Boudreaux
Senior Member
For winning the SEC regular season and SEC tournament trophies. And got to beat UGA back-to-back in doing so! Adding more trophies to an already crowded trophy case.
HOOVER, Ala. -- Blake Dean's three RBI and a solid pitching performance by senior left-hander Ryan Byrd led No. 2 LSU to a 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt to capture the 2009 SEC tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Regions Park.
The Tigers (46-16) won their second consecutive SEC tournament title -- and their conference-best eighth overall -- becoming the first team to win back-to-back conference tournament crowns since Alabama won in 2002 and 2003. LSU won five straight games in the tournament after dropping the opening round game to Vanderbilt 4-1 on Wednesday.
"I'm so proud of this team," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "I told them after the loss to Vanderbilt the first time around that it's impossible to win every game in one day. I told them to take it a game at a time and to give a great effort every time and they responded like a championship team should."
The NCAA announced Sunday that LSU would serve as one of the 16 host sites for an NCAA Regional, which will begin Friday. Florida and Ole Miss are the two other SEC schools that will host.
The NCAA will announce the other three teams that will participate in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on Monday. The selection show begins at 11:30 a.m. Monday on ESPN.
Freshman centerfielder Mikie Mahtook was named 2009 SEC Tournament MVP. Mahtook hit .454 in the tournament, going 10-for-22 with three RBI, two runs scores and 17 put outs.
Also named to the All-Tournament team were LSU designated hitter Blake Dean, shortstop Austin Nola and pitcher Daniel Bradshaw.
Dean, who was named tournament MVP last season, had four RBI and five runs scored in this year's tournament. Nola also scored five runs and had 19 assists defensively, while Bradshaw was the hero in Saturday's first game with Georgia, as he threw seven scoreless innings and allowed only three hits.
Byrd (1-0) had an impressive performance Sunday, throwing seven innings and allowing only two runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out three.
"I'm so glad Ryan Byrd was able to pitch the way he did," Mainieri said. "As a senior, he's meant so much to this program and it was great for him to be able to start the SEC championship game and pitch the way he did."
Leading LSU offensively Sunday was leftfielder Leon Landry, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored.
The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Landry led off the game with a double and scored on an infield grounder by Blake Dean.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher Nick Christiani held the Tigers hitless through the next two innings before surrendering a double to catcher Micah Gibbs in the fourth. Gibbs' double extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
The next batter, Mikie Mahtook singled up the middle to score Gibbs and put LSU up 2-0. Mahtook then stole second and advanced to third on an infield single by Jared Mitchell.
The Tigers went up 3-0 after DJ LeMahieu hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Mahtook.
Vanderbilt got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when right fielder Steven Liddle hit a solo homer over the right field wall. It was Liddle's 10th homer of the season.
LSU responded in the fifth when Austin Nola walked and scored on Landry's second double of the game, extending the Tigers' lead to 4-1.
Landry advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Schimpf and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Dean to increase the LSU advantage to 5-1.
After Austin Nola walked and Landry and Schimpf delivered back-to-back singles in the seventh, LSU had the bases loaded for Dean with only one out. Dean blasted a pitch to the warning track in right-center field, but it was caught by Vandy centerfielder Jonathan White. The sacrifice fly scored Nola and gave LSU a 6-1 lead.
The Commodores added another run in the seventh when first baseman Curt Casali blasted a solo homer off Byrd, cutting the deficit to 6-2.
Senior right-hander Buzzy Haydel came in to close the game in the eighth as Byrd got a standing ovation as he left the mound.
Haydel allowed only one hit in the last two innings, while walking none and striking out one.
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LSU Quotes
LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri
On winning the SEC Tournament Championship...
"Obviously, being the champions for the tournament for the second consecutive year is something we are proud of. A lot of people wondered what kind of effort or intensity our players might have in this tournament because we had already won the regular-season championship. I always knew what kind of effort these kids would give. They only know how to play the game one way and that's at full speed. When we lost that first game, we tipped our hat to the pitcher from Vanderbilt. He was outstanding, but I knew our kids would not give up. I told them to take it one game at a time and that was our approach. I told the kids if you think in terms of having to win five in a row, that's just overwhelming. Let's just go out there and play one solid game and get the next one after that. Fortunately we were able to have a great tournament."
On the team's performance throughout the tournament...
"For me, this championship was won because of our pitching as a group. The job our pitching coach has done with these kids is absolutely amazing. To see the way all these kids know how to utilize thier ability and how well they have done. We took advantage of playing in a much larger ballpark, but I don't think we even walked a batter today. With Bradshaw, Cain, and everyone else, we forced the other teams to swing the bats and we had great outfield defense and infield defense. I think that was the key for us."
Ryan Byrd, LSU Starting Pitcher
On getting the start in the clinching game...
"I would say this ranks up there pretty high. I want to thank coach for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to pitch today. He came to me on the bus and asked me if I wanted the ball and it definitely gave me a boost of confidence. When your head coach has that kind of confidence in you and 25 guys behind you that believe in you, its a pretty good feeling."
