The Tigers (39-4, 16-3 Southeastern Conference) have ridden the back of sophomore ace Aaron Nola throughout SEC play, and the right-hander continued on his warpath in a 5-2 complete game victory against South Carolina on Friday night.
Nola (8-0) has taken SEC play by storm in 2013, as he had tossed two complete games, including a shutout against Alabama a week prior. When taking the mound against the Gamecocks (31-12, 11-8 SEC), he looked to continue his string of dominant performances.
Nola set the tone early, pounding the strike zone and keeping South Carolina from getting into scoring position.
When the sophomore finally left the mound after the ninth inning came to a close, he had surrendered six hits, two runs and recorded eight strikeouts. Nola picked up his eighth victory of the season and his third consecutive complete game.
“It’s getting a little bit scary, because I don’t want us to start counting on [Nola] to pitch nine innings on Friday nights, because you just can’t go into a game expecting that kind of performance,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “If anybody can do it, it’s this guy. He does it in such an efficient way. He throws so many strikes.”
Mainieri acknowledged after the game that he didn’t want his starter throwing more than 110 pitches in the ballgame. Nola tossed 112, but due to his efficiency in the middle innings of the game, the sophomore was able to keep the LSU bullpen rested.
“In the middle of the fifth or sixth, Coach always asks how many pitches he was at,” said junior catcher Ty Ross. “I think they said 63, and he was going strong and his fastball looked good. I didn’t have a doubt [he could finish the game]. It goes to show you the kind of conditioning [pitching coach Alan Dunn] has with all his pitchers. He’s just pitching awesome.”
The Tigers offense was anchored by the combination of sophomore right fielder Jared Foster, junior designated hitter Sean McMullen, junior second baseman JaCoby Jones and Ross. They combined for eight hits and four RBIs, including three from McMullen.
“Sean McMullen is absolutely raking the ball right now,” Ross said. “He’s hitting the ball well, and JaCoby hit the ball well, and it shows that we have depth in the lineup.”
