SPORTS & OPINION LSU baseball smashes its way to a 14-0 win over Kentucky

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

An anticipated rain delayed LSU’s Super Regional opener against Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. However, the rain didn’t just come in the form of water. The home runs rained down once again in Baton Rouge Saturday night, as LSU mashed its way to a 14-0 win over Kentucky.

“I’m very comfortable with the process of what happened. The largest window of lightning was at 3 p.m.,” Johnson said. “We were on a call with the National Weather Service and if you listened to that call, you would understand why we didn’t start the game.”

Once Tre’ Morgan started the first inning with a home run with two outs into the left field bleachers, LSU fans knew what type of game this would be.

“The loudest I’ve heard this stadium is when we took the field,” Johnson said.

The Tigers finished with 15 hits on the night, including six home runs to bring their total home run count to 15 for the NCAA Tournament, which is a tournament high.

Tommy White started to heat up the bats with a two-run home run in the third inning. Morgan then followed up White’s home run with his second home run of the night. White and Morgan each homered twice, White finished three for five with two home runs, a single and three RBIs, and Morgan finished with a team-high four hits, going four for five with two home runs, two singles and three RBIs.

Gavin Dugas homered in the fourth inning, and Josh Pearson homered in the fifth, giving LSU a 6-0 lead through five innings. But the Tigers were far from done in that fifth inning.

Dylan Crews, who went two for four with one RBI on the night, scored on a single to left field by Tre’ Morgan. A hit-by- pitch and a wild pitch scored two runs, and a single from Jordan Thompson scored two more. Thompson finished two-for-four on the night with two singles and three RBIs. A six-run fifth inning left LSU with an 11-0 lead.

The Tigers still weren’t finished. Tommy White started the sixth inning with a home run to left field once again for his second home run of the game.

In the seventh, Brayden Jobert doubled to right field, and Thompson hit a single to score Paxton Kling, Jobert’s pinchrunner, from second. Jobert went one-for-three on the night. Crews hit Thompson in on a sacrifice fly to center field to make the score 14-0.

The bats were electric for the Tigers, but Paul Skenes was electric on the mound as well. In his last outing at Alex Box Stadium, Skenes pitched 7.2 innings, struck out nine, and gave up no runs on four hits.

“I never thought that I would receive the love from the fans that I’ve gotten,” Skenes said. “It’s so cool.”

Blake Money came in relief and pitched the remaining 1.1 innings.

Kentucky was held to four hits on the game. Nolan McCarthy hit a double for the Wildcats, and Hunter Gilliam, Reuben Church and Ryan Waldschmidt each hit singles.

“His [Skenes] fastball was at 102 miles per hour and he made more offspeed pitches,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “He made the adjustment and we didn’t.”