The Tigers fell in a hole early, but they dug their way back out to stave off elimination and send the Titans back to Fullerton:

First off, let's give tons of credit to Paul Mainieri. The M.O. on Mainieri is that he is a passive game manager, and through inaction, he lets the game get away from the team sometime. Well, he went completely against type by announcing radical changes to the batting lineup. He moved Bregman to the leadoff spot, Scivicque to the 3-hole, Sciambra to the middle of the order, and Laird all the way back to the 8-slot. ...

The moves paid off. Bregman got on base the first four times at the plate, including leading off the inning on three different occasions. Sciambra went 2 for 3 before being lifted for a pinch hitter. And Scivicque and Laird each had multi-hit outings and the only two extra base hits of the game. Mainieri took a risk, and that risk paid off in spades.

Things didn't start off so great right off the bat. After getting the first batter to pop out to second, Alex Lange allowed a single, a triple, two more singles, and a sac bunt that put three Titans across the plate. After a walk, he got the final batter of the inning to fly out, but the damage was done. With just one frame in the books, the Tigers were in a 3-0 hole.

After stranding runners on second and third in the second inning, LSU was able to take the lead in the third. Alex Bregman started things off with a single, and Jake Fraley did likewise next. Kade Scivicque scored Bregman and moved Fraley over to third with a third consecutive single. After Connor Hale went down swinging, Chris Sciambra knocked a single that scored Fraley and moved Scivicque to third. Fullerton pulled starter Connor Seabold for Miles Chambers at that point, but it didn't stem the tide.

Andrew Stevenson plated Scivique with a sac fly to tie the game up. Then Chris Chinea smacked a single to left, which moved Sciambra up to second. That allowed Mark Laird to send Sciambra home with another single. Jared Foster then ended the inning with a fly out but not before LSU had taken a 4-3 lead.

Once Lange had that lead, he settled in and mowed down the Titans. From the third inning on, he allowed just two hits and didn't give up a run. The Tigers added a fifth run when Danny Zardon, while pinch hitting for Sciambra, hit a sac fly to send home Scivicque, but Lange wouldn't need it. He went the distance, allowing only those three first inning runs and six hits while striking out ten.

LSU will have a rematch with TCU on Thursday after Vandy took down the Frogs in the day's later game.