LSU baseball loses lead late as Vanderbilt evens SEC series thanks to 2-out RBIs
BATON ROUGE — A one-run lead was never safe.
Game two between No. 18 LSU baseball and No. 6 Vanderbilt Friday night inside Alex Box Stadium featured three ties and six lead changes, but none of which were larger than one run.
The Tigers clung to a one-run lead entering the eighth but the Commodores second baseman Jayden Davis, who had been trouble for Tiger pitchers all game long, lifted a pitch from reliever Nate Ackenhausen out into the bleacher in the Diamond Deck beyond the right field wall. The two-run homer regained the lead for Vanderbilt, who went on to win, 8-6, and tied the series up at one game each.
Davis finished the game with four RBIs to ignite the Dores (24-7, 7-4 SEC). The search for its first SEC series win on the season for LSU (21-11, 3-8 SEC) will go to the rubber match with Vandy on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m., SEC Network+).
Tommy Tanks powers LSU baseball's barrage of early home runs
LSU junior third baseman Tommy White really likes a 1-0 count. Tommy Tanks, as he's more affectionately called by fans, faced two 1-0 counts in his first two at-bats of the game and he parked both of them in the first and third frames, both giving LSU the lead.
For his efforts, Vanderbilt starting pitcher Bryce Cunningham pegged him in the back on the first pitch of his third at-bat.
White came into the game second on the team in home runs and now has the lead with 11. White has recorded a hit in the last seven games.
Freshman Ashton Larson, who started in left field, led off the third with a solo home run.
LSU pitchers struggle to get off the field as Vanderbilt finds success with 2 outs
Both home runs Vandy hit were with two outs. And both gave the Commodores the lead.
R.J. Austin cranked a two-run shot in the third that put Vandy up for the first time Friday night. Davis' two-run blast gave his team its only other lead on the night, 7-6, in the eighth.
For the game, LSU pitchers gave up six runs after recording two outs. The Tigers didn't manage any two-out RBIs as they stranded six runners on base.
LSU baseball thrives in getting leadoff hitter on base
The Tigers batted ahead for much of the game against Vanderbilt on Friday night. LSU's leadoff hitter reached base in four of nine innings.
And the offense fed off the early success in frames, scoring at least one run in four frames, allowing the team to answer back when Vanderbilt tied the game back up in the previous half inning.
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Freshman Steven Milam drew a walk to open the fifth and he later scored to put LSU up 5-4. Next inning, junior shortstop Michael Braswell had a stand-up double. Braswell scored three batters later off of Mac Bingham's grounder that regained the lead for the Tigers, 6-5.
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 loses lead late as Vanderbilt evens SEC series
