A stiff wind carrying in toward left field wasn’t the only thing factoring into a troubling night at the plate for the No. 1 LSU baseball team.
The Tigers (38-7, 14-6 Southeastern Conference) had to deal with several soft-throwing pitchers from Alcorn State, which managed to keep the game close heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.
But seven LSU pitchers combined for a one-run, two-hit performance as the Tigers grinded out a 6-1 victory against the Braves (11-36, 3-17
Southwestern Athletic Conference).
“Obviously, the lower velocity of the pitching kind of threw us off there quite a bit tonight,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It wasn’t a good hitters’ night with the wind [blowing] in like it was, so I was a little nervous about tonight, to be honest with you. Our pitching staff carried us to victory. All of those guys just did a terrific job, piecing it together.”
The first four LSU pitchers were nearly flawless through six scoreless innings, surrendering only one hit while striking out eight and walking none. 
Senior starting pitcher Kyle Bouman, who made his first start in almost two weeks, tossed three shutout innings and gave up the only hit in the first six frames.
After a leadoff error in the top of the third, Bouman, freshman Doug Norman, junior Hunter Devall and sophomore Collin Strall combined to retire 11 straight Alcorn State hitters heading into the seventh inning. Norman, Devall and Strall each notched a pair of strikeouts.
Through the first three innings, LSU’s offense couldn’t solve Alcorn State’s crafty sophomore starting pitcher Jonathan Morales, who fooled hitters with a knuckleball that dipped into mid-50 mph range. 
“None of us have ever seen it before,” said junior shortstop Alex Bregman. “They did a good job of throwing stuff we haven’t seen before.”
The Tigers, though, were able to make adjustments to the unusual speed in the bottom of the fourth inning. 
After a leadoff fly out by junior right fielder Mark Laird, Bregman doubled into left-center field and stole third on the following pitch to senior third baseman Conner Hale. He then scored Bregman on a fielder’s choice to Alcorn State freshman third baseman Robert Fletcher.
Following junior first baseman Chris Chinea’s walk, junior center fielder Andrew Stevenson, who was 2-for-3 on the night, ripped a single through the right side to advance Chinea to third and later stole second base. 
“I was just trying to slow it down,” Stevenson said. “With a slow pitcher like that, you can’t get too antsy. I was just trying to let the ball come to me and not try to go get it.”
With both runners in scoring position, sophomore designated hitter Danny Zardon, who led the team with three RBIs, knocked a two-RBI single, which bounced off Fletcher’s glove, to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. 
Morales was pulled following the end of the fourth inning, and five other Alcorn State pitchers came on in relief to finish the game.
The only real trouble LSU faced came in the top of the seventh when sophomore reliever Alden Cartwright gave up a solo home run to the Braves senior right fielder Scotty Peavey. Later in the inning, Alcorn State junior shortstop Moses Charles walked and stole second, but Cartwright picked him off to end the inning. 
Senior left-hander Zac Person relieved Cartwright in the eighth and recorded a perfect inning with a couple strikeouts of his own. All six of the relievers pitched just an inning apiece but fanned a total of 10 batters.  
Following a pair of singles from Chinea and Stevenson, the Tigers then stretched the lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the eighth via RBIs from Zardon, freshman second baseman Grayson Byrd and sophomore left fielder Jake Fraley before freshman closer Jesse Stallings retired the side in the
ninth.
With the Tigers heading to Starkville, Mississippi, this weekend for another crucial SEC series with Mississippi State, Bregman and his team were just happy to escape with another win.
“I don’t think we’re going to really take anything from this,” Bregman said. “We’re just going to be glad it’s over with. It’s a win for us, which is good. We’re happy that we won. Our pitching staff competed very well. We’re just ready to go to Mississippi State.”
You can reach James Bewers on Twitter @JamesBewers_TDR.