One day after losing junior reliever Doug Norman to an elbow injury, LSU’s bullpen showed no signs of disarray.

LSU (8-1) rallied to defeat Nicholls State 3-2 on Tuesday night on the performance of 4 1/3 combined scoreless innings from junior Hunter Kiel, freshman Todd Peterson, sophomore Caleb Gilbert and senior Hunter Newman.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he felt confident in the guys that he called upon.   

“I thought our bullpen was just outstanding,” Mainieri said. “I thought that was Hunter’s [Kiel] sharpest outing that he’s had. The more work he gets, the better he’ll keep getting.”

Both teams remained scoreless through four innings in what began as a pitching duel between LSU freshman Zack Hess and Nicholls State senior Mike Hanchar.

Hess pitched four scoreless innings for LSU and only gave up one hit.

Things changed in the fifth inning.

Hess hit the first batter he faced in Nicholls’ Justin Holt, and then gave up a single to Alex Tucker which moved Holt to third base.

A sacrifice bunt from Nicholls’ junior Troy Cahill scored Holt for the game’s first run and Nicholls State went ahead 1-0. Hess allowed another RBI single from Chet Niehaus to score Tucker and stretch the LSU deficit to 2-0.

Hess was immediately taken out and replaced with junior reliever Hunter Kiel.

Kiel pitched 1 1/3 innings and finished with three strikeouts.

Following Kiel was Peterson, who earned the win after throwing a total of seven pitches in the seventh inning to take out the side.

Junior left fielder Beau Jordan doubled to center field to lead off the fifth inning, and moved to third off of a single from freshman third baseman Josh Smith. Jordan scored LSU’s first run from a sacrifice fly from senior shortstop Kramer Robertson, and cut the deficit to 2-1.

After taking an absence from the starting lineup for the first time this season, sophomore Antoine Duplantis entered the game to pinch hit for freshman center fielder Zach Watson and lined an RBI single to center field to tie the game up 2-2.

Senior second baseman Cole Freeman and Robertson led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a pair of singles. Junior right fielder Greg Deichmann brought Freeman home to score with an RBI single to left in what would be the game-winning 3-2 run.

Jordan’s perfect performance at the plate stood out in Mainieri’s eyes as a key contribution to the victory.

“I thought Beau had a tremendous night, and I don’t think we win without him playing like the way that he did tonight,” Mainieri said. “It was very encouraging to see.”

LSU now heads to Houston to take on No. 1 TCU, Baylor, and No. 21 Texas Tech in the Shriners Hospitals For Children College Classic this weekend.
“I thought our team showed a lot of poise tonight,” Mainieri said. “It was a nice win for us as we get ready to head over to Texas this weekend.”