LSU senior pitcher Ryan Byrd made the most of his opportunity to get back into the team’s regular pitching rotation.Pitching for just the third time this season, the Denham Springs native threw 4  2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday to help the Tigers earn a 6-3 win against McNeese State in Alex Box Stadium.The senior left-hander’s performance exceeded the expectations of LSU coach Paul Mainieri.”To be honest, I was hoping he’d just give us three solid innings,” Mainieri said. “But he was pitching so well, and we weren’t scoring any runs, so I didn’t want to take him out.”Wednesday’s outing was the first start of the season for Byrd, who struck out eight batters on the evening.Byrd said before Wednesday’s game he would stay fresh pitching in practice for the Tigers, but the adrenaline rush of facing live hitters helped him against the Cowboys.”It’s a little bit different,” he said. “Facing your own guys, it’s hard to get yourself fired up, so facing a different team is a lot easier for me.”McNeese State junior pitcher Ross Olson was just as good as Byrd in the first three innings of the game and kept the Tigers without a hit.But LSU finally got to Olson their second time through the batting order and scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.Sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs added to his game-winning hit Tuesday and got the Tigers started with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored junior first baseman Sean Ochinko who led off the inning with a double.Junior Ryan Schimpf also had an RBI single in the inning off Olson that scored junior outfielder Blake Dean.Sophomore Daniel Bradshaw relieved Byrd in the top of the fifth with runners on first and second base and two outs. Bradshaw got the final out of the inning without any harm done to keep the Tigers ahead, 2-0. But the sixth inning was not as kind to the West Monroe native, as McNeese State senior designated hitter Ryan Brauninger hit a three-run home run to left-center field off Bradshaw to give the Cowboys a 3-2 lead.The Cowboys’ lead did not last long as LSU answered with four runs of their own in the sixth. Schimpf ended Olson’s game and capped the LSU rally with a three-run home run over the right field fence to put LSU ahead for good.Schimpf was 2-for-3 on the game with four RBI.The Covington native said although the ball easily cleared the right field fence, a home run was the last thing on his mind. “In that situation, I was just looking for something to drive into the outfield to try to get the run in,” he said. Junior pitcher Paul Bertuccini pitched the seventh and eighth innings for LSU. Freshman pitcher Matty Ott worked the ninth and earned the first save of his LSU career.—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]