4/27/2019 baseball Edit

Walker and Watson combine for LSU `W' over Alabama

LSU starting pitcher Eric Walker came up big for the Tigers' in their Saturday win at Alabama

Ron Higgins • Death Valley Insider

Columnist

After LSU starting pitcher Eric Walker gave up a home run to Alabama’s first batter of Saturday’s game in Tusacloosa, he then blanked the Crimson Tide for almost six innings to boost the 14th-ranked Tigers to a much-needed 5-2 SEC victory.

By the time Walker departed with two outs in the fifth and LSU leading 5-1, he had struck out a career-high nine batters and allowed five hits.

"I threw a lot of fast balls and tried to keep them off-balance," Walker said.

What gave Walker cushion was a two-out, three-run homer just inside the left field foul by Tigers’ center fielder Zach Watson in the fourth inning.

Watson’s hit was originally ruled a foul ball. After a review that lasted more than five minutes by the SEC’s centralized replay in the league office in Birmingham, the call was reversed and Watson got his delayed home run trot.

As it turned out after Alabama added a seventh inning run off LSU reliever Todd Peterson, Watson’s homer provided the Tigers (28-16, 12-8 SEC) with the margin of victory.

The win negated Alabama’s 6-1 victory in the series opener Friday and tied the series at 1-1 heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. series-deciding matchup.

Though LSU had just one more hit (nine) hits in Saturday’s win than it did in Friday’s loss, the Tigers got a considerably better starting pitching performance from Walker than it did in Friday’s loss from Zach Hess.

Hess gave up five runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings with one walk and five strikeouts. He was touched in the first inning for two solo home runs by the worst home run hitting team in the SEC.

Shocklngly, Walker followed suit on Saturday when Alabama left fielder Keith Holcombe socked Walker’s third pitch of the day for a solo homer and a 1-0 first-inning lead.

Walker’s response was to strike out the side. He followed with two more strikeouts in the second, snuffing a Crimson Tide rally with runners on second and third.

The Tigers tied the game at 1-1 in the top on the third on Cade Beloso’s RBI single off Alabama starter Brock Love.

Love was sent to the showers on Watson’s big blow in LSU’s three-run fourth.

The lead held, though Walker and Peterson pitched the Tigers’ out of jam after jam. Alabama left 10 men on base, including two each in the second, third, fourth and seventh innings.