Georgia short stop Levi Hyams, left, mishandles the throw as Louisiana Styate's D.J. LeMahieu safely steals second and advances to third in the first inning during their Southeastern Conference 2009 baseball tournament semifinal game at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala., Saturday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
The game was halted for 4 hours, 28 minutes before three outs were even recorded with the Tigers already staking starter Daniel Bradshaw to a 7-0 lead. With the win, LSU (44-16) forced a rematch later Saturday night with the winner making the championship game against Vanderbilt.
The title game was moved up three hours to noon CDT Sunday because of forecast bad weather.
Austin Nola had a double, triple and single and Jared Mitchell drove in three runs for the top-seeded Tigers, who won by the mercy rule after seven innings. Ryan Schimpf added a two-run homer in a six-run fifth inning.
Bradshaw (4-0) pitched a complete-game three-hitter for the Tigers after finding a way to cope with the unexpected idle time.
“I watched TV, ate some food with my parents and really tried to stay by myself and stay in the zone,” said Bradshaw, who struck out three and allowed only one walk. “That was a crazy scenario.
“Actually, I felt better in the bullpen the second time around.”
He made a case for himself to have a spot in the rotation for an NCAA regional.
“The kid did everything he could possibly do,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said.
Bradshaw got an abundance of offensive support. Eleven Tigers drove in runs in the game.
Needing to preserve pitchers for the next game, Georgia coach David Perno sent position players Chase Davidson and Lyle Allen to the mound for the first time in their careers.
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