Pregame:
No. 8 LSU took the field roughly an hour before the seeason opener against Air Force with the Tiger fans slowly beginning to flow in.
The Tigers face a three-game series, including two bouts with the Falcons tonight and Sunday, separated by a game with Alcorn State on Saturday.
Battin order for LSU on opening night:
3B  Tyler Hanover
2B Casey Yocom
RF Raph Rhymes
1B Mason Katz
LF Jackson Slaid
CF JaCoby Jones
SS Austin Nola
C Ty Ross
DH Jordy Snikeris
Right-handed sophomore takes the mound for the Tigers.
Junior outfielder Alex Edward is out with a hamstring injury.
 
For Air Force:
RF Taylor Ausbun
DH Patrick Lobo
LF Garrett Custons
CF Alex Bast
1B Adam Hill
3B Noah Pierce
SS Matthew Roberts
C Brian Sicher
2B Blair Roberts
Southpaw Ben Bertelson gets the nod for the Falcons on the mound.
 
First Inning
Kevin Gausman was about one pitch shy of being perfect in the his first inning of work this season.
The sophomore righty struck out the first two batters he faced before giving up a first-pitch home run to Falcon LF Garrett Custons, his first of the year.
The next pitch was a short hop ground-out to second to retire the side.
Contrary to Gausman’s start, Air Force pitcher Ben Bertelson hit the first two batters he faced, 3B Tyler Hanover and 2B Casey Yocom.
Bertelson’s struggles continued after he walked RF Raph Rhymes to load the bases.
A fourth straight walk brought home the tying run for the Tigers, followed by a two-run double from LF Jackson Slaid.
Bertelson would eventually get out of the inning, but the damage had been done.
CF JaCoby Jones struck out looking to give Bertelson his first out of the evening. SS Austin Nola followed it up with a sacrifice groundout to extend LSU’s lead, 4-1.
C Ty Ross’ RBI single gave the Tigers a 5-1 lead, and a ground out by DH Jordy Snickeris would finally end the inning.
LSU batted a round in the first.
 
Second Inning
Gausman escaped the second inning unscathed.
A flyout to Nola gave the Tigers the first out of the inning. Gausman walked Falcons 1B Adam Hill, and a hit-and-run groundout moved him to second.
A wild pitch by Gausman advanced Hill to third, but another K by Gausman ended the inning.
The Tigers came out swinging again in the second. After Hanover walked to start the inning, Yocom roped one down the left field line.
Hanover eeked by Air Force C Brian Sicher to score and extend the lead to 6-1.
Another walk by Bertelson would be the end of his day. Right-hander Ben Yokley was called on duty with two runners on and no out in the second.
Yokley struck out Katz to start his outing, and forced Slaid into a ground out for two quick put aways.
But the Tigers continued the damage. Jones’ screaming grounder split the first and second basemen’s diving reach and scored two runs. Jones advanced to second on a throw to home, and was driven in one batter later by Nola, who dropped a liner to the outfield.
Yokley walked Ross and nearly ended the inning on a Snikeris grounder to third. But a poor throw by 3B Noah Pierce drew Hill off the bag and loaded the bases.
A flyout by Hanover ended the Falcons woes in the second, but the Tigers entered the third with a 9-1 advantage.
 
Third Inning
Air Force looked to answer in the third, kick-started by a double to center by 2B Blair Roberts and a walk by Gausman.
But the Falcons couldn’t capitalize, getting three straight outs and leaving both runners stranded.
Air Force turned to fellow right-handed pitcher David Baska for an answer.
Another error by Pierce put Yocom on first, and a liner to center from Rhymes advanced him to second.
But a flyout by Katz and a double play ball from Slaid kept the Tigers at bay.
LSU’s lead sits at 9-1.
 
Fourth Inning
Gausman opened the fourth  inning-opening in similar, slow fashion, allowing a single to right. A wild pitch advanced the runner to second, but no damage was done in the inning.
The Tigers made a little noise in the fourth, kick-started by a double from Nola, who advanced to third on a flyout.
The senior short stop would be knocked in by Snikeris two batters later on a fielders choice grounder to second.
The Tigers would enter the fifth inning with a safe 10-1 lead.
 
Fifth Inning
A relatively actionless fifth inning ended in similar fashion to the fourth.
The Falcons left a runner stranded, but couldnt make any noise in the inning.
That  carried over into the bottom of the fifth for the Tigers, who also left a runner stranded, but failed to add to their lead.
The lead remained 10-1 going into the sixth.
 
Sixth Inning
The game continued to slow down in the sixth, as Guasman retired the side three-up-three-down.
Air Force used its fifth pitcher on the evening, bringing in the right-handed Todd Del Toro to start the sixth.
The Falcons also made an infield change, replacing Matthew Roberts with Casey Gibson at short stop.
Del Toro shut down LSU’s hot bats in the sixth, matching Gausman’s three-up-three-down inning.
 
Seventh Inning
Righty Kevin Berry replaced Gausman, who threw six innings, allowing four hits and one run while walking two and striking out seven.
Berry struck out the first batter he faced, and held the Falcons scoreless in the seventh.
Air Force made more fielding changes, moving Ausbun from RF to C, and moved Jake Shomaker to right.
LSU also made a change, batting freshman Chris Sciambria for Rhymes. The Tigers were again held scoreless, holding a 10-1 lead.
 
Eighth Inning
The Tigers made changes at all nine positions on the field entering the seventh, and brought on freshman Aaron Nola – brother of shortstop Austin.
The younger Nola struck out the first batter he faced, but got a quick welcome to the NCAA.
Two consecutive base hits by the Falcons brought in their second run of the night, trimming the lead slightly, 10-2.
Nola struck out another before forcing a flyout to left to end the inning.
LSU seems to have this game in hand, needing just three more outs to walk away with a win.
 
Ninth Inning
Right-handed pitcher Alex Baker became the sixth Falcon to take the mound on the night.
Baker continued the scoreless streak for the Falcons, keeping LSU off the board for the fourth straight inning.
Nick Goody came on for the Tigers to close out the game.
Goody went three-up-three-down to secure the Tigers’ first win of the season on opening day.
LSU is now 1-0 on the season and Air Force falls to 0-2.
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Check lsureveille.com for updates throughout the game, or follow @TDR_Sports, @HunterPaniagua, @cbranch89 and @mcleme9 for live tweets.