LSU jumps back into Top 25 after wild series at Tennessee

LSU looked dead in the water early Sunday afternoon.

Then Cade Arrambide happened.

The Tigers’ designated hitter delivered one of the greatest single-game performances in program history, blasting a school-record four home runs to lift LSU to a wild 16-6 win in 12 innings over Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

With the win, LSU moved to 22-11 overall and evened its SEC mark at 6-6, while Tennessee fell to 20-12 overall and 4-8 in league play.

Arrambide finished a staggering 5-for-6 with four home runs and seven RBI, becoming the first player in LSU history to homer four times in a game. His biggest swing came in the 12th inning, when he crushed a grand slam as part of a 10-run explosion that finally broke open what had been a 6-6 game.

For Jay Johnson, it was the kind of win that can change the tone of a season.

“That win is definitely up there in my coaching career,” Johnson said. “What a comeback by our team. I’m just so proud of our players. There were so many layers to what happened, and so many players making huge contributions to the win.

“What a special performance by Cade Arrambide. There were so many guys who made clutch plays. This is important to them. We’ve fought a lot here lately, and this is a great weekend for our program.”

The comeback was far from straightforward.

Tennessee jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning, cashing in on three LSU errors in the frame. The big blow was a grand slam from Volunteers leftfielder Blaine Brown, his ninth homer of the season, in what looked like a disastrous early stretch for the Tigers.

LSU finally got on the board in the fifth when Arrambide launched his first homer of the day, trimming the deficit to 5-1.

The Tigers kept chipping away in the seventh inning, and did so in emphatic fashion.

Third baseman John Pearson started the rally with a solo shot, Arrambide followed with another, and Seth Dardar made it three straight with a homer of his own as LSU suddenly pulled within one run.

It marked the first time LSU had homered in three consecutive plate appearances since May 9, 2023, against Northwestern State.

LSU completed the comeback in the ninth when Jake Brown delivered a two-out RBI single to tie the game at 5-5.

The drama continued into extras.

Arrambide’s third homer of the afternoon gave LSU a 6-5 lead in the 11th, but Tennessee answered in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly from Levi Clark to force another inning.

That only set the stage for the 12th.

Arrambide’s grand slam ignited a 10-run outburst that buried the Volunteers and capped one of the more memorable wins of LSU’s season.

On the mound, Gavin Guidry was outstanding in relief, earning the win after covering the final 5.1 innings while allowing just one run on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.

LSU now turns its attention back to Baton Rouge, where the Tigers return to Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday night for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch against Bethune-Cookman.