The Tigers (14-3) accomplished everything they wanted to and then some as they cruised to an easy 13-0 victory against Northwestern State (5-11) on Wednesday night in Alex Box Stadium.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri planned on giving freshman pitcher Aaron Nola (3-0, 1.80) a 45-pitch limit for the evening with his first Southeastern Conference start looming on Sunday.
But LSU didn’t need to push its precocious starter close to the limit, as it had already built an early five-run lead and removed Nola after two innings of work.
“We expect him just to zip through two innings in about 14 pitches, in his typical way,” Mainieri joked. “I was really happy that we could get him out of there after two innings. … I felt once we got a lead, we didn’t need to try to extend them.”
Of course it doesn’t hurt that Rhymes went 2-for-4 – raising his batting average to .462 this season – before being lifted for a pinch runner in the fifth inning.
“I’m putting some good swings on the ball,” Rhymes said. “I like having runners in scoring position. I look at that opportunity as a good