No. 7 LSU baseball (20-6, 2-4 SEC) got back on track after a disappointing weekend with an 8-4 win over Southeastern Louisiana (17-8, 2-1 SLC).
The Tigers used eight different pitchers in the game after head coach Jay Johnson said he wants more guys to get a chance to pitch on the weekend. They recorded 14 strikeouts and gave up eight hits to the Lions.
Tommy White recorded two hits, two RBI and a homer after only having one hit all weekend against Florida. LSU’s offense ended the night with three homers and 12 hits.
“It was a good performance by our team,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “I’m really pleased with the pitching staff tonight, they did a great job. We hit a few homers, and we always like that. Just a good complete game, and I’m proud of the team.”
Sam Dutton got the start and made it 1.1 innings giving up three hits and two runs while recording three strikeouts. Dutton struck out the first three batters he faced in the game.
LSU got on the board early thanks to a single from Brady Neal followed up by an RBI single from White to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
The Lions struck back in the top of the second inning with three singles off Dutton before he was pulled for Justin Loer. They scored one to tie the game on a groundout and then took the lead 2-1 thanks to an RBI single from Cole Stromboe. Loer recorded a strikeout to limit the damage and head to the bottom of the inning.
LSU responded right away in the bottom of the second with a solo homer from Mac Bingham that tied the game at 2-2. Michael Braswell III singled, Steven Milam doubled, and Ethan Frey walked to load the bases.
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Brady Neal grounded into a double play that scored Braswell and put Milam on third before White hit a two-RBI home run to right field to give LSU a 5-2 lead. Josh Pearson struck out to end the inning.
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Neither team would score over the next four innings as the pitching on both sides locked in. Kade Anderson came in to pitch at the top of the fourth and picked up right where he left off when he las faced the Lions.
Anderson went 5.0 innings in the first matchup with Southeastern and gave up just two hits and no earned runs in LSU’s comeback win. This time around, he gave up no hits and one walk through his 2.0 innings pitched while recording four strikeouts.
Anderson made way for Micah Bucknam in the top of the sixth inning and Bucknam was pulled for Cam Johnson in the seventh inning. Johnson came in and recorded the last two outs of the inning, including a strikeout on a great backdoor slider.
LSU added to its lead in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a two-run blast to left field from Hayden Travinski. The homer brought the lead to 7-2. Pearson walked and Ashton Larson singled to put runners on first and second before Braswell grounded out to advance them to second and third.
An extremely weird play happened afterwards where it looked like Southeastern had forced a double play to end the inning. Milam popped up a bunt that was caught by the Lions’ first baseman before he threw the ball to third to get the double play. The home plate umpire ruled that the ball wasn’t caught however which meant everyone was safe.
The first baseman did appear to make the catch on replays, but infield catches are not reviewable, and the play stood to give LSU an 8-2 lead.
Aidan Moffett came in to pitch after Johnson recorded the first out of the eighth inning. Moffett gave up a solo homer to Justin Williams to bring the score to 8-3.
DJ Primeaux came in can and got one out on one pitch before being replaced by Fidel Ulloa. Ulla gave up a solo homer to bring the score to 8-4 before recording the final two outs to end the game.
“We’ve got a tremendous challenge this weekend at Arkansas,” Johnson said. “We’re going to have to play in our best character. I think we learned some things last weekend (in an SEC series vs. Florida); we’re not totally where we want to be yet, but at the same time, we were one pitch away from winning that series against one of the best teams in the country.”
LSU baseball heads on the road for its third SEC series of the year next. It’ll play No. 1 Arkansas on Thursday at 6 p.m. That game will be televised on ESPN 2.
“This is what we signed up for, and we’re really excited about going up to Arkansas,” Johnson said.
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