One of the questions coming into the season for LSU baseball was who could step up as an ace after losing Paul Skenes to the MLB Draft. 
While there will likely never be another Skenes, that question was answered Friday night when Luke Holman threw five and two thirds scoreless innings in a 6-3 LSU win over Texas. 
It wasn’t Holman’s first impressive outing either. He came into this game having yet to allow an earned run, albeit against lesser competition. Friday’s performance proved that his ability can translate to higher levels of competition.
Holman struck out 12 batters in five and two thirds innings while allowing just three hits and one walk. His command continues to impress, throwing 61 strikes on 91 pitches.
The command was most impressive on his breaking ball, which was his strikeout pitch for most of the night. 
He was almost untouchable until the fifth inning when he gave up a double before getting two straight outs. He didn’t get the chance to earn the final out, as Jay Johnson replaced him with Nate Ackenhausen, who pitched two and one third innings, giving up three earned runs while striking out six.
The outcome was still in question when Holman left the game leading 2-0, but that didn’t last long.
LSU scored four runs in the seventh inning to push its lead to six, and it never looked back after that. Tommy White opened the floodgates in the seventh with a solo home run before Jared Jones broke the game open with a three-run, opposite field home run.
Texas added two more runs in the ninth on a two-run double, but the outcome was never really in doubt.
Jones was the offensive star of the game, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run. The homer was Jones’ fifth of the season, which leads the team.
The onslaught in the seventh allowed LSU to pull away after Michael Braswell III got things started in the fourth with a two-run single. Braswell was the other Tiger with multiple hits, finishing the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Not only was it a dominant win for LSU, but it was a complete win. LSU’s hitters and pitchers both answered questions raised from the first two weeks of play and did it against a top 25 team.
The Tigers aren’t done in Houston either. LSU plays two more games in the Astros Foundation College Classic against UL-Lafayette and Texas State. 
Saturday’s game against UL-Lafyette will be a chance for LSU to avenge a midweek loss against the Ragin’ Cajuns last season.
The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday night and can be streamed on Astros.com and the Houston Astros X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and YouTube channels.