A Houma homer boosts No. 1 LSU past Texas

In a classic pitchers’ duel that felt more like an NCAA June tournament game than a March non-conference battle of two traditional college baseball powers, LSU’s Gavin Dugas made sure Texas finally blinked first on Tuesday night.

Houma native Dugas’ three-run homer in the ninth inning, combined with superb LSU pitching, gave the No. 1 Tigers a hard-earned 3-0 victory over the host Longhorns.

“To win games like this against a good team in an environment like this, your dudes have to be dudes, and he was in that moment," LSu head coach Jay Johnson said of Dugas. "Gavin is tough-minded. He had some setbacks last year and going into this year, but he got himself ready to play, and he’s playing better now than he ever has. All credit to him for his determination.”

A sellout crowd of 7,641 in Disch-Falk Stadium saw both teams get just four hits each off a combined nine pitchers – three for LSU (7-1) and six for Texas (3-5).

LSU starter Thacher Hurd and relievers Nate Ackenhausen and Christian Little combined for eight strikeouts and no walks and allowed just one extra base hit.

While Little, a Vanderbilt transfer, closed the game with a flawless ninth inning, it was sophomore lefty Ackenhausen who was darned near-perfect in 3 1/3 innings after replacing Hurd.

Ackenhausen, a junior college transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State, retired 10 of 12 batters and threw 32 of 38 pitches for strikes. The only base runners he allowed came in the Texas eighth on a bunt single and an intentional walk.

Both teams flirted with some early rallies but couldn’t score.

A double play starting with LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson spearing a liner by Texas catcher Garret Guillemette and doubling centerfielder Eric Kennedy off second base ended the Longhorns’ first inning.

Kennedy got his revenge in the LSU second when he fielded Thompson’s two-out single on a short hop. He fired a one-hop throw to Guillemette at the plate who tagged out Tigers’ left fielder Tre’ Morgan as he tried to score from first base.

Starting pitchers Hurd and Texas' Lebarron Johnson settled into a rhythm after some early control problems.

Hurd issued two first-inning walks, then retired the next 10 of 14 batters with four strikeouts through two outs in the fifth. After allowing a two-out single to Texas first baseman Jared Thomas, Hurd was replaced by Ackenhausen who struck out Kennedy to close the inning.

Hurd finished the game allowing three hits and no runs in 4.2 innings while striking out four and walking three.

Johnson walked two in the LSU second before retiring the next 8 of 13 Tigers with six strikeouts through five innings. He was replaced to start the LSU sixth by righty reliever Charley Hurley.

Like Hurd, Johnson gave up three hits and no runs in five innings while striking out nine and walking two.

Hurley lasted three batters and exited with two outs in the sixth as LSU had runners Morgan and first baseman Jared Jones at second and first base respectively.

Reliever David Shaw entered and immediately balked to advance Morgan to third and Jones to second. But he blew a fastball past LSU catcher Brady Neal for an inning-ending strikeout.

The Tigers almost busted through in the seventh. But LSU left two runners stranded when DJ Burke, Texas’ third reliever of the night, struck out Dugas for the third out.

Texas left two runners on base in the eighth including Kennedy in scoring position at second when Ackenhausen induced Longhorns’ left fielder Porter Brown into an inning-ending fly out.

LSU led off the ninth with consecutive walks by Neal and Thompson off Texas reliever Chris Stuart, who just entered the game to start the inning.

After Stuart struck out Tigers’ third baseman Ben Nippolt, Andre Duplantier entered the game as Texas’ fifth reliever.

His fourth pitch to Dugas was a fastball over the heart of the plate and the graduate student from Houma drove it deep over the left-field wall for what proved to be the game-winning three-run homer.

LSU returns home Friday for four games in four days against Butler Friday and Monday each at 6:30 p.m. and vs. Central Connecticut 1:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Tigers won three of four games on their Texas road swing, going 2-1 in the Round Rock Classic before Tuesday's battle on the Longhorns' homefield where LSU was swept in a March 2019 series.

"This was a great experience for our team,” Johnson said. “Going into SEC play in a couple of weeks, we’re going to see the same environments we saw tonight. It won’t be new to us the next time we play on the road in front of a big crowd in a great atmosphere. The players were energized throughout the game, It was a blast.”