Spotless Eric Walker start highlights LSU's 17-4 rout of Southern

Eric Walker's first start since the 2017 College World Series couldn't have gone much more smoothly.

The sophomore right-hander, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, retired all six batters he faced Wednesday to set the table of LSU's 17-4 rout of crosstown rival Southern (4-3).

"The last time he pitched, he had a really good first inning and was not as sharp in the second inning," coach Paul Mainieri said on his postgame radio show. "And so I was anxious to see how he would handle that long delay and go back into the second inning. But he did a magnificent job.

"He was ready to pitch. He threw a lot of strikes. In the first inning, I think he only threw one ball. And the second inning, I thought was very crisp as well. He probably could've continued to pitch three or four innings. But we're looking to start him on Sunday now, so we needed to shut him down."

Walker had pitched four total inning in a pair of relief appearances and allowed three earned runs on three walks, two hits and two strikeouts against 13 batters in the process.

He put together his best performance thus far in Wednesday's short outing, as he continues to work back into a more extensive role.

And the No. 1 Tigers (8-0) sandwiched eight first-inning runs of their own between Walker's two perfect innings to spark the offense to the evening's first 17 runs and first 8-0 start since 2011.

Junior shortstop Josh Smith and junior center fielder Zach Watson reached on an error and walk to start the game and stole third and second bases, respectively.

Sophomore left fielder Daniel Cabrera followed onto base on another Jaguars error to allow Smith to score unearned.

And the LSU lineup capitalized on the early miscues to quickly blow the doors off Alex Box Stadium on another damp midweek evening that eventually cleared up more than initially anticipated.

"I was a little bit concerned going into this game because we were really geared up to play a great South Alabama last night," Mainieri said. "But when the game got canceled and we knew we were right around the corner from going to Austin, Texas, we've already had a team meeting sharing the itinerary with them and talking about the rules of being on the road, behavior and all of those types of things, which if you think about it is a very awkward thing to talk about those things and then tell them to focus on facing Southern University.

"So I was a little nervous about the game going in... I was just so proud of them, because they had such great focus tonight, and I thought we got off to a great start."

Sophomore designated hitter Saul Garza singled home the first earned run, and freshman first baseman Cade Beloso cranked a three-run home run to push the lead to 5-0.

And a two-RBI double by Smith and RBI single by senior right fielder Antoine Duplantis as the top of the order came back around provided Walker an eight-run cushion before the top of the second.

Freshman Cole Henry, freshman Chase Costello, sophomore Ma'Khail Hilliard and senior Clay Moffitt followed Walker in relief and carried the team shutout into the eighth inning.

Walker and Henry each struck out three of the batters they faced in two innings a piece.

Costello and Hilliard each struck out a batter in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, and Moffitt notched a pair of his own in a perfect seventh.

Beloso, Duplantis, Watson and the offense meanwhile continued to put the contest farther and farther out of reach with runs in five of the first seven innings.

Beloso finished 3-for-4 with his second home run of the season, three RBIs and a pair of runs.

Duplantis went 4-for-5, with 5 RBIs, one walk and one run.

Watson was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two walks and three runs.

"I just thought a lot of guys came ready to play tonight," Mainieri said. "Obviously Antoine Duplantis with five RBIs, but throughout the lineup."

The 17 runs matched defeats of Air Force on Feb. 17 and Bryant on Feb. 23 for the team's most in a game thus far.

Southern finally got to new reliever Rye Gunter, a freshman, in the top of the eighth to bring its first two runs home and added a pair off freshman Riggs Threadgill in the ninth.

But the game was well out of the Jaguars' reach by then on a night that allowed the 21 different Tigers to earn playing time.

Southern's four runs marked the second fewest allowed by LSU behind only Sunday's series finale against Bryant.

Mainieri and company now travel to Texas (7-2) for a weekend series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Junior star Zach Hess, freshman Landon Marceaux and Walker are slated to start the contests, with freshman Jaiden Hill resting for at least the weekend.

"I've never been to Austin," Mainieri said. "I've never been to the ballpark there at the University of Texas ... so I'm looking forward to it. I've heard so much about the whole atmosphere there. I told our team after the game, understand the history of college baseball a little bit, two blue-bloods, LSU vs. Texas, it doesn't get much bigger than that.

"And, you know, the last time we played Texas going into last year was the 2009 College World Series. So we have some positive memories of playing against Texas because we won a national championship against them, and then last year's series... So we're all looking forward to it."