A light, steady rain turned into a downpour in the top of the fifth inning of Sunday’s weekend series between LSU and Southeastern Louisiana and forced the final game to be canceled.
The Tigers were leading the Lions 2-1 going into the top of the inning and only needed three more outs for the game to become official. All statistics from the game, including shortstop Matt Horwath’s leadoff home run and pitcher Nate Bumstead’s six strikeouts in four innings, do not count. The game will be made up May 19 at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU took the first two games of the series with a 7-1 win Friday night and a 5-1 win Saturday afternoon.
In the first game, the Tigers broke a 1-1 game open with a five-run fifth inning, which included a grand-slam by Tigers first baseman Will Harris.
“I got ahead in the count with the bases loaded and I just got a pitch I could handle,” Harris said.
That was more than enough for Justin Meier, and he picked up the win with seven innings pitched, allowing only one run and six hits. Meier improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.74.
Freshman right-hander Michael Bonura pitched two shutout innings in relief.
Lane Mestepey bounced back from his loss against Houston with 6 2/3 innings Saturday, where he allowed one run. Mestepey (3-1) struggled with his control with four walks but the Tigers turned four double plays on the afternoon.
“I threw all right [Saturday],” Mestepey said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done. I improved my change-up. It actually helped me out a lot. I rolled over some ground balls in some key situations.”
Jordan Faircloth pitched the rest of the game for his first save of the season.
Designated hitter Nick Stavinoha slammed his third home run of the season in the fourth inning to give LSU a 2-0 lead and the Tigers added three more runs over the game.
LSU improved to 15-2 on the weekend while Southeastern dropped to 5-8.
Second baseman Blake Gill hit 4-for-8 on the weekend while Harris hit 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
“It was an OK weekend,” LSU coach Smoke Laval said. “You can’t really tell a whole lot. We’ve still got to get a few guys going. I didn’t really get a whole lot out of this weekend except for the pitchers getting some work.”
Second-Year SLU coach Dan Canevari, who was an assistant at LSU for 12 seasons, was pleased with the way the Lions responded this weekend despite the two losses.
“We did well under the pressure,” Canevari said. “Playing in front of the large crowds was very good for us. The kids are learning how to play every single day and they’re getting a lot better with it. This weekend has been great and I appreciate LSU.
“Actually, this [rain out] benefits us because now we have another game against LSU here right before our conference tournament.”
The makeup game is a week before the start of the Southland Conference Tournament and also a week before the start of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Tigers and Lions will also meet in the Wally Pontiff Jr. Baseball Classic on April 14 at Zephyr Field in Metairie.