LSU forced a rubber match against Hawaii Saturday with the offense finding its form through power in a 5-1 victory.
Junior pitcher Caleb Gilbert received his fourth start of the season and pitched four scoreless innings, but it was sophomore reliever Matthew Beck who stole the show late in the game.
Beck entered and threw two strikeouts in the fifth inning and followed that up with one more in the sixth. Beck worked himself into a hole, loading the bases in the sixth two outs but responded nicely by firing two strikes and forcing a groundout to end the inning.
After a struggle to get the bat going on Friday, the Tigers came out booming in the first inning. LSU sophomore centerfielder Zach Watson went opposite field for his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw.
“Sean and myself got on the guys pretty good last night,” Mainieri said. “We had a better approach tonight but they had some pretty good arms in the later innings. It was good to see us get some good swings out there today.”
Senior pitcher Austin Bain earned his first start on defense, but it wasn’t on the mound.  Bain started at first base in place of Bryce Jordan and was terrific from the start. Bain smashed a double in the first to right center field and finished the day 2-for-4 with an RBI.
“He was a little nervous before the game,” Watson said. “I told him you’re playing, you’re hitting, why not be the best first baseman you can be.”
LSU broke things open in the third inning with three runs scored including a two-run bomb from catcher Hunter Feduccia. Second baseman Brandt Broussard led the inning off with a walk and leads the team in batting average at .396 and has struck out just three times in 50 at bats.
Gilbert lost the strike zone in the fourth, walking two straight batters prompting pitching coach Alan Dunn to say a few words at the mound.  Dunn’s words stuck as Gilbert forced the next two batters into pop flys to end the inning.
A line drive went off of Gilbert’s foot in the second inning and affected the way he was accelerating on his pitches. Gilbert was replaced in the fifth inning, finishing with no runs and one strikeout on 65 pitches. Mainieri doesn’t think the injury is serious and anticipates it’s just a bruise.
“That shows you how tough of a guy he is,” Watson said. “He wants to keep pitching, wants to fight through it. He’s not the guy that will let one thing bother him.”
The Tigers let juco transfer Taylor Peterson carry them home for the final four outs and he delivered, retiring four in a row with one strikeout.
The Tigers will be back in action Sunday afternoon for the series finale against Hawaii with freshman Ma’Khail Hilliard starting on the mound for the Tigers.