LSU goes deep three times, downs Grambling 10-3

BATON ROUGE – For the fifth straight game, the LSU baseball team recorded at least at 10 hits, and the No. 14 Tigers used three dingers on Throwback Night to propel them to a 10-3 victory against Grambling Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

With the win, LSU improves to 5-3 on the season while Grambling falls to 4-5.

LSU will be back in action on Wednesday night as the Tigers will travel to Hammond for a 6 p.m. CT matchup with Southeastern. The game will be available on COX Sports Television. Southpaw Nick Bush will get the start Wednesday night.

LSU used only three pitchers in the game and recorded 14 strikeouts as a team. Ma’Khail Hilliard (2-0) earned the win for LSU after replacing Cam Sanders to begin the fifth inning. Sanders recorded eight strikeouts and gave up four runs—three earned. Daniel Cabrera entered the game in the ninth inning once the game was already well in hand. The freshman right-hander allowed one hit but was able to put up a zero in the top of the ninth.

Lefty Christian Marquez started for Grambling, but after throwing well for five innings, he was replaced by Andy Escano. LSU worked quickly against the right-hander who gave up seven runs—six earned. Right-hander Daniel Beizer replaced him in the seventh after the damage was done. He worked 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

Grambling got on the board first after Isaiah Torres drew a bases loaded walk in the first inning. Sanders preceded to strike out the next two hitters and escape the inning with minimal damage.

Rafael Ramirez III led the second inning off for Grambling with a double. After getting sacrificed to third base, he was able to score on a wild-pitch from Sanders.

In the third inning, Grambling added another run to their lead to make it 3-0. Ramirez scored on a squeeze bunt laid down by Chris Campbell. Sanders struck out D’Quan Matthews to end the inning and give him his eighth strikeout on the evening.

Antoine Duplantis led off the fourth inning for the Tigers with a single, giving him a five-game hitting streak. After stealing second, the centerfielder advanced to third when the catcher threw the ball into centerfield. With no outs and runners on the corners, Beau Jordan drove in Duplantis to get LSU on the board.

Hilliard replaced Sanders to begin the fifth inning, and he earned the win after pitching four innings of scoreless baseball. In the sixth inning, he recorded a perfect inning, in which he threw nine pitches for nine strikes to record three strikeouts.

LSU trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, but the Tigers were due. Bryce Jordan came up to bat with Beau Jordan and Duplantis on base. Bryce Jordan unleashed a monster-shot to left-center to give LSU a 4-3 lead.

The following inning LSU opened the Throwback Game wide open. Hal Hughes turned on a ball leading off the inning, launching a homerun into the left field bleachers. Brandt Broussard followed that with a single, setting the stage for Austin Bain. The designated hitter launched a moon shot off of the TV tower in centerfield to score two runs, the first home run of his career.

The Tigers were not finished. With just one out in the seventh, Hunter Feduccia tripled to right field and was pinch ran for by Nick Coomes. After Beau Jordan reached base on an error, Nick Webre plated Coomes with a double. Jake Slaughter then scorched a single up the middle to pick up two RBI and finish the six-run LSU seventh with the Tigers leading 10-3.