Forget deja vu.The LSU baseball team (13-2) overcame a sluggish start to thwart Nicholls State’s attempt at a repeat of last year’s victory in Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers used a fourth-inning outburst to trounce the Colonels (11-5), 10-3, on Wednesday.The win helped erase memories from losing last weekend’s series against Kansas. “It’s always great to bounce back after a loss,” said sophomore second baseman Tyler Hanover. “You never want to continue a losing streak. After last weekend, we just wanted to come out with a win.”Sophomore starting pitcher Chris Matulis pitched three efficient innings, only allowing one run on two hits. Junior center fielder Leon Landry led the Tigers at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort with a home run. “I was particularly happy with how Matulis threw,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “That may have been as good as I’ve ever seen him throw.” Junior pitcher Daniel Bradshaw (3-0) earned the win on two innings pitched, two hits, one run and one strikeout. Colonel pitcher Ryan Cooper nabbed the loss after throwing four innings and giving up five runs on five hits.Cooper was stellar in the preliminary innings. Through the first three frames, only Landry was able to pierce Cooper’s armor after sending a solo home run clanging off the right-field foul pole. The Colonels took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth. Their upset bid was over after that.LSU broke it open in the fourth after struggling against Cooper, notching four crippling runs and sending Cooper to the showers.”I think we kind of played the wind,” Hanover said. “It was a factor too. Everyone at the beginning of the game was still trying to hit fly balls and the wind was blowing straight in. He was a good pitcher and I think after a while, I don’t know if he tired down, but we started to hit balls on the ground and trying to get base hits instead of hitting the ball out.”Landry clubbed a single into right field that sent sophomore outfielder Mikie Mahtook to third. Hanover then poked a single into left field plating Mahtook to tie the game at two.Senior designated hitter Matt Gaudet took care of the rest. Gaudet blasted a Cooper offering well over the left field fence to tack on three more runs, extending the Tiger lead to 5-2. The homer was Gaudet’s sixth of the season.”That was a big blow for our team,” Mainieri said. “It looked like it was going to be a hard fought game all night, and I thought that one swing gave us a little breathing room and really allowed our pitchers to go out there and challenge hitters. It was a good combination.”Gaudet’s shot broke him out of a slump. Before Sunday, Gaudet had been hitless in his last 19 at-bats.”I was very happy to see Matt get back at it,” Mainieri said. “This can be a very humbling sport, and he was in a rut there where he was struggling making contact much less getting big hits. He also had a couple of tough breaks.”LSU widened the lead in the next inning. A double from Mahtook and an error helped widen the lead to 7-2 after five. The Tigers weren’t done. LSU would score three more runs late to hang double digits on the scoreboard, while a solo home run from Colonel senior infielder Adam Miley put another run on the board for Nicholls.The pitching effort was impressive for LSU. Mainieri trotted out seven pitchers on the night, with the crew giving up a mere three runs on five hits with no walks.”The goal tonight was to get them all out there on the mound and get them sharp as we can and have them all ready for this weekend,” Mainieri said. “I thought it was mission accomplished. They threw very well.”—-Contact Chris Branch at [email protected].