FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Micah Gibbs (Courtesy of LSU Media Relations)
BATON ROUGE — Back-to-back home runs by catcher Micah Gibbs and second baseman Ryan Schimpf lifted the Gold team to a 2-1 victory over the Purple in Game 1 of the Purple-Gold World Series Tuesday afternoon in the original Alex Box Stadium.
The Purple-Gold World Series is a three-game intrasquad series that concludes LSU’s six-week fall practice session.
Game 2 is set for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and Game 3 starts at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The six-inning games are open to the public, and admission is free.
Gibbs and Schimpf hit consecutive homers Tuesday off of Purple starter Austin Ross in the second inning. The dingers provided enough run support for Gold starter Nolan Cain, who limited the Purple to one run on three hits in four innings of work. Cain, a senior right-hander, recorded five strikeouts with no walks.
Freshman right-hander Matty Ott was magnificent in relief for the Gold, retiring all six batters he faced over the final two innings. Ott recorded four straight strikeouts to complete his outing.
“I thought it was a crisp, well-played ball game,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “The pitchers really pounded the strike zone. Cain and Ott had strong outings, and I thought Austin Ross was very effective today as well. It was a good day; there weren’t any errors in the game and we had a nice crowd in the stadium on a beautiful afternoon.”
The Purple’s only run of the contest came on a fourth-inning solo homer by catcher Sean Ochinko, who also singled in the first inning.
Ross, a sophomore right-hander, was charged with two runs on two hits in four innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Senior left-hander Ryan Byrd worked a scoreless inning for the Purple, allowing two hits.
Mainieri said sophomore right-hander Daniel Bradshaw will start Game 2 on the mound for the Gold squad, and the Purple will counter with sophomore right-hander Anthony Ranaudo.
