After riding a bus until 3 or 4 a.m. Monday morning following a Sunday game at South Carolina, and then taking a four-hour trip to Centenary on Tuesday the LSU baseball team needed a little time to come alive.
The No. 1 Tigers (19-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) overcame a slow start with a four-run seventh inning to defeat Centenary 9-3 Tuesday night at Fairgrounds Field in Shreveport.
Sophomore pitcher Jason Determann made his first start of the year for the Tigers, allowing four hits and two runs in four innings of work. Determann had been 2-0 this season with a 0.77 ERA in 11 and 2/3 innings of work, but had not made a start for the Tigers since he earned the win against Arkansas on May 22, 2003.
The 2003 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American still has not suffered a loss in an LSU uniform.
Coming into the game, LSU coach Smoke Laval said he would take a look at several pitchers, and he did live up to that promise. Four Tigers took the mound in relief, including freshman pitcher Michael Bonura, who pitched two innings allowing six hits and one run to earn the win, improving his record to 2-0.
Jordan Faircloth, Lane Mestepey and Greg Smith also saw time on the mound for the Tigers. LSU jumped out to an early lead in the first inning when center fielder J.C. Holt led off the game with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and later scored on Blake Gill’s sacrifice fly. The Tigers pushed across another run in the second when Will Harris scored on shortstop Matt Horwath’s RBI double.
Centenary answered back quickly with a solo home-run from Blake Adkison in the bottom of the second and tied the game when Bobby Gilliam scored on a balk by Determann.
LSU catcher Dustin Weaver broke the tie in the top of the fourth inning with his first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field.
Centenary tied the score in the fifth, but fell behind for good after the LSU bats exploded for a four-run seventh inning.
Harris led off the inning with a single and Weaver walked. Both runners advanced on Matt Horwath’s sacrifice bunt and scored when Holt took an 0-2 pitch to left-center for his second double of the game.
Left fielder Ryan Patterson then hit the next pitch from Centenary pitcher Kevin Cassidy over the wall for his third home run of the season.
LSU added a run each in the eighth and ninth innings to bring the final tally to 9-3.
For the Gents, Cassidy, (2-4) pitched seven innings and gave up seven runs on seven hits in the loss. Centenary falls to 8-12 on the season, and once again failed to beat the Tigers for the first time since 1956.
The Tigers improved to 7-0 this season against in-state opponents.