BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU right-hander Paul Skenes threw another pitching gem with 12 punchouts and first baseman Jared Jones started two things on Friday to lead the Tigers to an 11-1 run-rule win over Samford at the Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
LSU is moving to 13-1 on the season and the Bulldogs are down 6-7 on the year.
The Tigers return for the second game of the three-game set with Samford on Saturday. The competition is scheduled for a first pitch at 6:30pm CT and can be viewed on SEC Network+. The matchup can also be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.
Skenes (4-0) threw his fourth straight game with double-digit strikeouts and ended with six innings pitched with one run and two hits allowed
Jones posted a 3-for-4 line and grabbed four RBI with two homers and a single.
Bulldog starter Jacob Cravey (1-2) was charged with the loss after throwing 5.0 innings and allowing five runs on four hits.
LSU opened the scoring at the end of the first with help from a throwing error by Samford second baseman Garrett Staton. After two free passes, batsman-designate Tommy White hit one in the six-hole and the Bulldogs pulled one out but failed to convert on the other end. The Tigers led 1-0 after an inning.
After a scoreless second inning by both teams, Samford responded with a run in the third.
LSU produced a run in the bottom half of the third with a sequence that began with a single from midfielder Dylan Crews and a walk from White. With two runners in second and third after a wild pitch, shortstop Jordan Thompson hit a sacrificial fly down the middle that Crews scored.
The Tigers added another victim fly in the fourth, with right fielder Paxton Kling hitting from third on a flyball into the middle of second baseman Jack Merrifield.
Jones smashed a ball into right field for his third thing of the year, extending LSU’s lead to 5-1.
LSU continued to extend their lead in the sixth game, increasing it to 8-1. Kling led the inning with a single to left field and promptly stole second place. Left fielder Tre’ Morgan smoked an RBI single down center for Kling to score. With Morgan first, Crews single and White smoked a double in the right-center field gap for Morgan and Crews.
After catcher Brady Neal drew a walk, White switched from second and took third place with a flyball to the middle. Center fielder Josh Rodriguez’s throw went past the third baseman and into the dugout, allowing White to scratch over LSU’s ninth run.
Jones underlined the inning with a towering home run to left field that went 459 feet. His last two RBIs put the final lead in the Tigers’ run-rule win.
Source