LSU Offense Comes Alive in Back Half of 9-2 Win Over Southern
It took a bit of time but LSU's bats woke up and delivered another high hitting performance en route to a 9-2 win over Southern.
The Tigers (5-1) entered 54-3 all time against the Jaguars, with the last loss coming in 2019. While Southern would put a good scare in the purple and gold early the LSU offense didn't stay down for long, putting together a strong second half to pull out the win.
LSU really rode the hot arm of Ma'Khail Hilliard the first third of the game as the senior pitcher came out utilizing his entire pitching repertoire to pick up a tough offensive start. Hilliard went three hitless innings before running into trouble in the fourth as the Jaguars were able to take advantage of a walk with a triple and single on back-to-back hits and take a 2-0 lead.
It would cut Hilliard's afternoon short after a strong start, handing the ball over to sophomore Javen Coleman in the fifth. Coleman would handle his business in a shortened outing, leaving with an injury in the sixth. LSU would rely on Paul Gervase and Trent Vietmeier to help close the game out.
But the big story for the Tigers was the struggles to bring in runs offensively, unable to really capitalize when putting the leadoff man on base in five of the first six innings.
The first half of the game for LSU was defined by missed opportunities as the purple and gold put runners in scoring position but weren't able to capitalize the first two times around the order. Through five innings, Jack Merrifield, Dylan Crews and Tre Morgan were the only players to record a hit in the game with the Tigers offense leaving six on base and going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position to that point.
Slowly but surely LSU chipped away in a tight contest, with some clutch hitting from Merrifield and Crews helping cut the 2-0 deficit in half during the fifth inning.
LSU would get off to another strong start in the sixth with back-to-back singles from the middle of the lineup with Gavin Dugas coming up with a clutch double that scored both runs and giving the Tigers their first lead. The sequence set up what would become a six hit and five run inning for the offense, highlighted by RBI swings from Merrifield, Morgan and Jacob Berry.
"I'm happy because I think we're gonna play a lot of games like that one," Jay Johnson said. "I'm very proud of the players, there's no flinching or panicking. You could kind of see it coming and I'm very pleased with the response. There were 15 hits and none of them home runs, I think that's the trademark of a really good hitting team."
For the game Merrifield would go 2-for-3 at the plate while Morgan had an extremely productive 4-for-5 afternoon with three RBI to help pace the Tigers offense. The offense would really hit a spark in the latter part of the game, totaling 15 hits on 33 at bats.
"My swing felt really good in BP so I had a feeling. I just tried to stay smooth," Morgan said. "We know our lineup is so explosive, it could come at any point so the biggest thing is having three consecutive quality at bats so that's what we were hunting for and got it."
LSU will be back in action for a double header with Towson at 11 a.m. and Southern later that afternoon at 5 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)