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Wofford falls to LSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament
Terriers face LIU at noon tomorrow
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Southern Conference champion Wofford baseball team had the defending national champion LSU on the ropes early with a 2-0 lead going into the seventh inning at Boshamer Stadium Friday afternoon, but the Tigers ultimately came back to win 4-3 in a tight contest. The third-seeded Terriers drop to 41-19 after the first game of the Chapel Hill Regional, and the second-seeded Tigers improve to 41-21.
"I thought it was a good game," said head coach J.J. Edwards "I felt like (Gage) J ump was settling in, and we got to him early, and then he really got rolling and got that breaking ball on the plate. And we needed to score early and w e did. And then we were just trying to hang on for dear life because those guys got rolling a little bit . J ump got rolling and kind of kept our bats down, and we couldn't run our offense because we were n ' t getting on to start. Branton (Little) was phenome nal for us as he's sitting up here with us. He was phenomenal – kept them off balance . I feel like we were asking him to do a lot ... throw four pitches on the plate . He was competing, winning a lot of 3 - 2 pitches and just kind of ran out of steam in the end. "
Branton Little started on the bump in Wofford's first regional game since 2007, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings with just two hits and three walks allowed. He struck out three batters. Kenny Michaels pitched 2.0 innings as the first of two out of the bullpen, allowing only one run on one hit. He struck out two and walked just one. Alec Bouchard (0-5) suffered the loss after giving up three runs on three hits in 1.0 inning of work with a strikeout.
"I was able to get my fastball in and cutter on plate and then kind of expanding, being able to get that changeup on the plate is something I haven't been able to do a lot against righties this year," said Little of hits outing. "But being able to mix that in, it helped and continuing to make pitches in big spots and allo wing our guys to get a chance. "
LSU reliever Griffin Herring (5-1) secured the win with a scoreless inning of work as the final Tiger out of the bullpen.
Wofford out-hit LSU in the contest by a 7-6 margin. Brice Martinez led the way with three of the knocks as the only Terrier with multiple hits, one of which was a double. Daniel Jackson added a double to extend his on-base streak to 49 contests, and Jack Renwick's lone hit was a solo home run, his fifth of the season. Lucas Manning and Andrew Mannelly each added a hit. Mannelly, Renwick and Tyler Hare added an RBI each for Wofford's three runs. The lone steal for the Terriers came from Manning.
Despite the Terriers tallying one more hit, LSU relied heavily on the long ball. The Tigers hit four solo home runs that ultimately proved the difference.
After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, Wofford struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Daniel Jackson opened the frame with a double to right center, and David Wiley bunted him over to third. The Terriers manufactured their first run with a Tyler Hare sacrifice fly. Lucas Manning added a single and then swiped second base, and Andrew Mannelly's RBI single through the right side pushed Manning home for the 2-0 lead.
Pitching settled in for both teams from there as Branton Little pitched a 1-2-3 frame in the bottom of the second to kick off five-straight scoreless innings for both teams. From the third to the sixth inning, Little and then Kenny Michaels (sixth inning) stranded one Tiger on base per frame to hold LSU scoreless. But the Tigers broke through with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to halve the margin, 2-1.
However, Wofford responded immediately. Jack Renwick clubbed a solo shot of his own to left field in top of the eighth to push the Terrier advantage to 3-1.
But the Tigers played long ball twice more in the bottom of the frame. A pair of solo homers in the bottom of the eighth leveled the game at 3-3 entering the ninth.
After Wofford was unable to score in the top of the frame, LSU came to bat in the bottom of the inning. Carrying its momentum to the plate, the Tigers hit a walk-off solo home run to escape with a 4-3 win.
"Yeah, we got a tough group of guys," said senior Jack Renwick of needing to bounce back in the losers' bracket. "We're a close group of guys also. We know what it takes to come out and compete, so we'll stick to that. We'll always lean back on how close we are as a group, and we'll come back and compete. "
"I thought it was a good game," said head coach J.J. Edwards "I felt like (Gage) J ump was settling in, and we got to him early, and then he really got rolling and got that breaking ball on the plate. And we needed to score early and w e did. And then we were just trying to hang on for dear life because those guys got rolling a little bit . J ump got rolling and kind of kept our bats down, and we couldn't run our offense because we were n ' t getting on to start. Branton (Little) was phenome nal for us as he's sitting up here with us. He was phenomenal – kept them off balance . I feel like we were asking him to do a lot ... throw four pitches on the plate . He was competing, winning a lot of 3 - 2 pitches and just kind of ran out of steam in the end. "
Branton Little started on the bump in Wofford's first regional game since 2007, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings with just two hits and three walks allowed. He struck out three batters. Kenny Michaels pitched 2.0 innings as the first of two out of the bullpen, allowing only one run on one hit. He struck out two and walked just one. Alec Bouchard (0-5) suffered the loss after giving up three runs on three hits in 1.0 inning of work with a strikeout.
"I was able to get my fastball in and cutter on plate and then kind of expanding, being able to get that changeup on the plate is something I haven't been able to do a lot against righties this year," said Little of hits outing. "But being able to mix that in, it helped and continuing to make pitches in big spots and allo wing our guys to get a chance. "
LSU reliever Griffin Herring (5-1) secured the win with a scoreless inning of work as the final Tiger out of the bullpen.
Wofford out-hit LSU in the contest by a 7-6 margin. Brice Martinez led the way with three of the knocks as the only Terrier with multiple hits, one of which was a double. Daniel Jackson added a double to extend his on-base streak to 49 contests, and Jack Renwick's lone hit was a solo home run, his fifth of the season. Lucas Manning and Andrew Mannelly each added a hit. Mannelly, Renwick and Tyler Hare added an RBI each for Wofford's three runs. The lone steal for the Terriers came from Manning.
Despite the Terriers tallying one more hit, LSU relied heavily on the long ball. The Tigers hit four solo home runs that ultimately proved the difference.
After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, Wofford struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Daniel Jackson opened the frame with a double to right center, and David Wiley bunted him over to third. The Terriers manufactured their first run with a Tyler Hare sacrifice fly. Lucas Manning added a single and then swiped second base, and Andrew Mannelly's RBI single through the right side pushed Manning home for the 2-0 lead.
Pitching settled in for both teams from there as Branton Little pitched a 1-2-3 frame in the bottom of the second to kick off five-straight scoreless innings for both teams. From the third to the sixth inning, Little and then Kenny Michaels (sixth inning) stranded one Tiger on base per frame to hold LSU scoreless. But the Tigers broke through with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to halve the margin, 2-1.
However, Wofford responded immediately. Jack Renwick clubbed a solo shot of his own to left field in top of the eighth to push the Terrier advantage to 3-1.
But the Tigers played long ball twice more in the bottom of the frame. A pair of solo homers in the bottom of the eighth leveled the game at 3-3 entering the ninth.
After Wofford was unable to score in the top of the frame, LSU came to bat in the bottom of the inning. Carrying its momentum to the plate, the Tigers hit a walk-off solo home run to escape with a 4-3 win.
"Yeah, we got a tough group of guys," said senior Jack Renwick of needing to bounce back in the losers' bracket. "We're a close group of guys also. We know what it takes to come out and compete, so we'll stick to that. We'll always lean back on how close we are as a group, and we'll come back and compete. "