LSU sophomore outfielder Mikie Mahtook might not want to relinquish the leadoff spot when sophomore outfielder Trey Watkins returns from an injury he sustained in a crash with sophomore shortstop Austin Nola.
The No. 3 Tigers easily dispatched an overmatched Alcorn State squad, 17-5, in the first game between the two universities. Alcorn State might wait until Mahtook is gone to come back for round two.
Before the sixth inning was complete, Mahtook had already hit for the cycle, topping off his performance in grand style by hitting a monster two-run shot to left field in the sixth inning.
“I’ve been putting good swings on the ball and getting good pitches,” Mahtook said. “That’s baseball. Sometimes you’re going to get base hits, and sometimes you’re not.”
In three games in the leadoff spot, Mahtook is hitting .571 with two home runs, 11 runs scored and four stolen bases.
But Mahtook wasn’t the only star batter for the Tigers. Senior Blake Dean had three hits and moved up to fifth on LSU’s all-time hit list with his 285th hit of his career. Dean left the game in the sixth inning with four RBIs on three hits.
“Blake Dean is the best hitter I’ve coached in 28 years. And he hasn’t even caught fire yet,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “The second half of his season is going to be fun to watch, you mark my words.”
Sophomores Tyler Hanover and Grant Dozar also collected three hits for the Tigers, and every other starter collected at least one hit.
Dozar, who started at catcher, was part of an interesting bit of history for the Tigers. Junior third baseman Kyle Koeneman got his first career hit with a triple to lead off the third inning. Dozar followed him up with a triple of his own.
It was the first time a pair of Tigers hit back-to-back triples since May 16, 1999. Dozar fell a home run shy of hitting his own cycle.
“We kind of had a hit parade today. Coaches say hitting is contagious, and obviously it was tonight,” Dozar said. “In my last at bat, Mikie had already gone for the cycle and the guys were kind of ragging meand putting the pressure on me to try for it, but I went up there and on the first pitch I got hit.”
Junior pitcher Ben Alsup survived a four-run second inning to grab the victory for the Tigers. Alsup threw six innings, allowing five runs and tallying eight strikeouts for his second victory of the season.
 
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