After taking down Brown University on Friday and Saturday, the No. 9 Tigers sealed the weekend sweep Sunday as they tackled Nicholls State University in a 2-0 victory.
LSU (10-1) rode the arm of sophomore southpaw Cody Glenn (2-0) over seven innings of shutout ball. Glenn helped his case to finally obtain the No. 3 spot in the rotation after holding the Colonels (7-5) to three hits while striking out five.
“Cody was outstanding again,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He made some big pitches when he needed to, and that was great. When Cody Glenn pitches the way he can, you need to play good defense behind him. I thought he pitched great and gave us a chance to win.”
The Tigers’ defense was solid over the nine-inning span, including a sensational diving play by freshman center fielder Mark Laird in the top of the third inning. Laird, formerly the squad’s right fielder, was shifted to center to add extra speed to the position.
“I’ve played it my whole life,” Laird said. “I guess it’s kind of like riding a bike. I just like being out there, though. Put me in left, center or right, I don’t care. I just like playing.”
Glenn said his two-seam fastball was his most effective pitch Sunday, and he credited the defense with playing well behind him. Glenn has yet to allow an earned run so far in 2013.
“You imagine going out there and putting up a lot of zeros, and fortunately for me, I’ve gone out and done that so far,” Glenn said.
Glenn’s performance capped off an outstanding weekend for the Tigers’ starting staff, as the trio of sophomore Aaron Nola, junior Ryan Eades and Glenn combined to shut out their opponents over a three-game span. LSU’s starting staff hasn’t allowed an earned run in 27 2/3 consecutive innings of work.
“That’s like four really good starts in a row from our starting pitchers,” Mainieri said. “If we can do something like that on a consistent basis, I know sooner or later our offense is going to figure out a way because you’ve got too many good hitters in that lineup.”
Offensively, the Tigers had trouble breaking through against Nicholls State junior left-hander Taylor Byrd until the bottom of the sixth inning, when junior third baseman Christian Ibarra, junior right fielder Sean McMullen and Laird strung together three consecutive hits and put the Tigers on the scoreboard.
Freshman shortstop Alex Bregman followed up with an RBI single of his own, giving the Tigers a two-run lead. Senior relievers Joey Bourgeois and Chris Cotton sealed the deal for LSU with scoreless outings in the eighth and ninth innings.
“This game is going to be a very humbling game sometimes,” Mainieri said. “Guys aren’t going to hit every day. When you have one through nine being pretty good, guys can take their turns being the hero of the day. When your pitcher pitches the way he did, you still find a way to win, even though you only scored two runs.”
