LSU Baseball Walks its Way to 16-1 Win Over Southern
LSU went two for two in its midweek doubleheader as the Tigers were able to jump on Southern in the early innings behind patience at the plate and a dominant pitching performance from freshman Will Hellmers on the mound.
The Tigers used plate discipline to score six runs in the first two innings and carry that fast start to an 16-1 win. LSU drew five walks and another batter was hit as the six runs came off of just three hits.
As far as standouts go, the usual suspects had big moments as Dylan Crews blasted his fifth home run of the season en route to a 2-for-3 night while Tre' Morgan also hit the first home run of his career.
The Tigers would hang six runs in the sixth as Maurice Hampton and Collier Cranford would also pick up their first hits of the season while Jordan Thompson capped off the inning with a three run home run, his third of the season.
With the six home runs the Tigers hit between the two games on Wednesday, LSU leads all of college baseball with 21 on the season as 15 different players recorded at least one at bat.
Hellmers drew the start on the mound and threw five pitch perfect innings of baseball, allowing no runs and two hits while striking out six batters. What helped Hellmers outing so much was the great defensive work by those around him, including third baseman Thompson who made quite a few nice plays that could've easily squirted through for base hits.
Hellmers retired 14 of the 16 batters he faced in his five innings on the mound. Fellow freshmen Ty Floyd and Jacob Hasty would each throw scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh
LSU will now prepare for a three game series with Oral Roberts starting Friday evening.
Photo courtesy of LSUsports.