No. 1 ranked LSU response to its first loss of the season on Saturday was to use six Sam Houston State pitchers for Sunday afternoon batting practice.
Led by a combined nine hits and nine RBI from the No. 2 and 3 hitters – center fielder Dylan Crews and right fielder Brayden Jobert – the Tigers exploded for 23 hits in a 16-4 win on the last day of the Round Rock (Texas) Classic.
LSU’s 12-run victory earned the Tigers the Round Rock Classic championship belt. Due to three teams – LSU, Iowa and Sam Houston – finishing 2-1 on the weekend, run differential became the determining factor. Comparatively to Iowa and Sam Houston, LSU’s run differential against Iowa and Sam Houston was greater than either the Hawkeyes or Bearkats versus the other 2-1 squads.
Crews was 5 for 6 had five hits including three doubles and drove in four runs. Jobert went 4 for 6 and five RBI, including a pair of two-run homers in the first and second innings.
Crews was named the Most Valuable Player of the Round Rock Classic, and he was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Jobert and pitcher Paul Skenes.
“Dylan Crews is the best player I’ve ever coached, and I had 14 former players play in the major leagues last year,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “That tells you how good he is. The talent is easy to see, the way the ball comes off the bat, the plays he makes in center field.
"What I’m most proud of is the way he continues to develop and be in control of himself when everyone in the park knows he’s the best player out there.”
LSU (6-1) had laser focus after losing 11-4 to Iowa on Saturday. Sam Houston State (5-3) beat Iowa 6-0 on Friday and Kansas State 8-3 on Saturday.
LSU’s 23-hit total marked its most hits in a game since May 13, 2014, when the Tigers also had 23 hits against Northwestern State in Baton Rouge.
"This was our best game of the year,” said Johnson. “We had a goal of playing our best game so far, and we accomplished that."
The Tigers came out swinging against the Bearkats, banging out had eight extra base hits on five doubles and three homers.
LSU scored in every inning but the eighth, starting in the first when Crews singled and Jobert followed with a two-run homer.
LSU starting pitcher Chase Shores, getting just his second college start five hours east of his hometown Midland, gave up three first-inning singles. Yet, he escaped unscathed when he induced SHS right fielder Clayton Chadwick into an inning fly-out.
The Tigers expanded their margin to 7-0 in the second inning on shortstop Jordan Thompson’s one-out RBI single, a Crews two-RBI double and Jobert’s second two-run homer in as many innings.
A Jones solo homer to lead off the LSU third and a Crews two-RBI single extended the lead to 10-0.
LSU added two more runs in the top of fourth keyed by Thompson’s RBI single before the Bearkats finally got on the scoreboard with a Joe Redfield RBI single and a Myles Jefferson two-RBI.
Jobert pushed the Tigers lead back to 10 runs in the top of the fifth with an RBI.
Starting with Shores, LSU used five pitchers. The trio of Bryce Collins, Griffin Herring, and Blake Money threw a combined 3.2 innings and held the SHSU offense to three runs on one hit.
“Sam Houston in its first two games this weekend did an unbelievable job of hitting mistakes,” Johnson said, “our plan to not allow their lineup to see any of our pitchers more than one time through the lineup. That was the plan going in. We weren’t going to let them see anyone twice, and it lined up well for us.”
LSU has a day off before traveling across Austin to play at the University of Texas on Tuesday night. The Longhorns are 3-4 after winning two of three home games in a weekend series vs. Indiana.
