For most of Friday afternoon, the heavy rain looked like it would cancel the LSU baseball team’s clash against Auburn.
After a two-hour postponement, it looked like Auburn might topple LSU.
But in the end, it was the third-ranked Tigers who walked off the rain-soaked field victorious.
Originally scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., LSU’s series-opener against Auburn was pushed back to 9 p.m. due to inclement weather in the Baton Rouge area. But LSU (30-5, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) overcame the unfavorable conditions and an early deficit for a 3-2 victory in Alex Box Stadium.
It was LSU’s eighth consecutive win against Auburn (20-14, 4-9 SEC), which hasn’t won in the series since March 24, 2012.
LSU sophomore pitcher Jared Poche’ (6-1) picked up the win, but coach Paul Mainieri said it was a rough outing for his Friday starter.
“He just wasn’t real sharp,” Mainieri said. “But he battled.”
Auburn, which featured only one batter with an average better than .300 entering Friday’s game, jumped on the second-year southpaw in the first inning. Poche’ gave up two runs on two doubles, a single and a walk to put LSU in an early hole.
But Mainieri’s club answered back in its first turn at the plate. LSU junior shortstop Alex Bregman drove in a run with a groundout to second base, and senior catcher Kade Scivicque evened the game with a RBI double to left field.
It was Scivicque’s only hit of the night, but it extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
Junior outfielder Mark Laird then gave LSU a 3-2 lead with an RBI single in the second, but the bats went silent from there. The Tigers tallied only three hits over their last six innings at the plate, and they didn’t score again after the second.
But neither did Auburn.
Poche’ tossed 4 and ⅔ innings of scoreless baseball after his shaky first inning, and he struck out at least five batters for the second consecutive start. Unfortunately for Poche’, he also walked one batter and hit two others.
But Poche’s teammates made run-saving plays behind him.
Scivcique caught a failed bunt attempt and gunned a runner out at second for a double play in the third. In the next inning, Bregman relayed a ball to Scivicque at home to get Auburn junior infielder Melvin Gray out on a play at the plate.
Bregman committed his second error of the season, but he balanced that blemish out with seven assists in the field.
“That was a struggle for Poche’ to get through 5 and ⅔ innings,” Mainieri said. “At times, we were rather fortunate. But a couple of times, it was because of great plays.”
With a runner on second and two outs in the sixth, Mainieri plugged in sophomore pitcher Hunter Newman.
It turned out to be a wise move.
Newman was nearly perfect on the mound, walking the first batter he faced but retiring the final 10 of the game. He struck out the side in the seventh and lasted a season-long 3 and ⅓ innings while also picking up his first save of the season.
“What an unbelievable performance by [Newman],” Mainieri said. “He was just amazing. He was so good that I decided not to take him out of the game in the ninth inning. I I let him stay out there with a one-run lead I had so much confidence in him.”
Together, Poche’ and Newman kept LSU afloat when its offense had taken a nosedive. LSU finished with seven hits, the team’s fewest March 19 against Arkansas. It also halted the Tigers’ run of double-digit hit games at 12.
“Our pitching staff stepped up,” said Bregman, who helped the pitchers by making two of the game’s final three outs. “Eight scoreless [innings] was huge. It gave us a chance to win on a night when our offense really wasn’t there.”
LSU’s offense may have to be there against Auburn in Game 2, which is slated for 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Alex Box Stadium. 
After Friday’s game, Mainieri said he decided to scratch freshman pitcher Alex Lange —who was named to the 60-player midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list this week — from his scheduled start against Auburn on Saturday.
Mainieri said Lange experienced “more-than-ordinary tightness” following his start against Alabama on April 3, so he wanted to give his freshman pitcher a week off.
LSU freshman pitcher Austin Bain (0-0, 2.45) will get the starting nod against Auburn sophomore pitcher Keegan Thompson (6-2, 3.15 ERA). It will be the first-career start for Bain, who came out of the bullpen and tossed 6 and ⅔ scoreless innings in LSU’s 6-4 victory against Alabama on Sunday.
Bain was originally scheduled to start Sunday for freshman Jake Godfrey, meaning Mainieri will have more shuffling to do with his pitching staff this weekend.
“We’ll just have to play it by ear,” Mainieri said.