LSU opens key series with 7-1 win over Auburn
Published 6:30 am Friday, May 17, 2019
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BATON ROUGE — LSU is trying to tip-toe through a crucial SEC baseball weekend with a limited pitching staff.
So Friday night was just what the Tigers were looking for.
Eric Walker gave LSU the mound performance the Tigers desperately needed and the bats came alive for a 7-1 victory over Auburn to open the final regular season series.
The Tigers (33-21, 16-12 SEC) probably need to win the series to bolster their hopes of hosting an NCAA tournament regional.
“I think we got accomplished exactly what we needed to tonight,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Now we need to go out and show we can win consecutive games.”
They’ll have that chance today when they send freshman Landon Marceaux to the mound against Auburn left-hander Jack Owen.
Mainieri noted that Auburn still has its top two starters for the final two games of the series.
“You’ve got to put it behind you and get ready for the next day,” he said.
Walker (5-4) was the first LSU starting pitcher to finish the sixth inning for the Tigers in just over a month. He allowed just two hits in his six innings of work, striking out five.
“I don’t know that his stuff was quite as good as it was last time out agaisnt Arkansas but he got into a groove and found it,” Mainieri said. “He was dotting up where he wanted to throw the ball.
“He’s that wiley competitor. He’s got so much moxie and he’s got composure and poise and just battles you to the end.”
The bats also came alive.
LSU strung together five straight, two-out singles in the third innning to take a 4-1 lead, then added three solo home runs down the stretch, one each by Saul Garza, Cade Beloso and Antoine Duplantis.
Garza, the Tigers’ catcher who went 3-for-4 and also picked a runner off third base to get LSU out of a seventh inning jam, started it all.
Auburn starter Elliott Anderson retired the first eight batters he faced before Garza’s single in the third.
The single avalanche kicked in as Josh Smith also delivered, followed by RBI singles from Zach Watson, Duplantis and Daniel Cabrera. The fourth run scored on an Auburn error.
“We had some clutch hits there and the home runs were wonderful,” Mainieri said. “I liked the aggressiveness. I think we’re getting better, I think the kids are getting it and they’re understanding what we want out of them.”
Auburn’s only run came in the second on a sacrifice fly following Steven Williams’ one-out triple.
Walker didn’t allow another hit before leaving after a leadoff walk to start the seventh.
Closer Todd Peterson came in to pitch two innings and Aaron George handled the ninth for the Tigers.
“I just felt like with the lead we could save pitches on Peterson’s arm and still have him available for the weekend,” Mainieri said. “If we’d left him in one more inning, we probably would have burned him up for the weekend.”
TODAY’S GAME – 7 p.m.
LSU RH Landon Marceaux (3-2, 6.56 ERA, 35.2 IP, 17 BB, 26 SO) vs AU LH Jack Owen (4-1, 1.91 ERA, 42.1 IP, 7 BB, 40 SO).
LSU 7, Auburn 1
Game 2 – 7 p.m. Today
