Box it up

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Published: May 12, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 1 a.m.

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After two games of slapping the ball all over (and out of) Alex Box Stadium, the LSU baseball team had to find a much different approach Sunday against Mississippi State in the final game of a Southeastern Conference series.

And the Tigers had to adjust their method on a day dripping with emotion and reminiscence with a season-best crowd of 6,556 eager to send an old friend out on the best note possible.

Two weeks ago, finding a way to win with so many distractions around them might have been too much for the Tigers. Now no hurdle seems to be formidable enough.

Resurgent LSU reached deep for some grit and guile to grind past the Bulldogs 9-6 on a historic day — perhaps the last one in the 70-year history of Alex Box Stadium.

On the heels of their best two offensive outbursts of the SEC season, the Tigers (35-16-1, 15-11-1) didn’t conjure up much firepower Sunday against State’s best starter (Justin Pigott) or two relievers.

Didn’t matter, though, as LSU swept a third consecutive SEC series for the first time since 1991 when the Tigers’ first national championship team turned the trick against Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Florida.

By sweeping State, LSU maintained a 1‰-game lead over Alabama and Ole Miss in the West Division. The Tigers close out the regular season with a road game against UNO at Zephyr Field on Tuesday and a three-game set at Auburn starting Thursday.

“I really would have enjoyed winning 15-6 again because my stomach was really churning (Sunday),” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said with a smile. “We weren’t at our best in anything, including coaching, but we fought through it and found a way to win.”

Blake Dean pumped a solo home run in the bottom of the first, but that was LSU’s only thunder on a day when it produced nine hits. Instead, the Tigers would have made McGyver proud with the way they created scoring opportunities on the way to a 12th
consecutive victory.

LSU scratched out two runs on wild pitches, another was set up by a passed ball, one came home on a sacrifice fly, a two-out outfield error plated one and two more scored on two-out singles. Fresh off of 15- and 16-run eruptions, the Tigers never produced more than two hits or scored more than two runs in an inning Sunday.

After erasing an early 2-0 deficit with Dean’s blast and a two-run third, LSU’s ensuing four runs were unearned.

“You have to take advantage of every chance you get,” Dean said. “No matter how you get on, you have to find a way to score when you get a break.

“Right now we’re playing so well that no matter what we feel like, we know what we have to do to take advantage of the chances we get.”