The No. 5 Tigers (29-7) earned their fourth Southeastern Conference series win behind a sterling performance from sophomore pitcher Ryan Eades and some opportunistic offense in Saturday’s 7-1 win against Alabama (13-22).
Eades (5-1, 2.51) didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning, and only allowed four Alabama base runners in 7 1/3 innings of work. While he wasn’t overpowering, Eades kept the Tide hitters at bay with impressive command of all his pitches.
It was a step in the right direction for the Slidell native, who was knocked around in his last start against Florida.
The right-hander wasn’t only making plays with his arm, but also with his glove. After walking two of the first three batters he faced in the second inning, Eades made a diving catch on second baseman Kenny Roberts’ bunt attempt, then got up and fired to first for the inning-ending double play.
Eades left the game with a 3-0 lead after issuing his second walk of the eighth inning. He finished the game throwing 116 pitches.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the LSU offense looked like it was in for another high-scoring performance after dropping 10 on Alabama in the first game of the series.
But Alabama freshman left-hander Justin Kamplain settled down after the first giving up just three runs in 7 innings of work.
When the Tigers came to bat in the bottom of the eighth, they were clinging to a 3-1 lead. By the time it was the Tide’s turn in the ninth, LSU had a six-run advantage.
Junior outfielder Mason Katz led the eighth off with a walk and was followed by back-to-back singles by junior outfielder Raph Rhymes and senior shortstop Austin Nola, pushing LSU’s lead back to three runs.
After failing on two consecutive sac bunt attempts, sophomore catcher Ty Ross delivered in a big way, clearing the bases with a two-run triple.
Junior outfielder Arby Fields plated Ross with a sacrifice fly to right field to give LSU its final 7-1 lead. Fields, Rhymes and Ross each had multiple hits for the Tigers, who tallied 11 hits in the contest.
Saturday marked Rhymes sixth three-hit game of the season, and he padded his lead in the SEC batting race, bumping his average up to .475.
Freshman Aaron Nola (4-1, 3.32) will get the nod Sunday, as the Tigers look for the sweep and their 30th win of the season.