Another weekend, another Southeastern Conference series sweep for No. 11 LSU.
The Tigers (36-16, 17-10 SEC) earned a 10-7 win against Tennessee. For the second straight Sunday, freshman pitcher Caleb Gilbert took to the mound making his second start of the season.
LSU extended its win-streak to eight games, which is the longest of the season for the Tigers.
While Gilbert (4-2) was still effective, he didn’t last as long as his previous outing. He was pulled to start the bottom of the fourth in favor of sophomore Austin Bain.
Heading into the top of the sixth, LSU held a 4-2 advantage, but sophomore outfielder Bryce Jordan stretched the Tigers lead to 6-2, to give them some breathing room.
But, that lead lasted for only a short while, as Tennessee (26-26, 7-20 SEC) quickly tied the ballgame in the bottom of the sixth, after junior pitcher Parker Bugg gave up a two-RBI double to tie things up at 6-6.
Freshman Antoine Duplantis would put the Tigers up for good in the top of the eighth with his second home-run of the season, giving LSU a 10-6 lead.
“This was a tremendous win for our team, because it allowed us to keep all of our goals within reach,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri in a press release. “Completing a sweep in the SEC is a very difficult task, but we came to the park today determined to finish the job. We swung the bats well to take the lead, and when Tennessee came back to tie the game, we responded in a big way.”
It was the second straight game LSU scored at least 10 runs, which it was the first time the Tigers scored at least 10 runs in back-to-back conference games since 2014.
Strong pitching and explosive offense helped propel LSU to its series sweep. During their visit to Knoxville, the Tigers scored 23 runs, logged 31 hits, to go along with three home runs.
“We have a very good offensive team that takes an excellent approach at the plate,” Mainieri said in a release on Saturday.
Junior pitcher Jared Poche’ delivered a solid performance in the Tigers 11-2 victory Saturday. It was the first time since April 28 that Poche’ started a game and lasted longer than two innings, seeing five innings of work.
In the Tigers 2-1 victory on Friday, sophomore pitcher Alex Lange guided LSU to victory with eight inning performance.
Lange (7-5) held the Volunteers to only four hits, one run and struck out seven batters.
With one week left in the regular season, Mainieri feels like his team is peaking at the right time.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now, which is critical at this time of the season,” Mainieri said on Saturday in a release.
