GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
One of the few worries about the No. 1-ranked LSU baseball team so far this season has been a perceived lack of home run power.
Well, it was just against 3-8 North Alabama, but the Tigers launched six home runs in a 13-2 victory Friday night at Alex Box Stadium in a game called in the seventh inning because of the 10-run rule. The Tigers just 10-run ruled North Dakota State, 13-3, on Wednesday night with just one home run and have three 10-run-rule wins on the season.
LSU hit six home runs in a game for the first time since beating Kentucky, 14-0, in a Super Regional opener in 2023 in Alex Box.
WATCH OUT FOR WILLIAM “WILD THING” SCHMIDT THIS WEEKEND AT THE BOX
“The power numbers are going to jump off the page, but most of them were literally line shots,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “And really good quality baseball swings. We got strong guys that are seeing the ball well. They’re staying in a good plan right now, and hitting the ball really hard, which is awesome to see.”
LSU SATURDAY GAME MOVED TO 12 NOON
LSU (14-1) will play North Alabama (3-9) at noon Saturday instead of 6 p.m. as originally scheduled because of bad weather in the forecast for Saturday night.
After a scoreless first two innings, Josh Pearson started the LSU home run derby with a solo homer in the third inning. Then Jake Brown doubled and Luis Hernandez singled, and Tanner Reaves drove both in with his first homer of the season – a three-run shot for a 5-0 lead. Reaves finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle as he singled and doubled in a 3-for-3 night.
Daniel Dickinson and Steven Milam added solo home runs in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage. After North Alabama cut it to 7-1 in the top of the fifth on a home run by Alex Wade, Hernandez answered that with a solo home run in the home fifth for an 8-1 lead.
John Pearson hit a three-run home run in the Tigers’ five-run sixth inning for a 13-1 lead. LSU finished with 13 hits.
Pearson and Pearson became the first brother combination to each homer in an LSU game since Clay and Will Harris did it against Rice in 2005.
“It didn’t really hit me that they both hit a home run tonight,” Johnson said. Guess he had trouble keeping track.
Meanwhile, LSU starter Kade Anderson’s only blemish was the home run he allowed. He struck out 11 with no walks and allowed four hits in a career-high six innings to go to 3-0 on the season. Of his 92 pitches, 66 were strikes.
“He’s just very reliable,” Johnson said. “And he just keeps getting better every time. His stuff was really sharp.”
LSU freshman reliever Mavrick Rizy allowed one run in the seventh for the 13-2 final.
WEEKEND STARTING PITCHERS
SATURDAY – Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson (2-0, 3.18 ERA, 20 strikeouts, 17 innings) vs. freshman left-hander Tripp Patterson (1-1, 1.37 ERA, 19 and two-thirds innings), North Alabama, Noon.
SUNDAY – Sophomore right-hander Chase Shores (3-0, 3.00 ERA, 18 strikeouts, 15 innings) vs. senior right-hander Anthony Pingeton (1-1, 2.77 ERA, nine strikeouts, 13 innings), North Alabama, 1 p.m.
Be the first to comment