2/19/2023 baseball Edit

No. 1 ranked Tigers sweep season opening series

LSU junior reliever Ty Floyd threw three no-hit scoreless innings and was credited with the victory in the Tigers' 9-2 series-sweeping victory over Western Michigan in Alex Box Stadium on Sunday afternoon. (Photo courtesy of LSU Athletics)

Ron Higgins • Death Valley Insider

Columnist

Throughout preseason practice, LSU returning junior reliever Ty Floyd constantly earned praise from Tigers’ head coach Jay Johnson.

In his first action of the 2023 season Sunday afternoon in Alex Box Stadium, Floyd showed why.

He pitched three scoreless no-hit innings, giving No. 1 LSU time to break a 1-1 tie with a five-run fifth inning for an eventual 9-2 victory over Western Michigan and a season-opening series sweep.

Floyd, who was credited with win, faced the minimum nine batters and struck out four.

“Ty came in with the game tied, he got the momentum back in our dugout and we rolled from there,” Johnson said. “He did a great job. He's one of the best pitchers on our staff, and you have to have a guy like Ty that you have confidence in to come into a tough spot.”

LSU scored a combined eight runs on seven hits in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Tigers’ center fielder Dylan Crews jumpstarted LSU’s fifth inning rally with a two-run homer to centerfield, his first of the season. Freshman catcher Brady Neal followed with an RBI single after freshman designated hitter Jared Jones walked. Junior shortstop Jordan Thompson added a solo homer to culminate the rally.

In the LSU sixth, leadoff hitter Gavin Dugas whacked his second solo homer in as many days.

True freshman pitcher Chase Shores gave up two hits and one run (earned), struck out two and walked two in his LSU starting debut that lasted 3 1/3 innings.

For the series, Shores, game 1 starter Paul Skenes and game 2 starter Riley Cooper had a combined ERA of 0.61, allowing 5 hits with 19 strikeouts and 4 walks.

Also, LSU, after committing 82 errors last season when the Tigers had the lowest fielding percentage in the SEC at .962, had no errors for the entire opening series.

“I thought the entire weekend was great, a really good model for what we want to establish going forward,” Johnson said. “We had really good starting pitching, really good defense and we were excellent in situational hitting. I really liked the amount guys that contributed to winning as well.”

The Tigers are back in action at Alex Box vs. crosstown rival Southern on Tuesday at 2 p.m.