The No. 16 LSU baseball team wasn’t going to let this sweep slip away.
LSU took advantage of the third-straight game of at least three errors by No. 6 Cal State Fullerton and buried the Titans on Sunday, 10-2.
The Tigers went up, 2-0, after one inning for the third straight day. The lead was too great for the Titans to pick away at.
Fullerton committed three of its four errors in the bottom of the second inning as LSU scored five runs and chased junior pitcher Colin O’Connell.
Two errors came on the first two at-bats of the inning as junior first baseman Grant Dozar grounded a ball to third base which was mishandled and junior catcher Jordy Snikeris reached on a throwing error by O’Connell.
A rare double steal by Dozar and Snikeris ensued, and freshman second baseman JaCoby Jones poked a single to right field to extend LSU’s lead to 3-0.
O’Connell committed his second error of the inning attempting to pick off Jones at first base. He launched the ball way over first base and into the stands, scoring Snikeris.
Junior left fielder Trey Watkins gave the Tigers a 5-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook belted an RBI single to left field, and junior shortstop Austin Nola squirted an RBI single under the glove of junior second baseman Anthony Trajano, stretching the LSU lead to 7-0.
O’Connell, who had a 0.82 ERA entering the game, surrendered a walk, four hits and six runs in 1 1/3 innings.
The Tigers went ahead, 8-0, in the third inning on an RBI single to center field by junior third baseman Tyler Hanover. The Titans chipped away with one run in the fifth inning and another in the seventh inning but the lead was insurmountable.
Mahtook brought in two more runs in another strong eighth inning for LSU on a rope up the middle, scoring Watkins and Rhymes.
Rhymes went 3-for-4 with three runs and a stolen base. He was one of six different LSU players to steal a base Sunday.
Senior pitcher Ben Alsup picked up surrendered two runs in 6 2/3 innings to get the win and sophomore pitcher Jimmy Dykstra tossed two strikeouts in two hitless innings to end the game.
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]