Coming off of two consecutive career-high nights, LSU sophomore pitcher Zack Hess had a shaky start that saw him strikeout nine batters but also give up three solo home runs in the 4-2 loss to Hawaii Friday night.
Hess finished the night giving up five hits on three earned runs. The loss is the second of the season and brings his record to 2-2 on the season.
“I left a couple fastballs over the heart of the plate and you just can’t do that at this level, you gotta give them credit they capitalized on it,” Hess said. “I gotta be a little bit better commanding the strike zone and not just controlling the team.”   
The Tigers got off to a hot start in the first inning with a sophomore center fielder Zach Watson double down the third baseline to start off the inning. A sacrifice bunt by junior second baseman Brandt Broussard brought Watson to third with junior right fielder Antoine Duplantis up to bat.
A miss handled grounder by Hawaii’s second basemen allowed Watson to score, giving LSU the 1-0 lead.
Hawaii would respond however, blasting two solo home runs off of Hess in the second and third innings. Hess got back on track in the fourth and fifth innings, striking out three and pitching a nine pitch fifth.
The Tigers offense finally came to life in the sixth inning with a leadoff walk by catcher Hunter Feduccia. A single by left fielder Daniel Cabrera moved Feducci to third, bringing up junior Chris Reid to the plate with the opportunity to tie the game.
Reid picked up his third RBI of the season with a line drive single to left, bringing in Feducci and tying the game 2-2.
The Rainbow Warriors would respond with another sole home run, this time by designated-hitter Logan Pouelsen in the top of the seventh. Hess finished the inning getting replaced by sophomore left-hander Nick Bush in the eighth.  
LSU was held at bay all night, threatening with runners in scoring position all night. The Tigers squandered two scoring opportunities in the eighth and ninth innings after one out doubles by Cabrera and Broussard had runners in scoring position in both innings.
“We had clutch hitters up there but it’s a tough game,” coach Paul Mainieri said. “Sometimes they come through and sometimes they don’t. I don’t know if it was a fact of their pitcher making great pitches or our hitter not being able to come through in the clutch situation. That’s the way baseball is. Somebody wins each of those individual battles between the pitcher and hitter and today we just came up a little bit short.”
Hawaii would add some insurance runs in the ninth inning with three consecutive singles off of Matt Beck and Taylor Petersen that drove in one and stretched the lead to 4-2.
The Tigers record falls to 9-6 on the season after splitting a pair of mid-week games earlier this week. LSU now has four home losses on the season after losing only seven home contests all of last year.
The Tigers will look to avenge their Friday night loss with junior right-hander Caleb Gilbert set to start tomorrow against Hawaii at 6:30 p.m. at Alex Box Stadium.