LSU sophomore pitcher Anthony Ranaudo said he wanted to be the Tigers’ Friday night pitcher. So far, so good. The Jackson, NJ, native improved to 2-0 on the season and pitched 6.1 innings, allowing just one run and striking out 10 batters to spark a 13-4 LSU win against Central Florida on Friday in front of a crowd of 7,419 at the new Alex Box Stadium. “Ranaudo was awesome,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “That’s exactly what I thought he was capable of doing.” LSU sophomore outfielder Leon Landry led off the game for LSU with a no-doubt home run that sailed over the right field fence to give LSU a 1-0 first-inning lead. The home run was Landry’s fourth of the season after hitting only five home runs his freshman season. Sophomore shortstop DJ LeMahieu added a solo homer of his own in the second inning as LSU added two more runs in that frame. Junior first baseman Sean Ochinko added an RBI single in the inning that scored junior outfielder Jared Mitchell, who singled, then stole second and third base in the inning. Mitchell was 2-for-4 for the game and stole three bases, running his season total to six on the season. The early cushion was all Ranaudo needed as the 6-foot-6-inch right hander did not allow a baserunner until the fourth inning. Ranaudo has allowed just two runs in 11.1 innings this season. Central Florida senior first baseman Kiko Vazquez did the only damage off Ranaudo and scored the first run of the game for the Knights and hit a solo home run off Ranaudo over the left field fence in the fifth inning. “Once he hit that home run, I refocused and said I have to really get the ball down in the zone and bounce back well,” Ranaudo said. LSU threatened in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but the Tigers left 11 runners on base for the game. Central Florida brought the winning run to the plate in the seventh, but LSU junior relief pitcher Paul Bertuccini retired the side to avoid the scoring threat. LeMahieu pushed the game out of reach in the bottom half of that inning and hit a 400-plus foot home run to straight away center field to give LSU a 6-1 lead. The Tigers’ shortstop is now hitting .588 on the season after going 2-for-3. “I feel good,” LeMahieu said. “You’ve got one weekend under your belt, so we’re used to the stadium now. We’re just seeing the ball better.” The Knights scored a run off pitcher Jordan Nicholson in the eighth inning, but LSU fired back with seven runs in the eighth sparked by a two-RBI double by Ochinko. The Tigers’ first baseman was 4-for-4 for the game. “That was great to see,” Mainieri said. “I was really happy for Sean. He wore out the middle of that field today.” —- Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]