Going into this weekend’s series against Tennessee, No. 8 LSU was hoping to focus only on its destiny and not glance at the Southeastern Conference standings.
Sunday’s winning starter Nate Bumstead said LSU’s focus never left Alex Box Stadium.
“We knew we were in first, and we weren’t really paying attention to the other games,” Bumstead said. “We knew we had to come out and play our game against Tennessee.”
This approach paid dividends, as the Tigers (30-13-1, 15-5-1 SEC) mauled the Volunteers (24-20, 8-13), scoring 42 runs and smashing 47 hits in a three-game sweep.
While LSU was maintaining a strong hold on top of the conference standings, its two main competitors were facing severe difficulties. Both Mississippi State and Auburn lost two of their three games this weekend on the road at Florida and Vanderbilt, respectively.
With the combination of LSU wins and State and Auburn losses, the Tigers now find themselves with a 2.5-game lead over Auburn and a three-game lead over MSU.
Right fielder Jon Zeringue said big things could be on the horizon for the Tigers in coming weeks when they have to face three of the other teams jockeying to claim the title — State, Auburn and Arkansas.
“If we come out and take at least two from Mississippi State, we’ll probably be able to clinch at home against Auburn,” Zeringue said. “That would be awesome to be able to clinch at home and give the crowd a little something to cheer for.”
Bumstead won his sixth-straight start, allowing just two runs, none earned and five hits. Bumstead has lowered his ERA to 3.90.
As has been the custom in Bumstead’s starts, the Tigers came up with a lot of run support, including an 11-run fourth. All nine LSU starters had hits.
“I guess it’s just one of those things where everybody has a lot of confidence in [Bumstead], and he’s pitching so good right now,” Zeringue said. “He knows what it takes to be solid every time.”
Left fielder Ryan Patterson was 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and a three-run home run over the left field wall. Zeringue continued his turnaround at the plate, going 4-for-4 at the plate — all singles — on the day.
In addition, first baseman Clay Harris went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, and catcher Matt Liuzza was 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs.
“I wanted to come out and swing at good pitches,” Harris said. “The runs we’ve been putting up have been unreal.”
LSU opened the series with a 17-4 win behind a solid performance by Justin Meier.
The Tigers followed up with a come-from-behind, 10-6 win Saturday. Senior Bo Pettit went eight innings, despite a rocky start, to pick up the win.
LSU was down 6-1 early, before scoring two in the third and fourth innings and breaking out with a five-run fifth to take the lead for good. Center fielder Bruce Sprowl, Patterson, second baseman Blake Gill, designated hitter Quinn Stewart and Liuzza all had two RBIs.