The headline from Baton Rouge’s newspaper The Advocate sums things up pretty nicely.
‘We just couldn’t stop them’: Rice reliever Glenn Otto quiets LSU, 10-6, forcing winner-take-all Baton Rouge regional rematch at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
You can read the hometown paper’s take on the game here. The story also has a pretty good photo gallery.
You can also see our Tommy Lavergne’s photo gallery by clicking play below. To enlarge the gallery, click here.
After beating Southeastern Louisiana earlier in the day 15-0, the Owls needed to beat LSU Monday night to set up a game seven. And that they did.
The Owls kept the pedal to the floor and scored 10 runs on 15 hits against the No. 5 team in the nation. All totaled, the Owls scored 25 runs on 29 hits Monday.
Here is Rice baseball SID John Sullivan’s write-up of the game:
With their collective backs to the wall in an elimination game, the Rice baseball team came up with 10 runs on 13 hits for a 10-6 victory over No. 5 ranked LSU late Monday evening in the NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge.
Rice improved to 38-23 on the season and now forces an “extra” Regional game in the NCAA’s double-elimination format. The Owls and national seed LSU (44-19 overall) next play a Championship Final on Tuesday, June 7, where the winner advances to next week’s NCAA Super Regional round. First pitch at Alex Box Stadium is set for 4 pm.
Playing as the home team in the NCAA Tournament format, Rice broke the seal on the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Connor Teykl and Tristan Gray started the inning off with singles, and a one-out walk to Dominic DiCaprio loaded the bases. Teykl made a nifty move to avoid a tag on Dayne Wunderlich’s shallow sacrifice fly and scored the first run of the game. Red-hot Hunter Kopycinski followed with an RBI single to right center, and Charlie Warren added an RBI double to right to plate one more.
LSU battled back for a run in the top of the fourth on three hits. The Owls, however, came right back with a run in the bottom of the frame on a solo shot to right field by Tristan Gray to make it 4-1.
The Tigers then tallied three big runs of their own on two hits. The big blow was a two-run homer by Kramer Robertson. The Owls also walked in a run that tied the score, 4-4.
Rice was unfazed. The Blue & Gray answered with three matching runs on four hits, highlighted by an RBI double by Teykl and RBI single by Chandler that made the score 7-4.
The Owls then added another big three-run frame in the seventh on three hits to stretch the margin 10-4. LSU would not go away so easily at Alex Box Stadium and put another two runs on the board on the strength of Jake Fraley’s two-run homer to right field.
That was the last scoring of the night and the only runs Rice reliever Glenn Otto would allow. He pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the 10-6 final and earn his ninth win of the season. In 4.1 innings of work Otto allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out five but without allowing any walks.
On the offensive side of the ledger the Owls continued the explosive hitting the team enjoyed while eliminating Southeastern Louisiana in the first game of the afternoon. Five Rice players had two or more hits, led by Charlie Warren’s 3-for-5 day with an RBI double and a run scored.
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According to Rice head SID Chuck Pool, “This marks the first time the Owls have won game five and six of a regional since 2009, when they defeated Xavier and Kansas State to force a game seven against the Wildcats.”
There was a scary moment in the game. LSU reliever Austin Bain was struck in the face by a Charlie Warren eighth-inning line drive and had to leave for treatment. After the game, LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said that Bain was in good spirits but Mainieri had yet to meet with the training staff. Mainieri said that the ball hit Bain “right between the eyes.”
In the postgame news conferences, neither LSU’s Mainieri nor Rice head coach Wayne Graham could (or would?) say who their starting pitcher will be Tuesday.
Click below to listen to LSU’s postgame news conference. It includes Tigers Jake Faley, Kramer Robertson and Mainieri.
Following LSU’s news conference, Tristan Gray, Hunter Kopycinski, Glenn Otto and Graham climbed up onto the elevated stage. Click below to listen to the Owls’ comments moments after their second win of the day.
Full stats:
Tomorrow we plan on sharing a laundry list of current media stories on the Owls, including some broadcast clips. And we’ll post a photo gallery from tonight’s game.
Time to sign off. Get some sleep, Owls!