After having to sit the last couple of weeks, Zach Watson picked up right where he left off on Tuesday night against Southern (4-8). The sophomore’s bat caught fire, going three-of-five and helped LSU (9-4) get past the Jaguars by the score of 8-2.
Austin Bain got things started in the bottom of the first with a hit to shortstop and that allowed Antoine Duplantis to reach home safely. The Tigers started to pull out in front in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run inning capped off by an RBI single from Watson.
The Jaguars got on the board in the fifth after Javeyan Williams scored off of a wild pitch to make it 4-1. However, the Tigers responded in the bottom frame when Nick Coomes hit a sac fly out to centerfield to get Beau Jordan across home plate, making it 5-1.
Southern cut into LSU’s lead yet again in the sixth with an RBI single from Bobby Johnson, but Zach Watson got home safely after a sac fly from Beau Jordan in the bottom of the sixth. The final nail was put in after Hunter Feduccia grounded out to second, allowing Cabrera to score in the bottom of the eighth.
Cam Sanders got his first collegiate win, allowing two runs off of two hits, walked two, and struck out eight in five and a third innings of work. Todd Peterson looked like his old self in relief of Sanders, getting his first save of the season, striking out six and allowed only three hits on the evening.
The Tigers will now head over to Russo Park on Wednesday when they take on the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (4-7) with first pitch set for 6:30 pm.
-Clint Domingue