HOOVER, Ala. -- Blake Dean's three RBI and a solid pitching performance by senior left-hander Ryan Byrd led No. 2 LSU to a 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt to capture the 2009 SEC tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Regions Park.
The Tigers (46-16) won their second consecutive SEC tournament title -- and their conference-best eighth overall -- becoming the first team to win back-to-back conference tournament crowns since Alabama won in 2002 and 2003. LSU won five straight games in the tournament after dropping the opening round game to Vanderbilt 4-1 on Wednesday.
"I'm so proud of this team," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "I told them after the loss to Vanderbilt the first time around that it's impossible to win every game in one day. I told them to take it a game at a time and to give a great effort every time and they responded like a championship team should."
The NCAA announced Sunday that LSU would serve as one of the 16 host sites for an NCAA Regional, which will begin Friday. Florida and Ole Miss are the two other SEC schools that will host.
The NCAA will announce the other three teams that will participate in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on Monday. The selection show begins at 11:30 a.m. Monday on ESPN.
Freshman centerfielder Mikie Mahtook was named 2009 SEC Tournament MVP. Mahtook hit .454 in the tournament, going 10-for-22 with three RBI, two runs scores and 17 put outs.
Also named to the All-Tournament team were LSU designated hitter Blake Dean, shortstop Austin Nola and pitcher Daniel Bradshaw.
Dean, who was named tournament MVP last season, had four RBI and five runs scored in this year's tournament. Nola also scored five runs and had 19 assists defensively, while Bradshaw was the hero in Saturday's first game with Georgia, as he threw seven scoreless innings and allowed only three hits.
Byrd (1-0) had an impressive performance Sunday, throwing seven innings and allowing only two runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out three.
"I'm so glad Ryan Byrd was able to pitch the way he did," Mainieri said. "As a senior, he's meant so much to this program and it was great for him to be able to start the SEC championship game and pitch the way he did."
Leading LSU offensively Sunday was leftfielder Leon Landry, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored.
The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Landry led off the game with a double and scored on an infield grounder by Blake Dean.
Vanderbilt starting pitcher Nick Christiani held the Tigers hitless through the next two innings before surrendering a double to catcher Micah Gibbs in the fourth. Gibbs' double extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
The next batter, Mikie Mahtook singled up the middle to score Gibbs and put LSU up 2-0. Mahtook then stole second and advanced to third on an infield single by Jared Mitchell.
The Tigers went up 3-0 after DJ LeMahieu hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Mahtook.
Vanderbilt got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when right fielder Steven Liddle hit a solo homer over the right field wall. It was Liddle's 10th homer of the season.
LSU responded in the fifth when Austin Nola walked and scored on Landry's second double of the game, extending the Tigers' lead to 4-1.
Landry advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Schimpf and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Dean to increase the LSU advantage to 5-1.
After Austin Nola walked and Landry and Schimpf delivered back-to-back singles in the seventh, LSU had the bases loaded for Dean with only one out. Dean blasted a pitch to the warning track in right-center field, but it was caught by Vandy centerfielder Jonathan White. The sacrifice fly scored Nola and gave LSU a 6-1 lead.
The Commodores added another run in the seventh when first baseman Curt Casali blasted a solo homer off Byrd, cutting the deficit to 6-2.
Senior right-hander Buzzy Haydel came in to close the game in the eighth as Byrd got a standing ovation as he left the mound.
Haydel allowed only one hit in the last two innings, while walking none and striking out one.
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LSU Quotes
LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri
On winning the SEC Tournament Championship...
"Obviously, being the champions for the tournament for the second consecutive year is something we are proud of. A lot of people wondered what kind of effort or intensity our players might have in this tournament because we had already won the regular-season championship. I always knew what kind of effort these kids would give. They only know how to play the game one way and that's at full speed. When we lost that first game, we tipped our hat to the pitcher from Vanderbilt. He was outstanding, but I knew our kids would not give up. I told them to take it one game at a time and that was our approach. I told the kids if you think in terms of having to win five in a row, that's just overwhelming. Let's just go out there and play one solid game and get the next one after that. Fortunately we were able to have a great tournament."
On the team's performance throughout the tournament...
"For me, this championship was won because of our pitching as a group. The job our pitching coach has done with these kids is absolutely amazing. To see the way all these kids know how to utilize thier ability and how well they have done. We took advantage of playing in a much larger ballpark, but I don't think we even walked a batter today. With Bradshaw, Cain, and everyone else, we forced the other teams to swing the bats and we had great outfield defense and infield defense. I think that was the key for us."
Ryan Byrd, LSU Starting Pitcher
On getting the start in the clinching game...
"I would say this ranks up there pretty high. I want to thank coach for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to pitch today. He came to me on the bus and asked me if I wanted the ball and it definitely gave me a boost of confidence. When your head coach has that kind of confidence in you and 25 guys behind you that believe in you, its a pretty good feeling."
