Notre Dame snapped No. 13 LSU’s eight-game winning streak 7-1 on Sunday afternoon behind a solid performance by sophomore pitcher Sean Fitzgerald.
Although he came into the game with a 9.82 ERA, the right-hander tamed the LSU batters that had been on a torrid stretchsince the last LSU loss.
Fitzgerald went eight innings to earn the win, scattering six hits and giving up the lone LSU run.
“He was throwing every pitch for a strike,” said junior outfielder Raph Rhymes. “He had great control of his off-speed [pitches]. When you can throw your off-speed for a strike it makes your fastball that much tougher. He pitched a pretty good game today, got to give it to him.”
Rhymes had been the engine driving LSU’s offensive surge during the win streak, as he came into the contest with a nine-game hit streak.
But the ground balls that had been finding gaps in the infield were all swallowed up by the gloves of Notre Dame infielders on Sunday. Rhymes went 0-for-4 in the game, with three groundouts.
“I think we just need to flush this one,” Rhymes said. “Today was a tough day, but the good thing is we get to play again tomorrow. We’ll be ready to bounce back.”
The Tigers didn’t receive a good performance from Kurt McCune, who may have lost his grip on his weekend starter status with his third consecutive subpar start.
The Norco native completed just three innings before being lifted in favor of sophomore Joe Broussard in the fourth inning.
It looked like McCune was in for a better day at the start of the game. He breezed through the first two innings without allowing a baserunner.
But things began to snowball in the third. A leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt attempt where McCune fielded the ball but whiffed on a tag, set up freshman outfielder Conor Biggio for his first big impact on the game.
Biggio, the son of former Houston Astros star Craig Biggio, laced a two-run double to right-center field. Biggio finished the day 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored from the top of Notre Dame’s order.
McCune was tabbed with the loss, as he gave up five earned runs in three innings.
“A loss is a loss,” said junior first baseman Mason Katz. “We take it the same if we lost by one run or if we lost by six. It sucks, but we’ve been trained to come back the next day whether we win or lose. We’re just going to put this one behind us.”
The Tigers play the Irish again tomorrow at 6:30 in Alex Box Stadium.
Freshman Austin Nola, who may replace McCune in the weekend rotation, will get the start for LSU. 
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