Baseball: Tigers drop No. 7 LSU

Last season, the baseball team needed seven games to notch its first victory. This year, it took only three, and it came in an unexpected place. The Tigers capped its season-opening series at No. 7 Louisiana State University with an 8-7 victory on Sunday, handing the hosts their first loss of the season.

The more southern Tigers (11-1) took the first two games of the series, downing Princeton (1-2) 8-2 on Friday and 7-2 on Saturday. The finale was tight early on; each team manufactured a run in the third frame for the only scores through four innings.

Princeton took the lead with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth, aided by some fielding miscues. A throwing error after an infield single by sophomore shortstop Matt Bowman brought home sophomore outfielder Nate Baird, and classmate and outfielder John Mishu followed with another infield hit. Freshman first baseman Mike Ford blasted a double to the gap in left-center, scoring both and giving the visitors a 4-1 lead.

The Tigers added another trio in the following frame, again scoring every run with two outs. Baird plated two with a single and Mishu brought home Baird two batters later, giving Princeton a commanding 7-1 lead.

Sophomore Zak Hermans pitched the first four frames, allowing just one unearned run and fanning four. He was pulled due to an early-season pitch count limit and freshman lefty Michael Fagan entered, throwing three scoreless innings. The Tigers added an insurance run in their half of the eighth when sophomore second baseman Alex Flink singled and scored on a Bowman sacrifice fly, a run that would prove crucial.

LSU finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth. Fagan lost the plate, walking four of the first five batters to force in a run, and outfielder Mason Katz drove in another with a single. Senior reliever Matt Grabowski fared little better, allowing a two-run double to Alex Edward, a run-scoring groundout and an RBI single to freshman JaCoby Jones. But a fielder’s choice with two on and two out ended the rally with the visitors clinging to a one-run lead.

Senior lefty and recently-converted closer David Palms came on for the bottom of the ninth with the score still 8-7. He walked the first two batters he faced, putting the tying and winning runs aboard, and gave Katz an intentional pass after a sacrifice bunt. But Palms induced a popout from Edward to Bowman, and with the game on the line, froze pinch hitter Jackson Slaid with a 3-2 pitch for a strikeout looking, giving the Tigers their first victory and the other Tigers their first loss.

Baseball is a sport dominated by southern schools, which can train and play in an acceptable climate year-round, and few have the history that LSU does. The three-time defending Southeastern Conference champions have won six national titles, including one as recently as 2009. The victory is a program milestone for Princeton, its first win over a top-10 team since beating Virginia in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers next play Holy Cross and Virginia Commonwealth University at the Terry Sisisky Classic, kicking off a stretch of 10 games in nine days over spring break.