Tigers sweep Villanova

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Feb 23, 2009 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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For two days, the top-ranked LSU baseball team made things look awfully easy.

As a result, visiting Villanova was at the unsavory end of two lopsided outcomes and came to the new Alex Box Stadium Sunday morning resolute to make sure the third and final game of the series with the Tigers more of a challenge.

The Wildcats achieved their goal, but LSU still managed to find enough firepower and timely relief to withstand a tougher test.

With Austin Ross providing another solid starting effort and Ryan Schimpf remaining red-hot, the Tigers finished off a sweep with a 6-3 triumph.

Villanova (0-3) made a late surge, pushing across two runs and getting the tying run on first base in the top of the eighth inning.

But LSU junior reliever Paul Bertuccini slammed the door when he struck out Matt McFolling and Kyle Carver and logged a scoreless ninth to notch his first save of the season.

“In the end we did find a way to win,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Bertuccini came in and made some big pitches for us as he has his whole career. I told the guys we’re not going to beat everyone by 10 runs every game, so you have to find a way to win the close ones.”

The way the Tigers (3-0) scored their last two runs provided proof they are equipped to manufacture runs when they need to.

LSU pushed across a pair of two-out runs in fourth inning to pad its lead to 5-1, the second run without the ball leaving the infield.
Left fielder Chris McGhee laced a double to left field with one out and swiped third. Two batters later, Landry chased McGhee home when he beat out an infield single with two outs.

Landry stole second with Schimpf at the plate. Schimpf poked a sharp grounder to ’Nova first baseman Kyle Carver, and when Wildcats pitcher Kyle Helisek was a tad slow breaking for first, Schimpf out-raced Carver to the bag for a hit. Landry never slowed down coming around third base and scampered home for a 5-1 LSU advantage.

“We work on base running a lot and Coach (Javi) Sanchez and Coach Mainieri do a great job emphasizing it,” Landry said. “I just hustled all the way. This game is all about hustle. Javi waved me home and I busted my butt all the way and was safe.”

Added Mainieri, “That was a combination of Leon always running the bases extremely hard and Javi making a tremendous decision there to send Leon with two outs. We basically stole a run there on a routine ground ball in the infield.”

Both those scratched-out runs loomed large after Ross escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the sixth inning.