The No. 2 LSU baseball team completed its sweep of the Houston College Classic on Sunday with a 4-2 victory against Nebraska.
The Tigers (15-1) extended their win streak to 12 games by defeating the Cornhuskers (7-6) thanks to a quick start by the Tigers’ lineup.
Nebraska hopped on the Tigers right off the bat, taking an early 1-0 lead on a one-run single up the middle by designated hitter Ben Miller.
The Tigers bounced back in the bottom half of the inning for two runs of their own. LSU jumped on Nebraska starter Derek Burkamper with a leadoff single by sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley and a single by junior shortstop Alex Bregman, which advanced Fraley to third.
LSU junior designated hitter Chris Chinea got the Tigers on the board with a one-run single to center field, scoring Fraley from third. Senior third baseman Conner Hale kept his hit streak alive, hopping a ball over the right field fence for a one-run ground-rule double to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
But the Tigers failed to do more damage, leaving the bases loaded.
Hale got right back to it in his next at bat in the third inning, extending the Tigers’ lead to 3-1 on a groundout to third base that scored Bregman from third. Hale extended his hit streak to 16 games, finishing Sunday afternoon 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
The Cornhuskers stayed off the board until the top of the seventh inning. Nebraska finally got to LSU freshman pitcher Jake Godfrey, rallying for three hits and a walk to cut the Tigers’ lead to 3-2.
Nebraska first baseman Austin Christensen drove home the Cornhusker run on a single to center field before Godfrey got out of the jam a batter later with runners on second and third.
Godfrey shut down the Cornhuskers for much of the contest with the lead in hand. He went seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Godfrey came into Sunday’s game with the Tigers’ best ERA among starting pitchers with a 1.26, doing much of the same Sunday afternoon in his third win of the season.
The Tigers tacked on one more run in the eighth when junior center fielder Andrew Stevenson reached on a fielder’s choice by freshman infielder Grayson Byrd to extend their lead to 4-2.
LSU wrapped up the weekend 3-0 after beating No. 8 Houston, 4-2, on Friday night and edging out Baylor, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon.
LSU’s weekend sweep extends its win streak to 12 games with Southeastern Conference play on the horizon. The Tigers now set their sights on McNeese State on Wednesday night before hosting SEC West rival Ole Miss during the weekend.
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @chascin_TDR.