Senior right-hander Brandon Nall took the mound for the Tigers Tuesday night for only his second start of the season.
Earlier in the season, Nall suffered his first loss against Centenary but came out strong Thursday night against the Nicholls State Colonels (14-16) contributing to the Tigers 3-2 win.
In his longest career outing, Nall stayed solid for 8 1/3 innings giving up only two earned runs on six hits.
While Nall was making much noise on the mound, the Tigers’ bats were held to three runs on 11 hits, including nine batters left on base. All three runs came within the first three innings off Nicholls State starter Justin Breaux.
Breaux (0-3) gave up three hits in the first, including an RBI single to senior Clay Harris to score junior catcher Matt Liuzza.
Junior Quinn Stewart led off the second inning with a walk and eventually scored on an RBI single by Bryan Harris.
LSU’s final run came in the third inning. Senior right-fielder Nick Stavinoha ripped a double, giving the Tigers an opportunity with a man in scoring position. Junior Will Harris took advantage of the situation with an RBI single to put the Tigers up 3-1.
After giving up three runs, Breaux was relieved by Chris Greer, who silenced the Tiger bats for the remainder of the night.
The Colonels answered back with two earned runs off of Nall. Nall continued to stay solid until delivering his 100th pitch of the game in the ninth inning. Nall hit the Colonel batter and placed the tying run on first base.
With the threat, LSU coach Smoke Laval called junior Jordan Faircloth to close the game. The senior right-hander walked the winning run, but shut down the Colonels with a strikeout, then a forced groundout to end the game, earning the closer his fourth save of the season.
The win improves the Tigers’ overall record to 22-8 on the season. The victory also improves LSU’s winning streak over Nicholls State to 15, dating back to the 1995 season.
The Tigers return to action tomorrow night at Zephyr Field in Metairie, where they will take on the Rice Owls at 7 p.m.