Tulane falls at No. 15 LSU, 10-4

BATON ROUGE, La. – Tulane baseball put together a four-run third inning, but it was not enough as No. 15 LSU outscored the Green Wave 10-4 Wednesday evening at Alex Box Stadium.

Tulane (9-13) put the first runs on the scoreboard in a big way, scoring four runs on four hits, including three doubles in the frame. The third inning, however, was the only inning the Green Wave was able to push runs across the plate. LSU (15-7) scored a run in the third and two in the fourth, then took the lead with five runs in the fifth.

Junior center fielder Grant Witherspoon went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a run, sophomore third baseman Kody Hoese doubled in two runs and freshman left fielder David Bedgood singled home a run. AJ Labas (2-0) earned the win in relief while sophomore Chase Solesky (1-2) took the loss in relief.

“That’s a very good team obviously, and we knew we were going to have to keep scoring and try to keep them off the board,” Tulane head coach Travis Jewett said. “They strung some good at bats together and we gave them some free stuff, but you have to give them all the credit in the world. In the middle of the game it was still within reach and I thought our bats needed more of a razor focus, but the score got away from us and I thought our approach at the plate did too.”

Junior catcher Acy Owen started the big third inning with a double to the wall in left center. After a walk to sophomore second baseman Jonathon Artigues, Witherspoon doubled down the right field line to drive home Owen. Hoese followed with a two-run double to deep left center and Bedgood laced a base hit to right center to make it a 4-0 lead.

LSU cut it to 4-1 in the bottom of the third on a bases-loaded walk. In the fourth, center fielder Zach Watson hit an RBI double and second baseman Brandt Broussard drove in a run with a groundout to make it 4-3. The Tigers took the lead with five runs on four run-producing singles in the fifth to move ahead, 8-4. A two-run single in the seventh inning by right fielder Antoine Duplantis made the score 10-4.

Witherspoon singled to start the fifth inning, but a pair of well-hit balls were caught in the outfield to hold the Wave scoreless. That was the last baserunner Tulane had, as the final 15 batters were retired to end the game.

Hoese extended his hitting streak to seven games and has now reached base in 12 straight games while Artigues has reached base safely in 11 straight contests.

Tulane opens American Athletic Conference play this weekend against Cincinnati at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

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