LSU rocks Stony Brook in opener

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, June 1, 2019

BATON ROUGE — This was not your father’s Stony Brook.

Or maybe this was what the Seawolves were supposed to look like — a No. 4 seed overwhelmed in one of college baseball’s wildest venues against a NCAA regional No. 1 seed.

But Stony Brook’s 2012 super regional victory over the Tigers — the one that will live in LSU infamy — seemed like a long time ago Friday night.

“Ancient history,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri insisted after the Tigers scored multiple runs in the first five innings and unloaded on the Seawolves for 10 clutch hits, including two towering home runs, in a 17-3 rout.

“We just didn’t let up,” Mainieri said. “Every inning we went up and had good at-bats … we were able to put up crooked numbers.”

The Tigers led 9-1 after two innings and 14-1 after four to insure that LSU didn’t relive any sordid parts of its past.

“That was a pretty sound butt-kicking,” said Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk, who was also leading the program when it shocked the Tigers and advanced to the College World Series at their expense. “They did a great job. But we did nothing to help ourself.”

Instead of wallowing in the past, LSU made new history when Antoine Duplantis went 3-for-5, beating a curious defensive shift for all three hits, which gave him 353 for his career and tie Eddy Furniss as the Tigers’ all-time leader.

“I was lucky enough to see every one of them,” Mainieri said.

Duplantis, a noted spray hitter, scored three times and drove in three and got a standing ovation when he tied Furniss, a college baseball hall of famer who played for LSU from 1995-98.

That didn’t even lead the Tigers’ offense, which also took advantage of seven walks.

LSU’s No. 7 and 8 hitters, Saul Garza and Brandt Broussard, combined for seven RBIs while going 5-for-8.

Garza had a three-run double that keyed the Tigers’ five-run first inning, while Zach Watson hit a two-run home run over the left-field seats in the second and Broussard yanked his first bomb of the year, a three-run shot in the fourth.

It was the first home run of Broussard’s college career — and he said afterwards he never hit one in high school.

“Must have been a breeze out to left,” Broussard said. “It snuck out.”

Freshman starter Landon Marceaux (5-2) gave the Tigers five solid innings while scattering the seven hits and walking one.

“After we got the good lead I was just trying to fill up the strike zone,” said Marceaux, whose lone walk came in the first inning.

“Exactly what we needed,” Mainieri said.

It allowed LSU not to use any of the key elements of its bullpen as four Tigers pitched an inning apiece to finish out the game.

Mainieri also said by getting through five innings on 53 innings, Marceaux could possibly pitch again if the regional stretches out to Monday.

Mainieri said he will throw another freshman today when he sends out Cole Henry (4-2, 3.86 ERA) against Southern Mississippi. It will be his second start since returning from injury and he’ll likely be limited to no more than five innings before Mainieri said he’d have to turn over to the bullpen.

He will have a challenge against an equally hot-swinging Southern Miss team, the No. 3 seed which hit three home runs, two of them in a 12-run fifth inning to rout No. 2 seed Arizona State 15-3 in Friday’s first game.

The Golden Eagles (39-19) didn’t announced their pitching plans, but did hold back staff ace Walker Powell (6-2, 2.68) in their opener.

“I assume they’ll go with their top guy,” Mainieri said.

Stony Brook (31-22) isn’t vanquished from Baton Rouge quite yet. The Seawolves will play Arizona State in an elimination game at noon today.

It looked vaguely familiar when the Seawolves scored an unearned run off Marceaux in the top of the first on shortstop Josh Smith’s throwing error.

But the lead was short-lived.

The Tigers scored five unearned runs in the bottom of the inning on an error, three walks to force in one, followed by Garza’s three-run double and a RBI single by Broussard.

“That was the key hit,” Mainieri said of Garza’s bases-loaded shot down the right-field line.

“They never looked back after that,” Senk said.