Baton Rouge, La.  – The Wildcats gave LSU all they could handle on game one of the three-game series, but could not close the deal, falling to the Tigers, 8-7 in Baton Rouge.
 
How It Happened
 
LSU got to Louis Lipthratt early after a two-run home run from Cade Doughty, but the right-hander settled down nicely into the middle innings – allowing only one hit through to the fifth.
 
The Wildcats were held hitless until the top of the fifth inning. Boris Peña was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Irvin Escobar reached on a throwing error to put Wildcats on second and third with no outs. Brian Perez laid down a textbook bunt that snuck by Blake Money on the mound – Perez reached first safely, and Peña scored to cut the LSU lead to one.
 
With Perez and Escobar on, Franki Febles took Money deep to left – pulling the Wildcats ahead, 4-2. Money walked Colton Olasin and exited the game. B-CU made quick work of Money's relief – Malik Stephens singled through the left side and Matthew Garcia sent a double to right to score two.
 
"Once Frankie gets going, he gets going," Wildcats head coach Jonathan Hernandez said after the game. "We were confident – the energy was great all game long."
 
LSU answered in the bottom half of the inning with another two-run homer, this time from Jacob Berry, to trim the B-CU lead down to two. With two outs in the inning, the Tigers chased Lipthratt from the game after three straight walks.
 
Knickolas Billings took over for Lipthratt with two outs. The Tigers tied things up at 6-6 after an RBI walk and HBP, but Billings escaped the inning to preserve the tie.
 
An inning later, LSU re-took the lead with a solo shot off of Billings.
 
In the top of the seventh, Febles led another Wildcats rally with a single – he advanced to second base on a wild pitch, and Garcia brought him around to score with his second hit of the day to tie the game at 7-7.
 
The Tigers responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to take the 8-7 lead
 
Lipthratt settled for a no-decision. He tossed 4.2 innings, allowed six runs on six hits with three strikeouts and five walks. Billings worked two innings and took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Amir Asghar worked an inning, allowing just one hit.
 
"I'm proud of our guys – we stepped up today," Hernandez said. "Nobody gave us a shot to hang with the #16 team in the country, and we ended up in a one-run game again.
 
The Wildcats showed no fear in defeat. Febles finished 2-4 with three RBI on the homer and two runs scored. Garcia added two hits of his own with three RBI.
 
"That's just the kind of club we have," Hernandez said. "They know we work and the guys aren't scared of anybody. That's why we schedule these types of games – we know that our student-athletes can handle it. Extremely proud of the fight that our guys had today – we're not going to back down to anybody."
 
 
Notes

• Seven runs is B-CU's second-highest scoring effort of the young season.
• Matthew Garcia notched his seventh multi-hit game of the season.
• B-CU stranded three runners – LSU left nine on base.
• After allowing two earned runs on four hits without recording an out against FIU, Amir Asghar has been excellent out of the pen, allowing only one hit and no walks in four innings across three appearances.

 
Up Next
The Wildcats have a chance to even up the series tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. EST.  
 
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