The LSU baseball team used an offensive outburst and a quick-paced defense to cruise past the 22nd-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, 12-4, Sunday in Alex Box Stadium.
LSU won Friday’s game 5-1 behind a complete-game performance by true freshman Justin Meier (4-0, 1.38 ERA) but dropped Saturday’s contest 8-5.
The Tigers (21-10-1) extended their Southeastern Conference series winning streak to eight with the win Sunday and improved their SEC record to 9-2-1 on the season.
The Sunday run support continues to mount for the Tigers as they have not lost a Sunday game since Kansas swept them the first weekend of February.
LSU is averaging more than eight runs per game in its Sunday games since the SEC schedule began.
The 10th-ranked Tigers blasted 14 hits off five different South Carolina pitchers Sunday, including two home runs, a triple, two doubles and four fly ball-outs at the warning track.
“Everybody swung the bat great today,” said LSU outfielder Bruce Sprowl, who finished 2-for-5. “It was a domino effect, and it all went down the right way for us.”
      The Tigers’ offensive explosion nearly overshadowed Nate Bumstead’s performance on the mound.
The first-year LSU pitcher gave up one run in the first inning and four in the ninth, pitching a complete game with six strikeouts.
Although the Tigers spent a lot of time at the plate, Bumstead got quick outs and the game ended after two hours and two minutes — the shortest game of the season.
“You can’t ask any more from a player,” shortstop Aaron Hill said of Bumstead. “He works fast and gets the outs.”
Bumstead said he does not try to overpower hitters but simply tries to make them get themselves out.
Bumstead gave up 10 hits, and his only walk came in the ninth inning.
“They hit a lot of ground balls,” Bumstead said. “We got a lot of one-pitch outs. We got up real big on them, so I just went after the hitters and didn’t have to worry about the runners.”
Bumstead improved his record to 4-1 and posted his third-straight SEC win.
The offensive eruption began early as the Tigers first four batters reached base safely, sparked by back-to-back hits by Sprowl and outfielder Ryan Patterson.
South Carolina pitcher Matt Campbell then walked Hill before third baseman Ivan Naccarata’s two-run single.
Campbell faced only six batters in 2/3 innings before being replaced by Zach Reeves. Combined, Campbell and Reeves gave up eight runs on nine hits and walked three through 1 1/3 innings.
Campbell dropped to 1-3 on the season, and the Gamecocks fell to 20-12 (5-7 SEC).
After going hitless Friday, Hill went 5-for-5 Saturday and hit for the cycle. He continued hitting strong Sunday with a bases-clearing, three-run triple in the second inning.
Hill finished the series 6-for-11 with six RBIs, raising his batting average to .351.
The home runs keep pouring in as the Tigers launched six, two in each game of the series and currently sits atop the SEC with 40 team home runs.
Patterson and Clay Harris hit bombs Friday, Hill and Jon Zeringue each knocked one out Saturday and Quinn Stewart and Matt Liuzza hit home runs Sunday.
Liuzza’s home run cleared the 405-foot mark, flying over the centerfield wall while Stewart’s cleared the bleachers in left with the help of the wind.
“We had a sense of urgency this weekend,” Hill said. “We knew we had to win or we’d be in trouble with the coaches. It was a great, fun weekend.”
The Tigers return to action Wednesday in a game against in-state foe Northwestern State in Natchitoches at 7 p.m.