LSU baseball downs North Carolina to force if necessary game at Chapel Hill Regional
When you're hot, you're hot.
LSU baseball's Josh Pearson found something. Through the first two days of the Chapel Hill Regional, he managed one hit. Entering Sunday with the Tigers' season on the brink, the junior lefty came out his shell in both games, the 13-6 come-from-behind win over No. 3 Wofford earlier to set up the game with No. 1 North Carolina in the NCAA regional bracket final.
Pearson smashed a two-run home run in his trip at the plate against the Tar Heels for his sixth RBI of the day as No. 2 Tigers defeated UNC 8-4 at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday night.
The win sets up the if-necessary game between LSU (43-22) and North Carolina (44-14) on Monday with the first pitch time to be determined.
REQUIRED READING LSU baseball rallies again to beat Wofford to advance in NCAA regional bracket
LSU baseball offense stays scolding hot in Chapel Hill Regional, led by Josh Pearson
At this point, LSU probably doesn't want Sunday to end. It played two elimination games in the Chapel Hill Regional and won both as the bats charged the voltage.
The Tigers pumped out 21 hits in the win over Wofford earlier in the day and followed that up with 11 hits that scored eight runs.
Pearson drove in the game's first two runs as his teammates stacked quality, effective at-bats. Five different LSU players batted in at least one run, Steven Milam had a team-high three hits, while six guys recorded at least one hit. Pearson and Hayden Travinski each had a pair of hits.
On the day, Pearson went 4-for-8 with two homers and two doubles along with six RBIs and five runs scored.
LSU's Thatcher Hurd puts together best performance of season at right time in NCAA regional bracket
Hurd hadn't pitched more than two innings in a game since March 24. He hadn't pitched more than five innings in a game since March 17, the third week of the 2024 season.
With the Tigers' season on the brink, LSU's Opening Day starter found within himself his best outing of the season, traversing 5⅔ frames, giving up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts. The first hit he gave up came in the fourth inning.
A pitcher was going to have to step up to force the if-necessary game and there might not have been much confidence that Hurd was going to be the guy that was going to set the Tigers up to get to Monday. But the junior had his best stuff, his fastball was electrifying and he dotted his slider and offspeed pitches when he needed.
North Carolina has success against LSU pitchers with two outs
That first hit Hurd gave up came with two outs in the fourth, a double from Parks Harber. Next at-bat, UNC's Anthony Donofrio singled down the first base line and Harber easily scored.
Three of North Carolina's four runs came with two outs.
The two other games that LSU won in the Chapel Hill Regional, both against Wofford, the pitching staff hasn't allowed any more than two, two-outs runs.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball beats North Carolina to reach NCAA regional bracket final
