If their was any question prior to Wednesday night, the 2,449 fans who attended LSU’s baseball game against Southeastern Louisiana University now know who is the real king of jungle. The Tigers (14-9, 1-2 SEC) defeated SLU 5-3 at Alex Box Stadium. The two-run win marked the 11th-consecutive time the Tigers have defeated the Lions (16-7), a feat LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said should not cloud the fact the team did not play up to its standards. “The positive is, we got eight leadoff hitters on base,” Mainieri said. “The negative is our execution of trying to get them around left a lot to be desired. I just thought there was a very uninspiring performance by our guys when it comes to the fundamental aspect of the game.” The Tigers broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the second inning after senior right fielder Steven Waguespack hit a first-pitch home run to left-center field. Waguespack said he did not believe he hit the ball hard enough for it to clear the fence and was surprised to see it reach the bleachers. “I thought that it was going to actually come in,” Waguespack said. “I knew I hit it pretty solid, but I didn’t know if I hit it hard enough to get it out. It ended up on the right side of the wall though.” The Lions responded to the solo shot by tying the game 1-1 in the top of the third after senior first baseman Dillon Sudduth bunted in junior third baseman Casey Summerlin. Two more runs from the Tigers in the bottom half of the inning made the score 3-1. After a runless fourth inning, the Lions put up two runs to tie the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth. The rally was cut short, however, after junior left fielder Xavier Qualls was caught stealing to end the threat. The Tigers added one run to break the tie in the bottom of the fifth after an error by Summerlin allowed freshman designated hitter Blake Dean to score from third. With a total of six errors between the two teams, freshman center fielder Jared Mitchell said the team needs to step up its play if it expects to win this weekend against the University of Kentucky. “We came out and played a little sloppy tonight,” Mitchell said. “Fundamentally we didn’t play up to par, and that’s what kept the game closer than what it should have been.” Mainieri said the Tigers would struggle against No. 11 Kentucky (21-2, 1-2) if the team continues to play poorly. “There were a lot of things we did [tonight] that were very poor baseball,” Mainieri said.
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