LSU freshman pitcher Jake Godfrey desperately needed a win.
With some powerful hitting backing him up, Godfrey got it.
The No. 3 Tigers blasted three home runs against pesky Northwestern State and helped Godfrey overcome his recent struggles in a 9-6 victory Wednesday night in Alex Box Stadium.
It was the sixth consecutive win for LSU (29-5), which hasn’t lost since a 12-10 defeat in 11 innings to Kentucky on March 29. But it was the fourth loss in a row for the Demons (17-15), who had won five of six before their current losing streak.
“We did a lot of good things,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We had a few plays we could’ve made a little bit better, a few pitches that could’ve been made a little bit better, but we can’t be perfect. We found a way to win.”
It was a bounce-back game for Godfrey (6-0, 4.38 ERA), who was making his first midweek start of the season after beginning his career with eight consecutive weekend starts. In his previous two outings against Kentucky and Alabama, Godfrey allowed eight runs on 11 hits and lasted a combined two innings.
Early on, it looked like Godfrey’s recent struggles hadn’t left.
Godfrey’s first pitch of the game plucked Northwestern senior shortstop Joel Atkinson, who scored three batters later on an RBI double from Chase Daughdrill to give the Demons an early 1-0 lead.
“It was brutal,” Godfrey said. “I let a two-seamer tail, and it got him. All I thought was, ‘Not again.'”
Godfrey then gave up a two-run homer in the second inning to senior catcher Garrett Logan, who entered the game batting .176 with two RBIs and no homers.
But the Tigers’ offense ensured Godfrey’s early troubles didn’t cost them the game.
LSU senior designated hitter Chris Sciambra tied things up in the bottom of the first, blasting his second home run in as many days to even game, 1-1.
After Logan’s homer put the Tigers in a 3-1 hole, they stormed ahead in a four-run second inning. Senior second baseman Jared Foster smoked his team-leading eighth home run of the season to pull LSU within one, and freshman infielder Grayson Byrd tied the game at 3 after scoring on a sacrifice fly.
But the Tigers were only getting started.
Junior shortstop Alex Bregman put LSU in front for good with an RBI double to left-center field. On the next at-bat, junior first baseman Chris Chinea, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games, ripped an RBI single to give the Tigers a 5-3 edge after two.
LSU sophomore outfielder Jake Fraley joined the home run derby in the fourth with a solo shot that landed at the top bleachers in right field. Fraley’s homer, his first of the season, put the Tigers ahead by four, and Bregman’s second run three batters later put LSU ahead, 8-3.
Pitching with a lead, the struggling Godfrey finally settled in.
The Illinois native forced seven consecutive outs after Logan’s home run and retired the side in the third and fourth innings. Godfrey lasted five innings, his longest stint since March 21 against Arkansas, before Mainieri put sophomore pitcher Collin Strall on the mound.
“[Godfrey] was better obviously than the last two outings,” Mainieri said. “Once he got past the second inning, I didn’t know whether to light up a cigar and celebrate or what. I was just happy for the kid. It was a mental block that he had to get past.”
LSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, but Northwestern didn’t surrender without a fight.
The Demons scored two runs in the top of the seventh and added one in the ninth. But with two men on, Daughdrill popped up to LSU sophomore pitcher Parker Bugg to end the game.
The Tigers now have a one-day break before taking on Auburn this weekend in Alex Box Stadium.
“We’ll take the win, put it in our back pocket and get ready for Auburn,” Mainieri said.