No. 1 ranked Tigers breeze to 10th win of the season
No.1 LSU made the most of its eight hits in Sunday afternoon’s 13-0 shutout of Central Connecticut State in Alex Box Stadium called after 6½ innings because of the 10-run rule.
Five of the Tigers’ hits were for extra bases, including a two-RBI double by center fielder Dylan Crews, a two-run homer by first baseman Cade Beloso and one-RBI doubles by shortstop Jordan Thompson and second baseman Gavin Dugas.
After LSU (10-1) scored in every inning of Saturday’s 26-4 10-run rule blowout of CCSU, the Tigers scored all of their runs in three innings Sunday (four runs each in the first and fourth, five runs in the fifth).
Behind a flawless fielding performance, five LSU pitches combine to limit the Blue Devils to five hits while striking out nine.
Lefty Nate Ackenhausen, the second of four Tigers’ relievers, was credited his second win after retiring all four batters he faced in 1.1 innings.
“I liked the shutout, I liked the no errors,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “There’s a couple of at-bats I’d like to have back, but I thought offensively we were pretty good. I’m not going to complain about 13 runs in six innings.”
LSU has committed just three errors in its first 11 games, compared to 21 errors in its first 11 games last season.
Also, LSU had just 13 error-free games in its 62-game season a year ago with the longest stretch of consecutive errorless games being three straight. Already this year, the Tigers have eight errorless games including four consecutive to open the season.
LSU closes its four-game homestand Monday at 6:30 p.m. vs Butler, a team Tigers beat 12-2 on Friday night.
UCLA transfer pitcher Thatcher Hurd (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will get his third start for the Tigers. Last Tuesday in LSU’s 3-0 win at Texas, Hurd allowed three hits and no runs in 4.2 innings while striking out four and walking three.
He issued two first-inning walks, then retired the next 10 of 14 batters with four strikeouts through two outs in the fifth when he was pulled.
“That was quite an environment we were playing in and he was a little wobbly in the first inning,” Johnson said of Hurd. “We got a huge double play to get out of the first.
“I thought it allowed him to settle in and he was excellent from that point forward. He dominated the game from the second inning until we took him out in the fifth.”
After Monday’s game, LSU has five remaining non-conference matchups (all at home) before opening SEC play with a three-game road series at Texas A&M.
The Tigers host Lamar (10-2) Wednesday night at 6:30, followed by a three-game series vs. Samford with Friday and Saturday games at 6:30 p.m. and a 1 p.m. Sunday start.
Then, LSU faces UNO on March 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Tigers’ final tuneup before diving into the first of 10 SEC series.
LSU’s five home league series are against Arkansas (March 24-25-26), Tennessee (March 30-31, April 1), Kentucky (April 13-14-15), Alabama (April 28-29-30) and Mississippi State (May 12-13-14).
The Tigers’ five road conference series are at Texas A&M (March 17-18-19), South Carolina (April 6-7-8), defending national champion Ole Miss (April 21-22-23), Auburn (May 5-6-7) and Mississippi State (May 12-13-14).
As of last Monday, six of LSU’s SEC opponents were ranked by D1 Baseball.com including No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 20 Alabama and No. 23 South Carolina.