LSU's walk-off HR caps off wild game against South Carolina
The LSU baseball team’s wild week at the SEC Tournament continued with a walk-off home run vs. South Carolina to end one of the craziest games of the 2024 season.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, LSU second baseman Steven Milam delivered the decisive blow with a two-run, walk-off home run to give the Tigers the 12-11 win over the Gamecocks.
The result proved a fitting ending to a game that had plenty of twists and turns for LSU.
The Tigers rallied from an 8-0 deficit with six runs in the fourth inning to cut into the lead before falling behind 10-6 in the sixth inning. And as LSU had all week, the Tigers rallied to score one run in the bottom of the sixth and two runs in the bottom of the seventh to trim the South Carolina lead to 10-9.
After holding USC scoreless in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, LSU tied the game with a run in the bottom of the ninth to send the SEC Tournament semifinals matchup in extra innings.
Then, the twists mounted.
LSU got out of a jam when South Carolina attempted to take the lead by stealing home, but the runner was thrown out by pitcher Griffin Herring on a quick throw and tag by catcher Brady Neal.
After a delay of more than 20 minutes, a stretch that included LSU head coach Jay Johnson being ejected and the Tigers issuing a “protest”, umpires confirmed a “judgement call” ruling that gave USC the go-ahead run with a catcher’s interference on Neal for allegedly stepping on or in front of home plate, though the replay – which was not reviewable by rule – didn’t offer much of a case against LSU.
When play resumed, the Tigers needed one pitch to get out of the inning, but the extra run awarded to USC stood on the board.
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With LSU down 11-10 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Hayden Travinski got on board with a lead-off walk.
From there, Milam stepped in and delivered the blast to get the walk-off win and put a stamp on the back-and-forth affair.
“We’re down 8-0. Forget the late game theatrics. We were down 8-0 and found a way to win,” Johnson said on the SEC Network’s postgame show. “This guy [Milam] has been unbelievable all week. The pitchers [came through]. Will Helmers hadn’t pitched in a month and got us two scoreless innings. Kade Anderson had great poise to keep it a one run game. Gavin bent but didn’t break. I’m still not sure what happened on the play that they called the balk, I’ll get an explanation on that, but it doesn’t matter because these guys are tough. Toughness is defined by this. We were 3-12 in SEC play and we just won our 40th game of the season and the NCAA Tournament hasn’t started yet. That’s toughness. We’re playing better than anybody in the country right now.”
The Tigers return Sunday at 2:00 p.m. CT to take on the winner of Vanderbilt versus Tennessee in the SEC Tournament Championship Game. The contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network, and it can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.
With the win, LSU improved to 40-20 on the season and 17-17 in the SEC, while the Gamecocks dropped to 36-23 and 16-19 in the SEC.
