LSU baseball continued its success to close out its first home stand of the year unbeaten, winning by way of a run-rule against Nicholls, 12-1, in eight innings on Wednesday.
The Tigers took advantage of poor location from Nicholls starting pitcher Will Mabry to establish control early, and leaned on a tremendous showing from four relievers to take the victory.
Shortstop Steven Milam scored from third on a wild pitch from Mabry to tie the game at one in the first inning. Mabry issued a pair of free passes to load the bases later that inning, which third baseman Trent Caraway punished him for with a grand slam to put the game firmly in LSU’s favor.
“Trent got a mistake and he hammered it,” head coach Jay Johnson said. “That’s a big swing.”
“I was thinking everyone is hitting homers, so I need to hit a homer,” Caraway said. “It felt good, especially having the bases loaded.”
The trend continued in the second. Mabry let the first two Tigers reach on balls to open the inning, which ended his day. LSU wouldn’t need a hit to score one of those runners, as Mason Braun was pushed home thanks to a couple of productive groundouts.
The LSU offense stalled for the next three innings, but made Nicholls pay once more for poor pitching in the sixth.
A two-out walk to Milam extended the inning, letting Jake Brown hit. Brown was able to capitalize with an RBI single to score Tanner Reaves, who singled to lead off the inning. Milam then scored off of a wild pitch to Cade Arrambide that bounced out of play, allowing Brown to advance to third.
An inning later, Daniel Harden reached on an error and was able to advance to second after a wild pitch. The free 90 feet allowed him to score off a ball in play one batter later.
Omar Serna Jr. represented the mercy-rule enabling run when he walked in the bottom of the eighth. He’d come home on a walk-off, three-run home run by a pinch-hitting John Pearson.
Senior pitcher Zac Cowan got the start for LSU. The senior allowed three hits and a run in just over an inning of unsteady work in his second appearance of the year. Colonel batters were able to pick up on Cowan’s fastball, which he used overwhelmingly, and attacked early in the count.
Johnson said that the short start from Cowan was a part of the script for LSU.
“The most he was going to go was two innings either way today,” Johnson said. “So I like that we kept the first inning at one.”
Nicholls right fielder Nico Rijo-Berger was able to capitalize and take Cowan deep in the second at-bat of the game to give an early lead to the road team.
After Cowan, a number of arms out of the LSU bullpen were featured. They collectively executed brilliantly.
Dax Dathe was called upon in relief of Cowan with two on and one out in the top of the second. The righty stranded both runners in the second, ending the inning by striking out Caston Thompson looking.
Dathe took the mound and continued to look strong in the third, retiring the first two batters in the inning before hitting the next batter, ending his day.
Freshman pitcher Zion Theophilus struggled to locate in his first collegiate outing but worked through the traffic cleanly. The freshman walked three over one and a third innings, but stranded every runner he allowed on and kept Nicholls hitless.
Santiago Garcia threw a full inning and worked into a second inning, but a leadoff walk is what ended his day. The senior struck a pair of batters out looking during his appearance.
“I was happy to see [him] bounce back the way he did after Saturday,” Johnson said. “He’s going to be a huge part of this team.”
Reagan Ricken was the second freshman to debut on Wednesday. He inherited the runner Garcia walked, but got all three batters he faced in the sixth to post a zero. He then made it six straight outs in the seventh, retiring Nicholls in order.
In the eighth, he logged his first two collegiate strikeouts en route to posting another clean inning, only allowing a batter to reach by way of a hit by pitch.
Johnson was thoroughly impressed by Ricken’s outing and views the freshman’s outing as an indicator of what he could be at LSU and a testament to the Tigers’ depth.
“We’re running out Reagan Ricken for the last three innings,” Johnson said. “That guy can probably pitch on Fridays.”
Cowan’s three hits were the only ones allowed by LSU’s pitching staff on Wednesday. The Colonels’ final hit of the game came with two out in the first inning.
“I thought it was our best game from the mound this year,” Johnson said. “I think everybody did a great job executing.”
The victory keeps the Tigers undefeated through their first five games of what is a busy opening stretch to start the season. Wednesday’s game against Nicholls was the Tigers’ fifth game in a six-day span.
LSU will hit the road to face three power conference opponents, Indiana, Notre Dame and UCF, over three days in Jacksonville starting on Friday.
