Notre Dame takes game three and series over LSU, 11-3

Eric Gilgenbach hit a three-run homer and a grand slam to carry Notre Dame to an 11-3 victory against LSU in the rubber game of their season-opening series Sunday afternoon at The Box.

HOW THEY SCORED

LSU third inning – Bryce Jordan singled and Beau Jordan walked. Bryce Jordan advanced to third and Beau Jordan moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brandt Broussard. Bryce Jordan scored on a sacrifice fly to the leftfielder by Josh Smith. LSU 1, NOTRE DAME 0

Notre Dame fourth inning – Nick Podkul walked. After Matt Vierling popped out to the third baseman, Niko Kavadas walked. Gilgenbach hit a three-run homer over the rightfield fence. NOTRE DAME 3, LSU 1

LSU fifth inning – Beau Jordan doubled and went to third on a single by Broussard. Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Beau Jordan scored when Nick Webre grounded into a double play. NOTRE DAME 3, LSU 2

Notre Dame sixth inning – With one out, Gilgenbach singled and stole second. Gilgenbach advanced to third on a wild pitch by Daniel Cabrera. Daniel Jung walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by David LaManna. Gilgenbach and Jung scored on Spencer Myers’ single. Myers stole second and scored on a double by Cole Daily. NOTRE DAME 6, LSU 2

LSU seventh inning – Beau Jordan hit a leadoff home run over the leftfield bleachers. NOTRE DAME 6, LSU 3

Notre Dame ninth inning – With one out, Jake Johnson doubled and Podkul walked. After Vierling struck out, Alex Kerschner singled. Gilgenbach hit a grand slam homer off the scoreboard in leftfield. Jung walked and LaManna was hit by a pitch. Jung scored on a single by Myers. NOTRE DAME 11, LSU 3

GAME-DECIDING STRETCH

Notre Dame held a 3-2 lead heading into the sixth inning. With runners on first and third and one out, LaManna was asked to put down a sacrifice bunt. The plan worked even though the runner stayed at third base. Myers followed with a two-out, two-run single off Devin Fontenot which put the Fighting Irish ahead 5-2. Myers stole second and came home on a double by Daily. Notre Dame cruised the rest of the way.LSU PLAYER OF THE GAMEBeau Jordan was the only Tigers player with more than one hit. Jordan doubled and scored a run in the fifth and hit a leadoff homer in the seventh. Jordan’s home run was his second of the season. Jordan went 4-for-8 in the series with two doubles and two home runs.

KEY TEAM STATISTICS

Hits: Notre Dame 11, LSU 5

Errors: Notre Dame 0, LSU 0

Left on base: Notre Dame 8, LSU 9

Walks issued: Notre Dame 7, LSU 8

Strikeouts recorded: LSU 5, Notre Dame 4

Stolen bases: Notre Dame 3, LSU 1

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

LSU

Beau Jordan: 2-for-2, 2 runs scored, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Todd Peterson: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K

NOTRE DAME

Eric Gilgenbach: 3-for-4, 7 RBIs, 2 HRs, 3 runs scored, 1 BBS

pencer Myers: 2-for-4, 1 run scored, 3 RBIs, 1 SB

Jake Johnson: 2-for-4, 1 2B

Nick Podkul: 1-for-2, 2 runs scored, 2 BB

Daniel Jung: 0-for-2, 2 runs scored, 3 BB

Cameron Junker: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Andrew Belcik: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

NOTES

LSU started Beau Jordan in leftfield, Zach Watson in centerfield and Antoine Duplantis in rightfield. The Tigers’ infield consisted of Chris Reid at third base, Smith at shortstop, Broussard at second base and Webre at first base. Bryce Jordan was the catcher and Peterson was the pitcher. Daniel Cabrera was the designated hitter. . .The first six hitters in the LSU lineup went 0-for-20. . .Austin Bain had a pinch-hit single in the ninth. . .Tigers batters were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Broussard get the one hit, but no run scored on the play. Webre was 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Duplantis went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. . .After getting hits in his first two at-bats, Webre went 0-for-11. Cabrera went 0-for-9 in the series. . .It was another ineffective outing by a Tigers starting pitcher. After being given a 1-0 lead, Peterson walked the leadoff batter. He issued another walk befor surrendering Gilgenbach’s three-run homer. LSU starters – Caleb Gilbert, Zack Hess and Peterson – gave up 17 runs and 19 hits in 10.2 innings. Their combined ERA was 13.50. . .Peterson was helped by two very good defensive plays. Watson threw out LaManna as he tried to score from second on a two-out single by Johnson in the third. One inning later, Broussard turned a line drive hit by LaManna into a double play. Notre Dame was 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position. . .The Irish used six relief pitchers. The Notre Dame bullpen gave up two runs and four hits in 5.2 innings. Belcik, who worked the last 2.1 innings, picked up the victory. . .The Fighting Irish did not make an error in the three games. . .Notre Dame stole ten bases in the series. . .Tigers pitchers walked 16 and hit nine batters over the weekend. . .LSU lost a season-opening series for the first time in 19 years. The Tigers lost two of three games to Texas in 1999. . .LSU gave up at least six runs in the first three games of a season for the first time since 1953. . .The paid attendance was 10,384. The actual crowd was about 7,200.

UP NEXT

LSU will play host to UNO at The Box on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central. The Privateers (1-1) played Southern in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon. UNO will play host to Jackson State on Tuesday night. Cam Sanders will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-UNO game will be available on the SEC Digital Network.-30-