The No. 1 LSU baseball team extended its win streak to 14 games, defeating Ole Miss, 6-4, Friday night.
It took the Tigers (17-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) three innings, but their bats exploded for 10 hits against the Rebels (9-8, 0-1 SEC) to gain their 17th win on the year.
“It’s hard to win college baseball games,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I know we’re used to winning games around here and sometimes they make it look easy, these kids. But I’m telling you every time you win one, especially in this league, you’re so happy to put it in the correct column and go on to the next one.”
After two and a half innings of scoreless ball, the Tigers finally broke the scoreless streak in the bottom of the third. LSU strung together two hits on Ole Miss southpaw Christian Trent. LSU junior center fielder Andrew Stevenson started the inning, beating out Ole Miss second baseman Tate Blackman for an infield single.
LSU senior second baseman Jared Foster dropped a ball in shallow right field to advance Stevenson into scoring position. Stevenson stole third before being brought in by sophomore first baseman Danny Zardon grounding into a double play, giving the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.
The Tigers continued to pour on the runs in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on three hits and an error. LSU junior right fielder Mark Laird lead off the inning with a single down the left side to start the rally. Junior shortstop Alex Bregman put another runner on, reaching on an error by Ole Miss shortstop Errol Robinson.
After advancing into scoring position on junior designated hitter Chris Chinea’s groundout to second base, senior third baseman Conner Hale slapped a two-run double down the right field line to extend LSU’s lead to 3-0.
Hale finished 3-for-3 on the night with two RBIs, giving him 17 on the year, which leads the team. Hale’s three hits tonight match a career high. He has had six three-hit games in his career.
“I was just trying to go up there and get things going, keep the rally going,” Hale said. “I was able to do that.”
The Tigers scored one more in the inning on a one-run single up the middle by Stevenson giving LSU a 4-0 lead.
The Rebels began to find an answer for sophomore southpaw Jared Poche’, who was dealing early, striking out four of the six batters he faced while allowing two hits through four innings. Ole Miss right fielder Cameron Dishon sparked the Rebels with a one-out double to right field, putting runners on second and third.
Left fielder Kyle Watson singled through the left side in the next at bat to score both runners and cut the LSU lead to 4-2. Poche’ worked out of the jam two batters later, getting Ole Miss third baseman Colby Bortles to fly out to right field with two runners in scoring position to end the inning.
“The biggest out of the inning is when he got Bortles to fly out. I thought [Poche’] was done there,” Mainieri said.
Poche’ went five innings, giving up two runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Poche’ earned his fifth win on the year while allowing only one extra-base hit.
LSU extended its lead to three with a solo shot to left center field by Bregman in the bottom of the sixth. Bregman finished 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Bregman’s home run puts him at four on the year, which is the most on the team.
The Tigers picked up one more in the inning on a wild pitch by Trent to give LSU a 6-2 advantage.
Ole Miss cut the Tigers’ lead to 6-4 on a two-run homer by center fielder J.B. Woodman in the top of the seventh, but the Rebels’ 10 hits wouldn’t be enough. LSU’s bullpen quieted the Ole Miss lineup for the remainder of the night, with freshman closer Jesse Stallings picking up his eighth save on the year.
LSU now sets it sights on clinching the series Saturday night with freshman pitcher Alex Lange taking the mound. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Alex Box Stadium.
“I like where we are,” Mainieri said. “We won the game, so now we’ll try to win the series tomorrow.”