Zack Hess allowed two runs in six-plus innings and Zach Watson had two hits and a RBI as LSU defeated Missouri 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams Friday night at The Box.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU first inning – Watson walked and stole second. Brandt Broussard and Antoine Duplantis walked to load the bases. Watson scored when Duplantis was forced at second base on Austin Bain’s ground ball to the shortstop. Hunter Feduccia walked to load the bases. After Beau Jordan struck out, Broussard scored when Chris Reid walked. LSU 2, MISSOURI 0
LSU third inning – With two out, Beau Jordan hit a solo home run over the leftfield fence. LSU 3, MISSOURI 0
Missouri seventh inning – Zach Hanna, Mark Vierling and Chad McDaniel walked to load the bases. Hanna scored on a sacrifice fly to the rightfielder by Chris Cornelius. Connor Brumfield walked to load the bases. Vierling scored on a ground out to the shortstop by Trey Harris. LSU 3, MISSOURI 2
LSU eighth inning – Reid singled and Daniel Cabrera walked. After Hal Hughes grounded into a double play, Reid scored on a double by Watson. LSU 4, MISSOURI 2
GAME-DECIDING STRETCH
Hess walked the bases loaded to start the seventh. With the tying run at first base, Nick Bush relieved Hess. Bush was able to get out of the inning with LSU still holding the lead. Bush got the first out on a sacrifice fly by Cornelius. After issuing a walk to reload the bases, Bush permitted a second run to score on Harris’ ground out to shortstop. With the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Bush retired Kameron Misner on a fly ball to Duplantis in rightfield.
LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME
Hess was in complete control in the first six innings as he picked up his third victory of the season. Hess gave up three hits and walked two prior to the seventh. Hess had eight strikeouts in the first six innings. Missouri only threatened once in the first six innings. In the third, Missouri loaded the bases on a single by McDaniel and two two-out walks. Hess struck out Brian Sharp, who was batting over .400, to end the inning.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
Hits: LSU 5, Missouri 4
Errors: LSU 0, Missouri 1
Left on base: LSU 11, Missouri 8
Walks issued: LSU 6, Missouri 10
Strikeouts recorded: LSU 11, Missouri 6
Stolen bases: LSU 1, Missouri 0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
LSU
Zach Watson: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 run scored, 1 2B, 1 BB
Zack Hess: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 8 K
MISSOURI
Bryce Montes De Oca: 6 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 5 K
NOTES
LSU started Beau Jordan in leftfield, Watson in centerfield and Duplantis in rightfield. The Tigers’ infield consisted of Reid at third base, Hughes at shortstop, Broussard at second base and Bain at first base. Feduccia was the catcher and Hess was the pitcher. Cabrera was the designated hitter. . .LSU was 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The one hit was Watson’s RBI double in the eighth. LSU stranded seven runners in scoring position. Duplantis was 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. . .De Oca’s seven walks came in two innings – five in the first and two in the sixth. . .Missouri relief pitcher Nile Ball gave up LSU’s run in the eighth. . .Bush and Bain combined for three scoreless innings in relief of Hess. Bush walked one and struck out one in his two innings. Bain allowed a leadoff single to Vierling in the ninth. He then retired the next three batters – two by strikeout – to register his second save of the year. . .LSU has now won all 13 games against Missouri. . .LSU, which has won four games in a row, is 13-6. Missouri is 14-4. The paid attendance was 10,334.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “The story of this game was Zack Hess, who was absolutely dominating through six innings. He wasn’t missing by much when he walked the bases loaded in the seventh inning. I told him to flush that from his mind because he was awesome for six innings. He proved that he is a Friday night starter in the SEC. Missouri had great success when taking early leads. Hess shutting them down in the first and our team scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning was huge for us and set the tone for the game. We had several scoring opportunities throughout the game that we couldn’t convert. Fortunately, Zach came through with the big hit in the eighth to give us a two-run lead.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to Missouri at The Box on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central. Caleb Gilbert will be the starting pitcher for LSU. The LSU-Missouri game will be available on the SEC Digital Network.
