Rewind: LSU 10, Sacred Heart 2

Mark Laird's two-run single capped a six-run second inning as LSU won its seventh consecutive game 10-2 against Sacred Heart on Wednesday night at The Box.

HOW THEY SCORED

LSU second inning - Raph Rhymes singled and scored on Mason Katz' double. Katz went to third on a throwing error by pitcher Troy Scribner on an attempted pickoff. After JaCoby Jones struck out, Ty Ross walked. Michael Barash singled home Katz. Christian Ibarra brought home Ross with a single. Jared Foster drove in Barash with a double. Laird singled home Ibarra and Foster. LSU 6, SACRED HEART 0

Sacred Heart fifth inning - Rocco Gondek hit a home run into the leftfield seats. LSU 6, SACRED HEART 1

LSU fifth inning - Alex Bregman beat out an infield hit to shortstop. He moved to second on Rhymes' ground out to third and came around to score on two wild pitches by Scribner. After Katz struck out, Jones walked and stole second. Ross drove home Jones with a single. LSU 8, SACRED HEART 1

LSU sixth inning - With two out, Laird reached on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Brian Lamboy. Bregman picked up an infield hit and when shortstop Jesus Medina's throw to first base was wide of the bag, Laird scored. LSU 9, SACRED HEART 1

Sacred Heart eighth inning - Jonathan Servilla doubled and stole third base. He scored on Jayson Sullivan's ground out to third. LSU 9, SACRED HEART 2

LSU eighth inning - With one out, Foster singled and Tyler Moore walked. After Casey Yocom flied out, Foster scored when Gondek dropped Alex Edward's fly ball to rightfield. LSU 10, SACRED HEART 2

LSU WASTED SCORING CHANCES

Fourth inning - Barash walked and moved to second on a wild pitch by Scribner. Both Ibarra and Foster popped out to shortstop and Laird grounded out to first base to end the inning.

Seventh inning - With one out, Jones walked. He moved to second when Chris Chinea grounded out to third base. Barash lined out to third base to end the inning.

LSU HITTING STAR

Making his first start of the season, Foster had two hits and drove in a run. Foster had a run-scoring double in the second and a single in the eighth. Foster, who had reached base in all four of his previous plate appearances this season, was 2-for-5.

LSU STARTING PITCHER

Coach Paul Mainieri gave Nick Rumbelow some extended work by having him throw the first two innings. He retired six Sacred Heart batters - two by strikeout, two by fly out, one by ground out and one by pop out. Since it was predetermined that Rumbelow was only going to throw two innings, he was eligible to get the victory. The win was the third of Rumbelow's career - his first since 2011.

LSU BULLPEN

Hunter Newman was the first of four Tigers relievers. He gave up one run on the homer by Gondek and two hits in three innings. Newman, who struck out four, pitched out of a jam in the fourth. With a runner on second due to an error by Ibarra, Newman got a topped ball in front of the plate and a strikeout. Hunter Devall staggered through two scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and walked one with three strikeouts. A pickoff by Ross ended one inning, while Foster threw out a runner rounding first base to conclude a second inning. Joey Bourgeois had a rough eighth inning as he yielded one run and two hits. He did strikeout two batters. Chris Cotton threw a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.

NOTES

Foster and Barash made their first starts of the season. Foster played rightfield and batted leadoff. Barash was the designated hitter. Barash, who caught the ninth inning, was 1-for-3. Every LSU position player except Edward and Yocom got a start against Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday or against Sacred Heart on Wednesday. . .Laird, Ross and Ibarra were back in the starting lineup Wednesday. . .Both Rhymes and Katz extended their hitting streak to 11 games in the second inning. Both Ibarra and Laird extended their hitting streaks to four games in the second inning. . .Every starter scored a run and every starter got a hit except for Jones. . .Bregman was the only player other than Foster to have more than one hit. . .LSU was 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position. . .Ibarra committed an error in the third consecutive game. He has five errors for the season. The rest of the team has four errors. . .Newman, who threw three innings, had only worked two innings all season before Wednesday. . .Sacred Heart committed five errors. . .Gondek had two of the Pioneers' seven hits. . .Sacred Heart hired former Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine as its athletic director last month. . .Sacred Heart lost to Stephen F. Austin 6-5 in 13 innings Wednesday afternoon. The actual crowd was 2,788. . .LSU is 12-1, while Sacred Heart is 0-5.

FROM THE CLUBHOUSE

Coach Paul Mainieri:

"Sacred Heart had a long day with a 13-inning ball game this afternoon. I am sure that took a lot out of them. It was a rough start for us. But, the second inning was fantastic. Raph gets a hit and then Katz hits a ball in the gap to get us going. We had a series of very good at-bats in the second. Barash hits a ball in the gap. Foster and Laird get two-strike hits. I am glad we got to use all our position players in these last two games. It keeps them sharp and makes them feel like they are part of the team."

(on the performance of Rumbelow and the bullpen) "I thought Nick threw very, very well. His first few breaking balls didn't have a lot of depth, but then he threw one good for a strikeout. I want him to throw once this weekend and then next Wednesday. That should get him ready for Starkville. The big cushion allowed the young kids (Newman and Devall) to relax and let it rip. Hunter Newman was good. Hunter Devall struggled with his control a little bit more than we would like."

Alex Bregman

"We've worked out a lot of kinks, but we have a ton left to learn. We're well on our way to having a good year. It was huge to have (reserves) get in the last two games. Those guys stepped in and we didn't miss a beat. Jared Foster gets two hits in his first start. Andrew Stevenson gets two hits, including a home run (Tuesday night). In Barash's first at-bat, he gets a RBI single. Those guys really stepped up. That's what this team is."

Nick Rumbelow

"It was really good to get back out there and have an outing like that. I was mixing my curve ball with my other pitches and getting it over the plate. That was big for me."

NEXT UP

LSU will play host to Washington on Friday at 7 p.m. The Huskies are 4-8 with three of their losses coming to Lamar, which lost to the Tigers last month. Aaron Nola (1-0, 1.83 ERA) will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers.