LSU (44-18) can advance to the Super Regional beginning Friday at home with a win in a scheduled 7 p.m. game Monday against the victor of Rice (36-23) and Southeastern Louisiana (40-20), which are scheduled to play at 2 p.m. Monday – weather permitting.
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Then he threw another two and two-thirds, limiting Rice to one hit with four more strikeouts for a 4-2 win over the Owls to keep LSU undefeated in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU pitcher Jared Poche’ (16) pitches in the first inning of an NCAA college regional baseball game against Utah Valley in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, June 3, 2016.
All Baton Rouge Regional games are available on ESPN3.com.
Utah Valley was making its NCAA Tournament debut.
“To give up the three runs early, and then for Jackson to hold them right where they were and for us to keep fighting back, that shows what type of club they are”, UVU coach Eric Madsen said in a team release.
“So I don’t think there is any more pressure on anybody to get the job done tomorrow as their is in any other game”. He pitched great all night in typical fashion, wiggled out of a couple of jams with some clutch pitches. As Graham knows, the oldest axiom in baseball is that good pitching always beats good hitting. We’ve taken good care of him all year.
Rice righthander Dane Myers, who provided a nine-out save for Rice in a 7-2 victory over SLU that was suspended Saturday night and resumed Sunday, made his first start Monday night, giving up six hits through his first four innings.
LSU, which won its 27th-consecutive regional opening game, capitalized on six solid innings of work by starter Jared Poche’ (8-4). His performance helped the Green Wave save their bullpen for the championship game against Boston College.
“I thought that Lange probably threw the best breaking ball that we’ve seen this year”. LSU trailed Rice, 3-0, Monday night in the third inning, and Riley Smith replaced LSU starter Caleb Gilbert to start the third.
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LSU would tack on two more runs in the eighth inning. Greg Deichmann followed with an RBI single to right, scoring Robertson to make it 3-1. He pitched into the ninth inning – despite a 56-minute rain delay in the top of the sixth – allowing only two runs on five hits with a pair of walks and 10 strikeouts.
