No. 12 LSU Beats Southern 8-3 Behind Saul Garza's Big Day at the Plate
LSU started its five game week with a bang as the Tigers received homeruns from catcher Saul Garza and second baseman Gavin Dugas en route to a 8-3 afternoon victory over Southern.
It didn't take long for Southern to get after LSU starter Brandon Kaminer on Tuesday afternoon. After a near flawless first inning, the Jaguars collected two runs on two hits which would effectively end Kaminer's day.
The poor inning wasn't all on Kaminer as it began with an errant throw from third baseman Cade Doughty, one of several moves Mainieri wanted to try for the midweek games. It was not the ideal start for LSU and Mainieri noticed it immediately, electing to give junior Ma'Khail Hilliard his first action of the season after missing opening weekend with forearm soreness.
Hilliard lasted just an inning as his pitch count got to 19 in the third, finishing with no earned runs, a walk and a strikeout.
After Hilliard's scoreless third inning, the LSU bats started to wake up a bit as the Tigers dropped three runs on the Jaguars in the third inning capped off by a Cade Beloso triple that ignited the bench. Beloso only hit three doubles as a freshman and Tuesday marked his first career triple.
On the evening, LSU would accumulate eight runs on 12 hits with the team tacking on insurance runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one a piece in the sixth and eighth innings. It was an impressive feat considering the Tigers faced seven different Southern pitchers.
Catcher Saul Garza had quite the afternoon, blasting his second homerun of the season in the fifth inning and finishing the day 3-for-4 with a career-high four RBI. Freshman centerfielder Maurice Hampton also showed off his wheels on his lone hit in his first collegiate start, beating out a throw from shortstop on an infield single.
The bullpen continued to look phenomenal even after Hilliard as three shutout innings from Nick Storz defined the bullpen's performance against the Jaguars. Storz looked much more comfortable in his second outing of the season, allowing just two hits with three strikeouts as 27 of his 41 pitches went for strikes.
In total, the LSU bullpen allowed just five hits with six strikeouts and one run.
LSU will be back in action Wednesday for its first road game of the season with Nicholls, a game that's reportedly already sold out. First pitch is expected at 6 p.m. with Eric Walker getting the nod on the mound.