BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers opened up the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on Friday afternoon with a 7-2 victory over the Tulane Green Wave at Alex Box Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After LSU All-American Paul Skenes struck out two of the first three batters he faced to start the game, the Tigers’ offense got to work in the bottom part of the frame.
Dylan Crews led off with a single through the left side and was joined on the base paths as Tommy White also hit a single through the left side.
After Tre Morgan hit into a double play, which allowed Crews to advance to third base, Hayden Travinski came to the plate. The Tiger catcher barrelled a pitch into left centerfield that allowed Crews to cross home plate.
Skenes gave up a lead off single to start the second but got out of the jam with a strike out and then forcing Jake LaPrairie to hit into a double play.
LSU then added to its lead by scoring two runs in the second.
Gavin Dugas led off with an infield single and was joined on the base paths by Brayden Jobert who was hit by a pitch. Both Tigers advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Thompson.
A ground out by Josh Pearson scored Dugas and then a double down the left field line scored Jobert.
After another scorless frame by the Green Wave, the Tigers added another run in the third as Travinski scored on a groundout by Jobert.
Jay Johnson’s team added to the lead in the fifth.
Travinski drew a leadoff walk and then moved over to third base on a single down the right field line by Cade Beloso. Tulane brought in Michael Lombardi to relieve starter Dylan Carmouche but the change didn’t slow down LSU.
Dugas then hit a deep fly ball to center which scored Travinski. The Tigers would load the bases with a Jobert walk and a single into right by Thompson. A fly ball by Pearson would plate Beloso.
Tulane finally got to Skenes in the top of the seventh when Brennan Lambert hit a two-out home run over the right field wall.
The Green Wave put a pair of runners on in the eighth but Skenes got out of the inning with a fly out to right field.
The Tigers added one more in the eighth inning as Travinski drew a two-out bases-loaded walk which scored Thompson who led off the frame with a single.
BIG NUMBER: 9
With Friday’s contest at Alex Box Stadium, the Tigers and Green Wave have faced off nine times in the NCAA Tournament. LSU improves to 7-2 against Tulane in those postseason games and a perfect 6-0 in regional games. The Tigers’ two losses came in a NCAA Super Regional.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: PAUL SKENES & HAYDEN TRAVINSKI
Skenes gave up no runs on three hits while striking out eight batters through the first six innings. He finally gave up two runs on two hits in the seventh but still pitched a complete game as he struck out 12 Green Wave hitters. Travinski, who started at catcher, meanwhile went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, 2 RBI and 2 walks as the Tigers’ cleanup hitter.
UP NEXT: LSU (44-15) will next play the winner of Oregon State-Sam Houston in the winner’s bracket game on Saturday evening. First pitch is set for 8 p.m. and you can listen to the game on THE GAME 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.