Eyes swelled and voice cracking, Gunner Leger tried to take the blame for Louisiana-Lafayette’s loss Sunday night.

“I have to do better,” he said moments after he had just pitched his heart out.

His teammates wanted to hear none of it.

“I want to give all the credit to this guy,” said ULL outfielder Kyle Clement while pointing Leger’s way at the post-game podium. “I know he’s not going to give it to himself, but he pitched a heck of a game.”

That was an understatement.

For six innings he had one of college baseball’s most powerful lineups scratching its head.

Using a bevy of off-speed pitches to keep the mighty Tigers off balance, Leger looked like a seasoned veteran and not some college freshman.

With the Super Regional on the line and with it a trip to Omaha and College Baseball’s World Series, Leger was calm as a gentle spring breeze while a tornado of excitement swirled around him.

But he never let the moment get too big for him. Instead, he stuck to his game plan, executed his pitches and fought all the way until he had no more fight left in him.

And in the end, he won the respect of those he had battled on a sweltering night.

“He was really competing out there,” said LSU shortstop Alex Bregman. “He is a real competitor. He never gave in.”

High praise for a young guy who started the season as a mid-week hurler. Now, the lefty from Barbe High School is clearly a weekend warrior on the mound.

Sunday night may have been his coming out party as a national television audience saw just how good he is, and maybe more importantly just how good he can become.

With their season on the line, Leger gave the upstart Cajuns a chance to live another day, keeping the top-ranked Tigers not only off the board but off the bases as well.

Not gifted with an overpowering fastball, Leger was more craftsman than flamethrower, an artist who on that night painted a near masterpiece.

Sunday his canvas was Alex Box Stadium, the art gallery of college baseball houses.

For a Louisiana boy, there is no bigger stage than the field on LSU’s campus. Baseball players from around the state grow up dreaming about being on that diamond with a trip to Omaha on the line.

Leger is no different. Only he was trying to keep the Tigers from making what has become their seemingly annual pilgrimage to college baseball’s promise land.

And here he was, with a chance to do just that with six outstanding innings and having only given up one run with two out in the eighth.

“Gunner threw a great game,” said ULL head coach Tony Robichaux. “You can’t ask for anything more.

“He isn’t just a freshman he is a man.”

For many of us, we have watched him grow up before our very eyes.

His first brush with baseball fame came when he helped lead his South Lake Charles team to the Little League World Series back in the summer of 2008. Then last year he was the ace on a Barbe team that won both state and national championships. So pitching in big games and winning them was nothing new to Leger.

But this was his biggest yet and he was in complete control for over two hours.

So dominant was Leger that during one two-inning period he needed just 12 pitches to get six quick outs. He also struck out the side in the second.

Only once did a Tiger runner reach second base before Leger was finally dented by a long home run in the seventh.

Ironically, that runner was also a Barbe graduate, senior Jared Foster, but he was left stranded on the bases quickly.

As the LSU faithful tried to figure out just who this kid was and why he wasn’t pitching for them, the legend of Leger grew and grew.

At one point in time somebody in the press box who follows the Tigers closely seemed stunned by Leger’s performance. He even took a shot at the Cajuns’ schedule saying “this isn’t South Alabama” he’s facing tonight.

That came long before anybody saw what he could do but longer after he had already proved himself.

Leger, who began the year as a mid-week starter, showed his promise when he allowed just one run over eight innings to beat nationally-ranked Alabama in his first weekend test.

In the end, no Cajun threw more innings or started more games than him, earning not only the team but his coach’s confidence.

That’s probably why Robichaux gave the youngster the ball in the season’s biggest game and in the biggest setting to begin with.

And there was Leger, trying to extend the Super Regional to one final game and keep his dreams of Omaha alive. That’s when the moment of truth in this game and his night came.

With runners on second and third, and with the All-American Bregman at the plate, Robichaux left the Cajuns’ season on the left shoulder of Leger.

“I stuck with my freshman because I believe in him,” said Robichaux. “If I had the choice to I’d do it again. He mans up and gets after what he has to get after.”

Bregman won the battle that night, bouncing a hopper up the middle to score two runs and end Leger’s night.

It wasn’t the most powerful hit, just a well-placed one that came after an infield single had extended the inning.

For the season, Leger posted a 6-5 record and a nice 2.99 earned run average. But it is what he did on Sunday night, against the six-time national champs, that showed there are far better days ahead, even if he could not see them.

“My job was to get us to the next day,” said Leger. “I just got to make better pitches.”

It’s hard to see how he could have done much more.

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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@americanpress.com

(Associated Press)