4/5/2022 baseball Edit

LSU pounds Grambling in mid-week victory

David Folse • Death Valley Insider

Staff Writer

Half of LSU's 18 hits were for extra bases and every Tigers starter had at least one hit in a 16-3 non-conference victory over Grambling Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium.

The game was called after seven innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

With the victory, LSU improves to 20-9 on the season while Grambling drops to 11-18 overall.

Debuting a new starting lineup that saw Jordan Thompson at second base, Cade Doughty at third and Collier Cranford at shortstop, Jacob Berry ignited the Tigers with his two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning.

The Tigers sent 10 batters to the plate in the second, pushing across four runs. Catcher Hayden Travinski got things going with the first of his two homers. Thompson also added a two-run double.

LSU had 14 batters in its nine-run, nine-hit fourth inning. Travinski launched a two-run moonshot homer, Dylan Crews and Cranford each had two-run singles, and Tre’ Morgan, Thompson and Gavin Dugas each had RBI singles.

Berry had three hits on the night and, Morgan, Thompson, Dugas and Travinski had two each.

Another highlight came in the fifth inning when LSU's Cade Beloso made his season debut in a pinch-hitting role, flying out to centerfield. The power-hitting lefty suffered a knee injury prior to the season opener against Maine.

While the offense was impressive, the Tigers' defense continued to struggle. While only credited with a single error by the official scorekeeper, three Grambling batters reached base on strikeouts.

Five LSU pitchers combined to give up five hits, striking out 18 batters and walking none while throwing 93 of 129 pitches (72 percent) for strikes.

Starter Grant Taylor (3-0) was credited with the win, allowing four hits and two runs (both earned) in the first two innings. He was relieved by Trent Vietmeier, who struck out six of the eight batters he faced in two innings.

The Tigers return to Southeastern Conference action Friday night at 7 p.m. when they travel to Starkville to take on rival Mississippi State (18-12 overall, 4-5 in the SEC) in the opener of a three-game series.