LSU freshman pitcher Alex Lange knew he’d eventually give up some runs.
The Tigers knew they’d eventually have to bail their rookie pitcher out.
Both happened against Boston College on Friday night in Alex Box Stadium.
Lange gave up four runs and the lead to the Eagles in the top of the fifth, but No. 2 LSU went back in front in the bottom half of the inning and outlasted Boston College for a 7-4 victory in Game 2 of Friday’s doubleheader.
It was the second win of the day for the Tigers (5-1), who also claimed Game 1 against the Eagles, 8-3.
After watching his team strand 17 runners in a 6-3 loss to Nicholls State on Wednesday, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said the Tigers were much more aggressive at the plate in its two games against Boston College on Friday.
“I like the way we played a lot better today,” Mainieri said. “We were much more aggressive at the plate. We ran the bases really well a few times with good hustle and good reactions to the things we saw out there. It created some runs for us really.”
Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers scored three runs to retake the lead from the Eagles (2-4), who didn’t score before or after their fifth-inning explosion.
LSU senior outfielder Jared Foster drove in the first run of the fifth with an RBI double down the left field line. It was the second extra-base hit of the game for Foster, who batted 2-for-3 with a triple in his first game as the Tigers’ leadoff man this season.
“It was good to get some hits and go up there and battle and just do my part,” Foster said. “It was good to lead the game off right and start the momentum early.”
LSU junior outfielder Mark Laird doubled to left center to drive in Foster on the next at-bat. Two batters later, Laird crossed home plate on a wild pitch to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead through five.
LSU’s three-run fifth helped Lange (2-0) pick up his second-career win despite having his first subpar outing of the season.
After pitching nine scoreless innings to begin his collegiate career, Lange surrendered four earned runs to Boston College on five hits. The hard-throwing righty also threw four wild pitches and walked three batters.
But it wasn’t all bad for Lange, who was relieved after the fifth inning. The Missouri native struck out a career-high nine batters, giving him 16 through his first 10 innings at LSU.
“It’s hard to explain how all of a sudden they get four runs off a guy that was throwing the ball as well as he was throwing it, but it happens,” Mainieri said. “But at least our kids didn’t hang their heads. They came back and were able to regain the lead.”
The Tigers’ bats made up for Lange’s off night on the mound. After racking up 13 hits in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, LSU finished with eight in Game 2, with Laird and Foster collecting two apiece.
“Coach really emphasized in practice on Thursday to drive in runs, and I believe the whole team really came out swinging and hacking early in the count with runners in scoring position [Friday],” said LSU junior infielder Chris Chinea, who drove in two runs Friday night. “It really worked out well and paid off with two W’s.”
After Lange was pulled to start the sixth, the Tigers’ bullpen allowed just three hits in four shutout innings, and freshman right-hander Jesse Stallings sealed LSU’s two-win day by notching his third save of the season.
The Tigers and Eagles will conclude their series at 3 p.m. Saturday in Alex Box Stadium. LSU freshman right-hander Jake Godfrey will make his second-career start against Boston College senior southpaw Nick Poore.
With two wins secured and a possible weekend sweep up for grabs, Mainieri said the Tigers’ loss to Nicholls is a little easier to cope with.  
“You don’t put yourself in a position to sweep a weekend series very often, so you have to take advantage of it,” Mainieri said. “I don’t want to say it makes up for losing [to Nicholls State] on Wednesday. But from a record standpoint, if you finish off the weekend series, it makes it a little bit easier to accept it.”