Knock out bats, pitching power LSU to 6-3 win over Texas in Houston

HOUSTON – LSU junior right-hander Luke Holman fired 5.2 shutout innings Friday night, and first baseman Jared Jones drove in three runs as the second-ranked Tigers defeated No. 13 Texas, 6-3, in the Astros College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

LSU improved to 9-1 this season, while Texas dropped to 7-2.

The Tigers return to action at 7 p.m. CT Saturday when they face UL Lafayette in Minute Maid Park. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network, and it will be streamed free on Astros.com and all of the Houston Astros social media channels, including X, Facebook and YouTube.

The LSU-UL Lafayette game will be televised by Space City Home Network and available on the channel in the entirety of the Astros five-state viewing area of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Space City Home Network is available on DirecTV, AT&T Uverse, Xfinity, Consolidated Communications, btel, Astound, Phonoscope, and I-Net.

The LSU-UL Lafayette game will also be televised by the MLB Network; however, the MLB Network telecast will be blacked out in the Astros five-state viewing area of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

“A tip of the hat to our players, they’ve improved a lot over the past week,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “We’re excited about the upward trend of them understanding winning baseball and winning at-bats. We certainly saw that tonight.”

Holman (3-0) recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in 5.2 innings, allowing just three hits and one walk. He threw 91 pitches against the Longhorns, 61 for strikes.

BIG MONEY H

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— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) March 2, 2024

“Luke is as good a pitcher as I’ve ever coached in terms of executing pitches,” Johnson said. “As far as just pitch-to-pitch execution, I don’t know how you plan for him, because he can beat you in a lot of different ways. The skill and the aptitude and the execution are on another level right now.”

Jones was 3-for-4 with three RBI, two doubles, two runs and his fifth homer of the season, a three-run blast in the seventh inning.

Texas starting pitcher Lebarron Johnson (1-1) was charged with the loss, as he surrendered two runs on four hits in 3.0 innings with three walks and six strikeouts.

LSU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning when shortstop Michael Braswell III lined a two-run single against Texas reliever Tanner Witt.

The Tigers struck four runs in the seventh as third baseman Tommy White unloaded a solo homer – his second dinger of the season – and Jones launched a three-run shot to give LSU a 6-0 advantage.

Houston, we have liftoff 🚀@bearjones_3 | #ThePowerhouse pic.twitter.com/BjFtEMLKj7

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) March 2, 2024

Texas narrowed the gap to 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh when catcher Kimble Schuessler homered against LSU reliever Nate Ackenhausen.

The Longhorns reduced the deficit to 6-3 in the ninth on a two-out, two-run double by designated hitter Casey Borba, but LSU reliever Fidel Ulloa then struck out Texas second baseman Dee Kennedy to end the game.

Ackenhausen worked 2.1 innings in relief of Holman, recording no walks and six strikeouts while allowing three runs on three hits.

“There’s a lot of baseball ahead of us, and there are things we need to do better, Johnson said. “Tonight was a great win, but we’ve got so much season left, and we’ve got our hands full tomorrow with another really good team.”