After a tough weekend in Austin, LSU returned home looking to shake off their series loss to Texas. They did just that, putting together a commanding victory over UL-Lafayette on Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers, who dropped two of three games to the Longhorns, looked out of sync at times in that series, struggling with defensive miscues and inconsistent pitching. However, in front of their home crowd, LSU wasted no time proving that those issues were temporary.
“We learned from what happened in that game, used it as motivation and played better tonight,” Tigers head coach Jay Johnson said.
From the opening pitch, LSU’s energy was noticeably different. Daniel Dickinson set the tone at the bottom of the first, bracing his first hit as a double, beginning to break open the tied score.
Immediately after, Ethan Frey hit a double to make it 5-2 Tigers. Building on his team’s momentum, freshman catcher Cade Arrambide hit a two-run homer.
With the bases loaded in the first inning, Jared Jones steps up to the plate again and hits a grand slam for his ninth home run of the year.
It landed him his 51st career home run, the seventh most in LSU history. Jones again led the team with 5 RBIs, two hits and a .422 batting average.
The Tigers’ power had them running circles around the Ragin Cajuns. It was evident the team chemistry was back.
LSU’s pitching staff, which had struggled against Texas’ explosive lineup, bounced back quickly. Redshirt sophomore Jaden Noot delivered a solid three innings with a final pitch count of 42 and only one earned run.
Johnson reached for freshman right-handed pitcher William Schmidt, who had a shaky showing. Johnson also utilized Conner Benge, Chandler Dorsey and Mavrick Rizy to finish the last two innings.
Beyond the box score, LSU’s cohesion as a team stood out. After a weekend where miscommunication led to costly mistakes, the Tigers looked in sync. The infield turned two crisp double plays, outfielders backed each other up on deep fly balls, and the dugout was loud from the first pitch to the final out.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, to solidify that no mercy would be given to the Cajuns, transfer Tanner Reaves hit a two-run home run, making that his third of the season. After a rocky start to the season, Reaves has been proving why he is an asset to the team.
LSU beat ULL 17-4 in seven innings. With the win, the Tigers proved that its struggles in Texas were just a bump in the road.
LSU will look to carry this momentum into their upcoming SEC showdown against Mississippi State this weekend.
