BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU third baseman Derek Helenihi made his the most of his one start in last weekend's NCAA regionals, boosting the Tigers with a two-run single after an early mistake in the field.
Saturday night the senior did it again, this time with both his bat and his glove. In his first start of the super regionals, Helenihi went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI single as LSU won 5-3 to clinch the best-of-three series against Rice and a second straight trip to the College World Series.
Helenihi, "It was good to get in there and get a chance to swing today," said Helenihi, who has four homers this season.
Helenihi's glove also was on display in the third inning, as he ranged to his left and dove for a grounder that seemed destined for leftfield. The play ended the inning and energized an LSU-record crowd of 9.651 after Rice had just tied the score at 1 with a home run.
"Our fans are the best in the country," LSU starting pitcher Louis Coleman said. "Combine that with what I think is the best defense in the country and it’s hard to score runs. I don’t have to get a bunch of strikeouts when guys like Derek Helenihi are behind me."
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he decided to start Helenihi partly because a slight breeze was blowing out to right-center, directly in the senior's power alley as a right-handed push hitter. Factor in his veteran leadership and solid glove and Mainieri couldn't pass up the chance.
"I’ve been watching Derek for the past month," Mainieri said. "His attitude in the dugout has always been upbeat. ... When I was writing out the lineup, I wanted to go with the veteran player with a good attitude."
-Andy Schwehm
Saturday night the senior did it again, this time with both his bat and his glove. In his first start of the super regionals, Helenihi went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI single as LSU won 5-3 to clinch the best-of-three series against Rice and a second straight trip to the College World Series.
Helenihi, "It was good to get in there and get a chance to swing today," said Helenihi, who has four homers this season.
Helenihi's glove also was on display in the third inning, as he ranged to his left and dove for a grounder that seemed destined for leftfield. The play ended the inning and energized an LSU-record crowd of 9.651 after Rice had just tied the score at 1 with a home run.
"Our fans are the best in the country," LSU starting pitcher Louis Coleman said. "Combine that with what I think is the best defense in the country and it’s hard to score runs. I don’t have to get a bunch of strikeouts when guys like Derek Helenihi are behind me."
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he decided to start Helenihi partly because a slight breeze was blowing out to right-center, directly in the senior's power alley as a right-handed push hitter. Factor in his veteran leadership and solid glove and Mainieri couldn't pass up the chance.
"I’ve been watching Derek for the past month," Mainieri said. "His attitude in the dugout has always been upbeat. ... When I was writing out the lineup, I wanted to go with the veteran player with a good attitude."
-Andy Schwehm
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment