A white-hot No. 3 LSU baseball offense went to battle against No. 10 Arkansas’ pitching staff in Fayetteville, Ark., but the Tigers’ bats prevailed as sophomore starter Aaron Nola (6-0) dominated in a 6-2 victory.
Both starters, Nola and Arkansas (24-11, 8-5 Southeastern Conference) junior Barrett Astin, went toe-to-toe until the fifth inning, as both squads had trouble finding any offensive success against the right-handers.
With two runners on in the top of the fifth inning, though, LSU (33-2, 12-1 SEC) junior designated hitter Sean McMullen stepped to the plate looking to give the Tigers their first lead of the ball game. He proceeded to blast a three-run home run over the right field wall, his first of the season, to give Nola a cushion on the mound.
McMullen proved to be a force again at the top of the lineup, as the leadoff hitter went 1-for-2 with three RBIs and three walks.
Two more runs would cross the plate for the Tigers in the top of the sixth, as junior catcher Ty Ross laced a two-RBI single to give LSU a 5-0 lead.
That was all Nola would need.
The sophomore right-hander was dominant for nine innings, tossing 10 strikeouts while surrendering only two runs on four hits and a walk. Nola consistently pounded the strike zone and kept the Arkansas batting order off balance.
His only mistake came against Razorbacks redshirt sophomore Eric Fisher, who launched a Nola pitch over the wall for a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“What I like so much about this team is that we have such balance and excel in all phases of the game,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “That was certainly evident tonight – Aaron was brilliant and the mound and our defense made some amazing plays behind him. We got the big home run from McMullen, who’s been tremendous at the top of the order, and I was extremely proud of (LSU catcher) Ty Ross for coming through with a clutch two-out hit to stretch our lead.”
LSU would add a final run to the board as freshman shortstop Alex Bregman hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.
Bregman extended his hitting streak to 23 games with a single in the top of the fifth inning.
