In an SEC Tournament elimination game, LSU led 4-3 in the top of the 12th, with two men on and two outs. With limited options available, LSU head coach Paul Mainieri turned to pitcher Todd Peterson.
It was an unusual choice; Peterson had never taken a college at-bat, but having lost the DH and with Peterson having thrown 5 dominant innings in relief, Peterson was the best option. And did he ever deliver:
Originally instructed to keep the bat on his shoulder, Peterson persuaded his coach to let him swing away by telling Mainieri he used to hit bombs in high school. He also said his mindset was anything but passive:
OH BABY! @Todd_Peterson3 stepped up big time for the Tigers tonight in extras!
Here us the link for all of LSU's postgame interviews: https://t.co/xA6KeSqm8c pic.twitter.com/6hTfR7UI2j
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) May 25, 2018
“Did you ever hit in high school?”
“Yeah, I hit bombs!”
“All right, swing away!”
That’s obviously great, but it’s even better once we learned that Peterson didn’t actually hit in high school, either.
What an absolute legend. The win moves LSU on for another day, at least. Maybe they’ll ask Peterson if he ever played center in high school.
