“A” FOR EFFORT: Jaguars put Tigers to the test but fail to pull out the victory

The Southern Jaguars baseball team received a moral victory and an edge in humbleness on Tuesday, March 17 when they took on the No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers at Lee Hines Field. The Jaguars showed that if they just play ball but they can hang with anybody in the country.
That night, the Jaguars came in the game 3-10 with nothing to lose. LSU, 18-2, was ranked No. 1 in at least one poll in the country. The Jaguars started freshman pitcher Tyler Robinson. Robinson pitched eight scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Robinson kept the Tiger’s hitters guessing as he only allowed three hits. Robinson threw an array of breaking balls, on his way to pitching a gem of a game.
The fans and overall team was proud of the freshman coming out of his skin to press the mitt to LSU players and most importantly the coaches was full of praise.
Southern head coach, Roger Cador said of Robinson,
“I felt all along Tyler was going to pitch well. He was smart enough to know to be successful you have to move the all over the strike zone and change speed and he did that masterfully.”
LSU coach, Paul Mainieri gave Robinson high praise when he said, “I don’t think he missed a spot all night. He pitched his heart out.”
The Jaguars got it going early as they took a 1-0 lead in the third inning after two LSU errors. They held LSU scoreless for eight innings, until the Tigers seemed to find a way to flip the switch in crunch time and come through when it mattered most. LSU rallied and tied the game in the top of the eighth inning. However, the Jaguar hitters had eyes like hawks and managed to get the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning. A bases loaded walk gave the Jaguars the lead, 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth going into the ninth.
Although the Tigers finished 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position, they seemed to come through in crunch time moments. They tied the game in the ninth inning and the game went into extra innings. LSU left fielder Jake Fraley, spanked a double deep into left-center field to open the 10th inning. Then LSU right fielder Mark Laird followed with a single. Shortstop Alex Bregman and first baseman Chris Chinea drove Fraley and Laird in to seal the victory.
The Jaguars should not hold their heads down in defeat. Yes, this loss hurts because they were up for eight innings. However, it shows the potential the team has. Of course people will argue that LSU had errors that lead to Southern’s runs. The Jaguars were patient at the plate and ran out every ground ball, that’s what lead to those runs. The Jaguars played a beautiful game. In my opinion, they are the winners. That loss should motivate them to finish the season strong in the SWAC.
The overall fans came to support the Jaguar nation with hurrahs, it was like Jaguars captured the win even though they escaped with a short loss. Their performance brought hope to the team that were scoped as the underdogs.
LSU improves to 19-2 and Southern is now 3-11. LSU should recognize that when they come across town, they will have a fight on their hands. The Jaguars start their next series against Texas Southern this Saturday at 12 at Lee Hines Field and now conference play is among us.