Zach Watson has been Antoine Duplantis’ LSU baseball teammate for three seasons, so he has seen the majority of Duplantis’ chase for the school’s all-time hits record.

But when the moment finally arrived Sunday night as Duplantis stroked a single in the first inning of the Tigers’ 6-4 win over Southern Mississippi as LSU captured the Baton Rouge Regional, Watson felt like a fan again as the Alex Box Stadium crowd of 10,718 let out a loud and prolonged roar.

“When he got that hit, I had chills going down my whole body,” said Watson, the Tigers’ starting junior center fielder who patrols the outfield with senior right fielder Duplantis and sophomore left fielder Daniel Cabrera.

Duplantis simply exhaled after lining USM starter Josh Lewis’ third pitch of the game into center field to surpass LSU school record holder Eddy Furniss’ 352 hits.

“It was definitely a sigh of relief,” said Duplantis, who finished the night sitting at 354 hits after going 2-for-5. “I think everybody else was making the same sound I was when I got that hit.

“These past few days, it seemed like the pressure was starting to build on me. I didn’t really think about it these past couple of weeks. Then, finally get so close and it’s right there. I’m glad I got it out of the way.”

Duplantis tied the record set by Furniss from 1995 to 1998 in Friday night’s 17-3 first round beatdown of Stony Brook. But in Saturday’s 8-4 win over Southern Miss, he went 0-for-4 as the only LSU starter without a hit.

“I think yesterday (Saturday) after my first two at bats, I was a little frustrated because I hit two balls hard and they didn’t fall for me,” Duplantis said. “I felt like my last two bats I was trying to get a hit instead of trying to do the things I normally when I’m at bat. And that’s focusing on being relaxed and focusing on my approach.

“That’s what I tried to do today (Sunday), try to block out the people as much as I could, block out what that hit is going to mean, instead focus on what I wanted to try to do, which was go to the left side of the field up the middle and hope for the best with the results. Obviously, it was good.”

Everyone in the LSU dugout was thrilled when Duplantis finally completed the record he’d been chasing all season.

“I’m so happy for him, he’s put in the work,” LSU junior shortstop Josh Smith said. “He’s the definition of an LSU baseball player. We knows Coach (Paul Mainieri) loves him to death. We all love him. He’s our leader.”

No one was happier for Duplantis than Mainieri.

“I’m very proud of Antoine for breaking the record,” Mainieri said. “It was a special moment for me. I’m so fortunate to be his coach and see every one of his hits.”

Mainieri didn’t forget to acknowledge Furniss, who also had held the SEC career hits record until it was recently surpassed by Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum.

“Eddy had an unbelievable career here at LSU and he’s gone on to even greater things as a doctor in Texas,” Mainieri said. “He has been so supportive of Antoine in his pursuit to break his record. Eddy Furniss is one of the classiest people I’ve ever met.

“It was a great record for him to hold all those years and I think Antoine is going to bring a lot of grace and do the right things as he goes forward in life.”