LSU splits doubleheader with Indiana

Staff Report
BATON ROUGE — No. 11 LSU and Indiana split a doubleheader Saturday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The Tigers posted a 7-4 victory in the first game to claim the series win, and Indiana prevailed in the second game 7-2 to avoid the sweep.
The Tigers (2-1) return to action Tuesday against Southern in Alex Box Stadium in a 5 p.m. contest. The game will be available on SEC Network+ and on 100.7 FM in Baton Rouge.
“Indiana’s got a really good club,” LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “They’re the defending Big Ten champions, and they ran out a lot of really good arms against us. Overall for the weekend, we won two games, we pitched 15 different guys over the course of the series, and we learned a lot about our team. That’s what you do at this time of the year; sometimes you have to suffer setbacks in order to learn which guys you can count on.
“Our kids played very hard, we won two out of three, and we’ve got a big week coming up beginning on Tuesday with Southern,” Mainieri added.
Indiana 7, LSU 2
Indiana plated the game‘s first run in the top of the third inning on centerfielder Grant Richardson’s sacrifice fly to deep center for a 1-0 lead.
The Hoosiers added two more runs in the fifth via a sacrifice fly by catcher Drew Ashley to left and a run-scoring double by Richardson to left-center to give Indiana a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the sixth with one run on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Cade Doughty to left to cut Indiana’s lead to 3-1.
The Hoosiers added another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Collin Hopkins.
In the ninth, Indiana added three more runs on a two-run homer to right field by Richardson and an RBI single by first baseman Jordan Fucci to take a 7-1 lead.
LSU third baseman Zack Mathis connected on a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth over the right field wall for the final margin.
Eight pitchers worked in the nightcap for LSU. AJ Labas (0-1) got the start and worked 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. He collected four strikeouts.
Indiana starter Braydon Tucker (1-0) earned the win with six innings on the mound. He allowed one run on four hits and fired one strikeout.
LSU 7, Indiana 4
Indiana (1-2) took the early lead as the Hoosiers scored a run in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Cole Barr.
The Tigers would not trail for long as first baseman Cade Beloso hit an RBI single to left.
LSU added two runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead as left fielder Drew Bianco scored an unearned run and shortstop Hal Hughes brought home another run on a sacrifice fly to center for a 3-1 LSU lead.
The Tigers scored two more runs in the fourth on a ground ball by Alex Milazzo before Hughes followed with an RBI single to right that gave LSU a 5-1 advantage.
Indiana responded in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer by Barr.
The Hoosiers added another run in the eighth on an RBI single from second baseman Drew Ashley.
LSU added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win as Milazzo doubled to left-center to score Cade Beloso and Berwick High alum and LSU pinch runner Mitchell Sanford, extending LSU’s lead to 7-4.
Trent Vietmeier (1-0) earned the win as he worked 1.2 innings and recorded two strikeouts. Devin Fontenot was awarded the save as he fired two innings, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts.
Landon Marceaux started the game and tossed 4.1 innings, picking up two strikeouts while allowing three runs on six hits.
Indiana’s Gabe Bierman (0-1) suffered the loss as he worked five innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He recorded two strikeouts and walked two batters.
LSU 8, Indiana 1
Second baseman Cade Doughty and catcher Saul Garza each launched homers Friday night, and Cole Henry pitched four shutout innings as No. 11 LSU earned an 8-1 win in its 2020 season opener versus Indiana in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The Tigers didn’t waste any time as the offense produced two runs in the bottom of the first inning on Doughty’s two-run home run over the left field wall. Doughty became the first LSU player to hit a home run in his first career at-bat since Beau Didier accomplished the feat against Villanova on Feb. 21, 2009, at The Box.
LSU struck again in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 5-0 as Garza launched a three-run blast to left field.
Indiana scored in the top of the fifth on Richardson’s grounder to second.
The Tigers responded with two runs in the sixth inning as Bianco scored on a throwing error and Mathis drove home Hughes with a sacrifice fly to extend LSU’s lead to 7-1.
LSU added another run in the eighth on an RBI single from Mathis, who base hit to left scored Sanford.
Four pitchers combined in the effort, as Henry (1-0) worked the first four innings and recorded eight strikeouts with no walks and just three hits allowed.
Indiana starter Tommy Sommer (0-1) suffered the loss, as he surrendered five runs on five hits in four innings with three walks and five strikeouts.