Blue skies and a slight breeze welcomed fans into Alex Box Stadium to watch LSU baseball defeat Northern Illinois 5-2 on Saturday.
This win marked head coach Jay Johnson’s 100th win at LSU. He’s the fastest to reach the milestone in program history, doing so in just over two years.
The Tigers were looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season on Friday against Stony Brook.
And they did so, thanks to each team’s starting pitcher.
The LSU roster has struggled at the plate over the last few days, and Saturday’s outing against Northern Illinois was no different. The Huskies’ starter, however, lent them a helping hand.
Jackson Stewart faced 21 batters through four innings. He allowed five runs on just two hits. The right-handed pitcher struck out three and walked six Tigers.
The “Magic Moment” for LSU, as Johnson calls it, however, was left fielder Mac Bingham’s two-run homerun in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“He was a crafty pitcher,” Bingham said about Stewart. “After the first at-bat, I knew I had to stay back, kind of change my approach up, and thankfully it got out.”
Unfortunately, any momentum that was derived from Bingham’s hit was short-lived, as the home team totaled just three hits on the game. The Huskies totaled four.
Alabama transfer Luke Holman was the unsung hero for the Tigers.
He earned the start on the mound. His outing stretched through the seventh inning, and in the 23 batters that he faced, Holman struck out eight, walked none and allowed only two hits.
“Everything,” Johnson said when asked what Holman did well against the Huskies.
The right-handed pitcher threw a total of 77 pitches, 50 of which were strikes.
With the lack of energy found in the lineup, Holman’s consistency on the bump was what held together LSU’s win.
“You got a lot of ground balls, and with Luke he’s gonna induce weak contact because he locates so well and he changes speed so well,” Johnson said. “That’s usually a fun day if you’re an infielder.”
Senior pitcher Christian Little relieved Holman from the mound. Little pitched one inning. He struck out one and walked one.
Xavier transfer Justin Loer gave Northern Illinois its chance to score. The Huskies’ racked in two doubles in the top of the ninth inning, both of which noted an RBI.
Gavin Guidry was the closer for Saturday’s game.
LSU’s success was found in its solid defense, which was able to back up a consistent pitcher.
Freshman Steven Milam got the start at shortstop against the Huskies over Michael Braswell III, and the position seemed to fit him nicely. Together, Holman and Milam were responsible for 14 of LSU defense’s 27 putouts.
LSU will be attempting to pick up the pieces of its somewhat broken offense before it reaches SEC play.
“What I want to do is used some of the struggles as learning opportunities,” Johnson said.
Its next chance to do just that will be against Stony Brook on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., at Alex Box Stadium.
