The No. 1 LSU baseball team fought off early rust Sunday to rout Ole Miss, 18-6, and win its first Southeastern Conference series of the season.
The Tigers (18-2, 2-1 SEC) shook off the cobwebs of a four-hour, extra-innings affair against the Rebels (10-9, 1-2 SEC) Saturday night to string together 19 hits and three home runs to win the 15th of their last 16 games.
“I challenged the kids after the game [yesterday],” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “If we pout and feel sorry for ourselves and not come ready to play on Sunday and then lose the series, that would be the real crime of losing that 14 inning game. I knew by challenging them that they had a lot of pride. We have a lot of veteran leadership.”
The Rebels jumped on multiple Tiger mishaps for an early 1-0 advantage. LSU freshman pitcher Jake Godfrey struggled right off, walking two of the first three batters he faced while throwing only nine strikes on 25 pitches in the first.
With runners on first and second and one out, Godfrey got the double-play ball he needed from Ole Miss first baseman Sikes Orvis. But a low throw to first by LSU junior shortstop Alex Bregman after tagging the bag at second helped Orvis reach first base safely, putting runners on the corners with two gone.
Godfrey added salt to the wound during the next at-bat, throwing a pitch out of the reach of LSU freshman catcher Michael Papierski, scoring the runner from third to give Ole Miss the early advantage. Godfrey finished the first with two walks and an earned run.
“Godfrey didn’t have good stuff today,” Mainieri said. “His arm wasn’t sore, it was just a little dead. He didn’t have a good fastball.”
Ole Miss faced much of the same misfortune in the bottom half of the inning. Ole Miss starting pitcher Sam Smith had a nightmarish outing, getting yanked after only one-third innings pitched. He gave up five runs on three hits with two walks and threw only 10 strikes on 25 pitches.
Bregman got the Tigers on the board in the bottom half with an RBI double down the left field line to score LSU junior right fielder Mark Laird from first. The Tigers continued to pour on the runs with three more singles to plate four runs and give LSU a 5-1 lead after one.
Godfrey settled down after his shaky first inning for his fourth win, finishing the day at 5 and two-thirds innings pitched with three runs on five hits and four walks.
“I just needed to get in the zone and settle in,” Godfrey said. “I just needed to find the fastball, get that fastball command and then work off my other stuff.”
LSU senior third baseman Conner Hale continued to stay hot, notching his team-best 18th RBI in the inning while reaching safely in 19 of LSU’s first 20 games. Hale extended his RBI total to 19 in the third on a solo shot to right field, which gave LSU a 6-1 lead.
Hale finished 3-for-4 on the day with two RBIs and three runs scored. His hot-handed teammate, senior designated hitter Kade Scivicque, continued his dominant stint in the batters box as well, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs of his own, including a run-scoring single in the third. Scivicque’s third hit in the fifth inning tied his career high.
Bregman extended LSU’s lead to 8-1 on a solo shot down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth for his team-leading fifth home run on the season.
Ole Miss held LSU scoreless in only the second and eighth innings of the Tigers’ 18-run outburst. LSU capitalized on the majority of its opportunities to seal its first SEC series.
“We’re back on the horse,” Mainieri said. “We’ve lost two games in our first 20. If we lose only two games in our next 20 we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.