No. 22 LSU won the Southeastern Conference Western Division baseball title Friday night.
Thanks to Georgia’s 5-4 comeback win against Alabama, the Tigers clinched the division title and a No. 2 seed in next week’s conference tournament.
LSU (37-16-1, 17-11-1) capped Friday night with its 15th straight win, beating Auburn, 15-6.
Starting pitcher Blake Martin was tagged for five earned runs in his two innings of play.
Ryan Byrd replaced Martin and pitched six scoreless innings while striking out five.
The Tigers’ top-three hitters in the batting order — senior Michael Hollander, sophomore Jared Mitchell and sophomore Blake Dean — drove in five of LSU’s 15 runs.
Freshman Leon Landry, junior Matt Clark and sophomore Ryan Schimpf each had three hits.
LSU has not lost since the second game of the Georgia series April 19th.
RANAUDO TO MAKE FIRST START
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a postgame interview on Cox Sports Television that freshman pitcher Anthony Ranaudo will make his first career start Saturday in the Tigers’ series finale with Auburn.
Ranaudo has made three appearances this season, striking out five and allowing only one hit in four total innings.
Mainieri said he expects Ranaudo to pitch about three innings Saturday.
Mainieri also said he anticipates several other reserves will see playing time in the series finale.
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