Jared Jones and Jake Brown each hit a home run, Steven Milam went 4 for 5 with two RBIs as No. 11 seed LSU rallied and beat South Carolina 11-10 Thursday night.
No. 10 seed South Carolina plays third-seeded Kentucky in an elimination game Friday and the winner advances to take on LSU (39-20) in the semifinals.
Milam led off the ninth inning with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Paxton Kling, who advanced to second on a single by Brown and moved to third when Ashton Larson flied out. Brown stole second and then advanced to third when Milazzo’s sacrifice fly drove in Kling to cut LSU’s deficit to a run. Michael Braswell III followed with a two-out single down the line in left that scored Brown and made it 11-10.
Fidel Ulloa (2-1) came on in the eighth and pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks with two strikeouts for the Tigers.
Cole Messina hit a grand slam as part of a five-run third that gave South Carolina a four-run lead but Brown hit a two run home run as LSU answered with four runs in the top of the fourth to make it 5-5.
Messina and Parker Noland hit back-to-back two-RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Gamecocks a 10-7 lead.
Messina went 2 for 4 with six RBIs for South Carolina (35-22).
