LSU belts two grand slams, tops West Virginia 16-9 in Super Regional series opener

BATON ROUGE, La. — West Virginia’s best recipe for success against LSU in Saturday’s Super Regional series opener was a lengthy start from Griffin Kirn.

When Kirn got pulled in the bottom of the fifth inning after allowing a leadoff single, the Mountaineers faced a two-run deficit. 

That proved to be the first of three pitching changes in the frame, which the No. 6 Tigers scored seven runs in to open up a sizable lead in their 16-9 victory against the Mountaineers at Alex Box Stadium.

“Kirn has been so good for us all year. He’s our workhorse. I didn’t think Kirn was quite as sharp,” first-year WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “It probably had something to do with the fact that he threw twice in a week for the first time all season last weekend when he started Game 1 of the regional and closed out the regional. With the conditions being so hot and humid, a little bit shorter rest for him, he wasn’t quite as crisp. It wasn’t about the results. He gave up a couple runs, but it was more about the crispness of the pitches.”

LSU (47-15) will look to close out the best-of-three series at 6 p.m. (EST) Sunday after moving to within one win of its 20th trip to the College World Series.

WVU (44-15) led 1-0 after consecutive singles from Sam White and Gavin Kelly to start the second inning were followed by productive outs from Skylar King and Jace Rinehart, the latter of which allowed White to score.

Although an error and hit batter in the Tigers’ half of the second created a lengthy inning for Kirn, he managed to prevent LSU from scoring until the fourth. 

With WVU in front by one to start that inning, Kirn hit both Luis Hernandez and Daniel Dickinson in back-to-back plate appearances. Freshman Derek Curiel followed with a three-run home run to left that put the Tigers on top for good.

“We set the table with two hit by pitches and both were with two strikes, so those were really important,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. ”The free bases are like turnovers in football. You want to capitalize on them and we certainly did today.”

The Mountaineers brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the fifth, but LSU starter Kade Anderson induced a fly ball to right off the bat of Logan Sauve for the final out of that inning.

The bottom of that frame proved disastrous for WVU, with the Tigers sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on only four hits.

Kirn was lifted after allowing a leadoff single to Josh Pearson on his 82nd pitch. Kirn had thrown 113 or more pitches in four of his last five starts prior to Saturday, but also pitched two days after his most recent start, marking the only time this season he’s appeared in more than one game over a week. 

“I felt like Griffin was out of gas,” Sabins said. “His velocity was lower than it had been in weeks. His crispness was lower than it had been in weeks. His command was less than it had been in weeks. We have a really good team. It takes our depth and everybody if we’re going to win at the highest level. We didn’t think he was the best option there.”

On came J.J. Glassock, who threw a first-pitch strike, and then eight consecutive balls to walk Ethan Frey and Jared Jones. Glasscock was replaced by Cole Fehrman, who immediately surrendered a grand slam to Steven Milam, giving LSU a 7-1 lead and strengthening an already raucous home environment of 12,093.

Ferhman hit and walked the only other batters he faced before being lifted for Tyler Hutson, who surrendered Curiel’s run-scoring single and Chris Stanfield’s two-run single to make it a 10-1 lead for the Tigers.

While both Glasscock and Fehrman were utilized on the mound last Sunday in a 13-12 victory against Kentucky to wrap up the Clemson Regional, the duo has combined to pitch only 12.2 innings all season.

“We felt as a staff we’d be better off going to someone else. We had some pitchers throughout the season make some big jumps and there’s always some risk associated with it, but it’s kind of like Armani Guzman starting last weekend really paying off and Ben Lumsden,” Sabins said. “Those guys hadn’t been in the lineup as much. Some of these pitchers have been really great throughout some smaller, shorter outings and sim games. We think they’re ready to compete at the highest level and they certainly are. It didn’t go their way this week, but when you trail in a game, there’s always some balance of making sure you try to win the game, but also that you have enough arms to compete in the series.”

West Virginia responded with four runs on four hits in the sixth, getting a two-run single from King to draw to within 10-3, a run-scoring single from pinch-hitter Chase Swain and a throwing error from Milam at shortstop that enabled the visitors to pull to within five.

“We have a talented offense and we don’t strikeout very often and that’s what Kade Anderson has success doing,” Sabins said. “The length of the at bats allowed us to score runs. It’s also hard out there as a pitcher because of the heat.” 

But any thought of an improbable rally was put to rest and then some when LSU came to bat in the sixth and scored six runs despite only managing a pair of hits.

Luke Lyman came on for Hutson with runners at second and third and one out and added to the Mountaineers’ control issues by hitting Daniel Dickison to start his outing and then walking Curiel and Ashton Larson to force in two more runs.

Pearson followed with LSU’s second grand slam of the day — this one to right — leaving WVU with a 16-5 deficit in a game that had one total run two innings prior.

“We have a really deep team this year. We have guys that could play in the big leagues that don’t start,” Pearson said. “What makes a great team is guys owning their role and whatever their role is that day.”

A two-run home run from Kelly in the seventh brought the Mountaineers to within nine and continued a trend of quality at bats against Anderson as his outing progressed. 

Kyle West provided West Virginia with its second two-run home run in the ninth, marking his team-leading 11th homer this season.

The Mountaineers finished with an 11-8 advantage in hits, but had four baserunners off walks and hit batsmen compared to LSU’s 13.

Kirn suffered the loss, allowing four runs on two hits in four innings. He struck out three and walked one.

Anderson picked up the win despite allowing a career-high seven runs, six of which were earned. College baseball’s strikeout leader added to his total with seven more, while walking two and surrendering nine hits.

“An outing like today where I give up a lot of runs, my guys have my back,” Anderson said. “That’s the definition of a true team.”