In front of a sparse and dwindling home crowd, LSU freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis was responsible for three of his team’s 10 hits and three of his its nine runs by the end of the third inning on Wednesday night against Grambling State.
By the end of the eighth inning, LSU (22-11) led 14-6 and coach Paul Mainieri began experimenting even further than he already had in the game, putting freshman outfielder Brennan Breaux on the mound and junior right-handed reliever Collin Strall at second base.
Those experiments slightly exposed LSU as Grambling (15-17) turned a lopsided midweek game into a three-run contest, needing junior right-handed reliever Hunter Newman to pick up the final two outs. Still, LSU notched 17 hits and held on to 14-11 victory at Alex Box Stadium.
“It was good to get a lead,” Mainieri said. “We had to hold on there at the end. Actually, I thought that was good for Hunter Newman to have to get those last two outs with the game on the line and end the game. He did a great job.”
Held to two hits last night against McNeese State, LSU attacked Grambling right-hander Jordan White from the opening at-bat. LSU jumped all over White’s low-80 mile per hour fastball, spraying five hits for four runs in the first frame.
The four-run inning was highlighted by junior third baseman Greg Deichmann’s screaming double, which scooted past Grambling first baseman Robert Lopez.
LSU sophomore righty Jesse Stallings maneuvered around a two-out single in the top of the first, but his night ended after two batters in the second. Mainieri brought in senior lefty Hunter Devall after Stallings conceded a one-out walk. Despite retiring the final two batters of the second, Devall ran into his own trouble in the third.
Grambling junior shortstop Wesley Drain belted a two-run shot over the left-field bleacher to shrink LSU’s lead to 6-2.
However, Devall didn’t need much as LSU plated two more in the second off a walk, a single an error and junior center fielder Jake Fraley’s RBI sacrifice fly. Three runs, four hits and two Grambling errors in both the third and fourth innings gave LSU a 12-2 advantage.
The fourth inning included freshman third baseman Trey Dawson’s first collegiate base hit and RBI. Dawson also blooped another single in the sixth.
“You just gotta be aggressive at the plate,” Dawson said. “I wasn’t very aggressive early in the year. You just got to be aggressive tonight, and I got the hit.”
By the end of the fifth, Grambling had committed six errors, and Mainieri began to empty his bench.
With LSU offense sitting comfortably, sophomore reliever Austin Bain tossed two near-perfect innings of relief and recorded the win. Aside from a one-out walk in the fifth, Bain struck six of the seven hitters he faced. All but one of his six strikeouts, which were a season high, were swinging.
“Tonight was the most comfortable I’ve felt all season,” Bain said. “It felt good to feel like the old me is back. I’m feeling a lot better.”
Bain’s two dominant frames paved the way for freshman right-hander Cole McKay, who struck out two but allowed two singles, a walk and a run. McKay needed an inning-ending fly out to escape a base loaded jam.
Strall, who also had a plate appearance in the seventh, struggled in his only inning on the mound. The junior sidearmer gave up three earned runs and needed a strikeout with the base loaded to get out the eighth.
With Breaux on the mound, LSU made two errors in the ninth as Breaux allowed five unearned runs.
It didn’t matter much, though, as LSU’s lead was too large for a complete Grambling comeback. All but one available position player – junior catcher Michael Papierksi – appeared in the game. Freshman catcher Trent Forshag was responsible for LSU’s 14th and final run on his first collegiate base hit and RBI.
“Overall, I thought it was a good game,” Mainieri said. “We got to play a lot of players and get the bad taste out our mouth a little bit from last night.”