It felt like old times at Alex Box Stadium on Friday night.
Not just because an overflow crowd of 6,514 fans packed the historic stadium. But because the Tigers ran away with a 15-6 win against Mississippi State behind power hitting, highlighted by three home runs in the second inning.
Second baseman Ryan Schimpf, left fielder Jared Mitchell and first baseman Matt Clark each tallied home runs to help extend the Tigers’ winning streak to 10 games, its longest string of consecutive wins since 2001.
LSU (33-16-1, 13-11-1) remained in first place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division, a half game ahead of Ole Miss and Alabama. Mississippi State (20-30 and 7-17) also held its position at the bottom of the conference standings.
Every player in the Tigers’ starting lineup collected at least one hit. Mitchell had one of his best games of the season, amassing four hits, including his fifth homer on the year. The sophomore, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, scored a career-high four runs. Mitchell has homered in four of his last seven games.
“Mitchell has been playing well for a long time now,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “His confidence is growing now that he is back full-time with baseball. He’s a good player and a great athlete. I was glad to see him have a big night.”
Louis Coleman (4-0) was credited with the victory after throwing 3 and 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. The junior right-hander surrendered only two hits and struck out three. Ryan Verdugo got the start but struggled a bit. He allowed 11 hits in 4 and 2/3 innings, yielding six runs (all earned). He struck out four batters and walked none.
The Tigers jumped on the Bulldogs in the first inning, scoring four runs on six hits to take an early 4-0 lead.
“Tonight, we came out and really put a lot of pressure on early and things worked out,” Mainieri said. “We got a lot of clutch hits. Everybody got big hits, and it was a great team effort.”
LSU erupted for seven more runs in the second inning.
The Bulldogs fought back with a three-run third inning to cut the deficit to 11-3. The Bulldogs got closer, making it a 12-6 in the top of the fifth inning but wouldn’t get any closer.
Game two of series continues Saturday at 3 p.m. There are only two regular season games remaining in Alex Box Stadium.