EUGENE, Ore. — There stood Javen Coleman, the skinny freshman who barely appeared until the final month of the regular season, releasing pitch after pitch Sunday night, more than he had ever thrown during his brief college career.
LSU had to beat Oregon to extend its season, force a winner-take-all rematch and have any chance of reaching an NCAA super regional. It needed a brilliant pitching performance against a potent lineup. Coleman delivered exactly that.
Behind Coleman, the Tigers beat Oregon 4-1 at the NCAA Eugene regional for their second win of the day after AJ Labas delivered a similar performance to eliminate Gonzaga. They will play a deciding finale at 9 p.m. CT Monday night.
Coleman recorded career-highs in innings (six) and pitches (95) while allowing three hits. He struck out six. When the left-hander finally walked off the field, the LSU fans in PK Park gave him a standing ovation.
“He’s not a freshman anymore,” coach Paul Mainieri said, “that’s for sure.”
Who's starting, how to watch and what to watch for as LSU plays Oregon with a chance to reach a super regional.
LSU (37-23) had already played three games this weekend, straining its pitching staff as it avoided elimination. All the regular starters were unavailable. Mainieri, his career set to end after the season, had to rely on the bullpen. He used senior Trent Vietmeier for an inning after Vietmeier closed LSU’s win over Gonzaga. Then he turned to Coleman.
Earlier this season, Coleman helped LSU beat Louisiana Tech opening weekend, but then he struggled and fell out of consideration. Mainieri had said he wasn’t pitching with “conviction.” Pitching coach Alan Dunn talked to him about throwing more strikes. With three quality pitches, including a 94 mph fastball, Coleman had the skill set.
“Me and AD always talk about fill up the zone, go after the hitters,” Coleman said. “When I do that, it’s usually lights out.”
Coleman didn’t appear for over a month, then finally he looked like that opening weekend pitcher again during a relief outing in late April. He made his first Southeastern Conference appearance that weekend and threw 73 pitches against Ole Miss. LSU had relied on him ever since.
While Vietmeier pitched a scoreless first inning Sunday, Coleman warmed up behind left field. Vietmeier went to the bullpen to give him a fist bump when he finished, and Coleman entered with a 1-0 lead.
AJ Labas pitched eight innings as LSU beat Gonzaga to reach the NCAA Eugene regional final. He had allowed 25 runs over his last four starts.
Coleman allowed a run in the third inning. He didn’t give up another, stifling a lineup that had five players with plus-.300 batting averages. Oregon’s best hitters — Kenyon Yovan, Aaron Zavala and Gabe Matthews — went 0 for 6 with three strikeouts against him.
“Anybody who’s showing that, that’s what you see on TV when you’re watching major league baseball,” Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski said, “and often you don’t even see that good because you don’t see command of three pitches with that kind of velocity from the left side.”
As Coleman controlled Oregon (39-15), LSU broke a 1-1 tie when junior left fielder Gavin Dugas homered in the fourth inning. And then, in the sixth inning, Dugas hit a ball to the deepest part of the stadium.
The ball bounced off the center-field wall and rolled back through the outfield as Dugas sprinted around second base. Oregon left fielder Tanner Smith tried to pick up the ball. He fumbled it, and third base coach Nolan Cain waved Dugas toward home.
As Oregon relayed the ball closer to the infield, Cain held up his arms, trying to get Dugas to stop at third base. It was too late. Dugas couldn’t stop his momentum. He continued down the third-base line. Cain sunk toward the ground.
With LSU's season on the line at the Eugene regional Sunday night, Gavin Dugas extended the Tigers' lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning with what …
“At that point, it was all go from there,” Dugas said. “There was no stopping. It was a lot of things happening at one time, and Nolan had a lot of moving parts on his body at that point. The last thing I saw when I touched third base was Nolan waving me around.”
Dugas seemed like he didn’t have a chance, but Oregon’s shortstop pumped twice before he threw the ball, and when he released it, the ball sailed over the catcher. Dugas slid headfirst across home plate, safe. He stood up and touched home plate again, just to make sure, and LSU’s players burst from their dugout. Mainieri laughed in disbelief.
Coleman protected that 3-1 lead for another two innings, and freshman Dylan Crews added a solo home run, his third of the weekend.
After Coleman walked the leadoff batter in the eighth, Mainieri strolled onto the field to change pitchers. Coleman had given the greatest outing of his career when LSU needed it most. He walked toward the dugout, where his teammates waited to shake his hand and the crowd above them roared.
“Man,” Mainieri said, “I couldn’t even have dreamt that he was going to do as great as he did.”
Garrett Edwards has recorded a 2.75 ERA the season, the second-lowest on LSU's team.
As Coleman watched the rest of the game, Devin Fontenot pitched two scoreless innings and LSU, after falling into the losers' bracket on the first day of the tournament, won its third straight game. One more win separates the team from a super regional.
“I just can't tell you how proud I am of our guys,” Mainieri said. “That’s three straight elimination games that we’ve won. We’re just not giving up. I told the guys after the game, ‘You guys won’t let me retire. You keep making me work.’”
He smiled.
“I’m happy to do it though.”
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