How it happened: Little Rock first baseman Angel Cano homered and drove in five runs as the Trojans rallied back from a 3-0 first inning deficit to upset LSU 10-4. It’s the first time LSU has lost at home in a Regional to a four-seed.
The Tigers and Little Rock will meet Monday night, and the winner will advance to the Super Regionals.
Clutch Cano: The story of Little Rock during the regular season was a rash of injuries and Cano was one of several Trojan players who missed time. Cano came into the Baton Rouge Regional only hitting .217, but he’s now hitting .241 after going 2-for-5 with 5 RBIs and two runs scored.
Cano hit a two-run homer in the second inning after the Tigers scored three runs in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. In the third inning, Cano hit a three-run double to give Little Rock the lead.
He also caught a line drive in the seventh inning off the bat of Tanner Reaves and tagged first base with his glove to double up the base runner Steven Milam.
LSU’s offense disappeared: It looked like LSU was going to have a big offensive night as they scored three runs in the first inning. Stevan Milam’s two-run single gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
But LSU only scored one more time the rest of the night. The Tigers left 10 runners on base. Jared Jones personally left four men on base. The Bear struck out with two men on base in the 6th inning as he’s mired in a 2-for-25 slump.
Little Rock relief pitcher Malcolm Brown was a beast. He entered the game with a 5.50 ERA. Brown had a 10.38 in the Ohio Valley Conference. However, on Sunday night, Brown threw a season-high 89 pitches and allowed just one run in 5.1 innings.
LSU’s pitchers walked 11: Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, Zac Cowan and Casan Evans have been really good for LSU this season. The other Tiger pitchers have struggled with their control at times and that was on full display on Sunday night. LSU walked a season-high 11 hitters on Sunday.
Jaden Noot started, and he walked two. Chase Shores hit 100 miles per hour on the radar gun several times, but he walked three hitters. Jacob Mayers walked four hitters. Seven of the 11 hitters that walked came around to score for Little Rock.
Zac Cowan and Casan Evans need to be on their game on Monday night.
Hat Tip Little Rock: You have to give credit to Little Rock. The Trojans won their first NCAA Tournament game on Saturday and by the time Sunday night ended, they now have three NCAA Tournament wins.
Very impressive, considering they lost 13 of their last 14 regular season games. They have won eight of their last nine and they wake up Monday morning very much believing they can win the Baton Rouge Regional.
I don’t know who Little Rock has left to pitch, but they’ve scored 40 runs in the Baton Rouge Regional after getting shut out in the first game.
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