The No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers traveled to Round Rock, Texas for a tournament where they will play three games against three different teams.
For LSU’s first matchup of the tournament against the Kansas State Wildcats, head coach Jay Johnson decided to switch up the batting order and the defensive lineup. The most notable change was moving Tre’ Morgan to left field which allowed freshman Jared Jones to start at first base.
Tommy White also returned to the lineup after suffering a shoulder injury, filling in the designated hitter spot.
Cold, overcast conditions swept through Round Rock, Texas, appropriately setting the scene for the first six innings of the game.
The Wildcats jumped on the board in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from third baseman Kaelan Culpepper although LSU’s starting pitcher Paul Skenes was able to strand more potential runs on base and close out the inning.
“Obviously, I had some adversity early,” Skenes said. ”Kansas State is a good team, and they got some barrels on the ball. I got into a tough situation and made some pitches to get out, which I was happy with. From the second through the sixth inning, I couldn’t have asked for anything more from an outing.”
LSU responded in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI single from Brady Neal which drove Tre’ Morgan across home plate. The preceding three and a half innings neither team scored and the game was locked at a run a piece.
In the seventh inning, the explosion came.
LSU held onto a narrow 3-1 lead heading into the seventh inning, due in large part to another impressive performance on the mound from Skenes. He allowed just one run and struck out 11 batters, following up his 12-strikeout performance last Friday.
Ty Floyd came in for Skenes in the seventh inning and struck out the first two batters before giving up a home run, cutting the LSU lead to just one run.
“Paul is a great competitor, so he can work his way out of jams,” said head coach Jay Johnson. “He also has tremendous stuff. You put those two things together and you can minimize big innings. That’s what he did in the first inning, and he just got stronger as the game went along.”
Then LSU’s bats woke up.
The Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, a deficit that ended up being too much for Kansas State.
Gavin Dugas got the big inning started for LSU, driving Brayden Jobert home on a single. That made way for another RBI single from Dylan Crews before Jared Jones drove home the final two runs of the inning on a double off the wall.
That two-run double continues the hot start for Jones, who’s now up to eight RBIs in just five games. The power-hitting freshman is also batting .500 so far on the year, now with seven hits in 14 attempts.
Floyd finished the game on the mound for LSU, giving up one more run in the ninth inning. The new rules made their first impact on an LSU game in the ninth, as the game ended on a controversial pitch clock violation error when Kansas State’s Roberto Pena didn’t re-enter the batter’s box in time, resulting in a strikeout.
LSU Baseball will return to action tomorrow for game two of the Round Rock Classic. The Tigers will face the Iowa Hawkeyes, with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
