’s two comeback wins took shape.
To begin the bottom of the eighth, outfielder Josh Stevenson pinch hit for Collier Cranford. The freshman from St. Thomas More High School in Louisiana was walked on a full count. The next batter, Dylan Crews, was hit by a pitch, advancing Stevenson to second with no outs. Then the scoring carousel began.
Jacob Berry from Queen Creek (AZ) singled up the middle to score Stevenson. The third-ranked player coming out of Arizona sprinted to second just two pitches later, as a right-field single by Josh Pearson allowed Crews to score. Next up was Jordan Thompson, a sophomore from Helix (CA) who was a Perfect Game All-American in 2019 but posted the second-lowest batting average of any LSU starter this season. Thompson drove in a run on a double after four consecutive foul balls, trimming Kennesaw State’s lead to only four.
A pitching change didn’t help the Owls, as first baseman Tre’ Morgan singled to center field, scoring Pearson from third. One pitch later, Cade Doughty moved Morgan, the sophomore from Brother Martin (LA), to second base. A full count walk later, the bases were loaded for Brayden Jobert, who grounded into a fielder’s choice that allowed Morgan to head home.
Stevenson made his second appearance of the half-inning and was again walked on a full count. A double by Crews, the 13th-ranked player in the nation at Lake Mary (FL), sent Doughty and Drew Bianco (pinch running for Jobert) home to give LSU its first lead since the second inning. Stevenson and Crews would eventually score before an inning-ending double play ended a 10-run spurt in the eighth.
Three quick outs later, the comeback was officially complete. LSU had trailed 11-4 against Kennesaw State, but came back to win 14-11 without a single home run. They would now have to face the 11th seed nationally, Southern Miss.
The Tigers matched the Golden Eagles stride-for-stride early on, trailing by only one after three innings. However, they slowly let the game get away as Southern Miss added four more runs by the end of the 8th inning. Down 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth, LSU once again brought some comeback magic to the forefront.
Stevenson, first up to bat in the half-inning, flied out after one pitch. Crews, however, followed that empty at-bat up with a solo home run, cutting the lead to 3. After an unsuccessful plate appearance by Berry, the Tigers were down to their final out.
Pearson chased the first pitch and reached base safely, bringing Doughty up to the plate. He promptly skied a ball to deep right field for a two-run home run. Morgan was hit by a pitch, allowing Bianco to pinch run again. Bianco placed himself in scoring position after stealing second and Thompson took advantage, blasting a single right up the middle to score Bianco and tie the game.
Despite the ninth-inning rally, work still had to be done. The game remained tied after the top of the 10th, setting the stage for a crucial bottom half of the inning. With the bases loaded, West Monroe (LA) native Josh Pearson sent a one-hopper straight to second base, but the throw failed to reach home plate in time, giving LSU the walkoff win. The former high school dual-sport athlete was mobbed by his teammates at first base as the Tigers celebrated the second of their comeback wins, this one against the hosts of the Hattiesburg Regional.
LSU’s back-to-back comeback wins marked only the second instance of such a feat since 1999 in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers’ first comeback against Kennesaw State tied its largest ever in the tournament, a mark set in 1999 when they defeated East Carolina 12-10. There may be a promising future for LSU baseball with several young players, but none of them will ever forget the two comebacks that defined the 2022 season.
