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LSU blanks Sacramento, 6-0

Kramer Robertson had two hits and two RBIs and Jared Poche threw six shutout innings as LSU defeated Sacramento State 6-0 on Friday night at The Box.

Kramer Robertson was outstanding for the Tigers
Kramer Robertson was outstanding for the Tigers

HOW THEY SCORED

LSU first inning – Robertson walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cole Freeman. After Jake Fraley fouled out to the first baseman, Robertson scored on a single by Beau Jordan. LSU 1, SACRAMENTO STATE 0

LSU second inning – With one out, Antoine Duplantis singled and O’Neal Lochridge reached on an error by shortstop Trent Goodrich. Duplantis scored on a double by Robertson. LSU 2, SACRAMENTO STATE 0

LSU sixth inning – Jordan Romero singled and Bryce Adams reached on an error by pitcher Sam Long. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Duplantis. Pinch-runner Brennan Breaux scored on a sacrifice fly by Lochridge. Pinch-runner Greg Deichmann scored on a throwing error by Goodrich on Robertson’s ground ball. LSU 4, SACRAMENTO STATE 0

LSU seventh inning – Fraley walked and stole second. Fraley scored on a single by Beau Jordan. LSU 5, SACRAMENTO STATE 0

LSU eighth inning – With one out, Lochridge doubled and scored on a single by Robertson. LSU 6, SACRAMENTO STATE 0

LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES

Fifth inning – Freeman singled and stole second. Fraley struck out. Beau Jordan flied out to the rightfielder. Bryce Jordan flied out to the centerfielder.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Robertson had perhaps the best game of his career with a pair of run-scoring hits, a run scored and two outstanding defensive plays. Robertson led off the bottom of the first with a walk and scored on a two-out single by Beau Jordan. Robertson delivered a RBI double with one out in the second. He also singled home a run with one out in the eighth. Robertson, who also reached on an error, was 2-for-4. His two excellent defensive plays involved going down the rightfield line to catch a pop up and making a back-handed stab on a ground ball up the middle and throwing the batter out at first.

Robertson’s comments: “My first at-bat was huge not only for me, but for the team. I walked and then Beau Jordan had the clutch hit with two out. I couldn’t tell you what the pitch was on my hit in the second. I was so locked in. I was able to keep my hands back. I thought the ball may be out of the park, but this was a tough night to hit one out. As the leader of the infield, it is important for me to bring energy and enthusiasm every day. I have to make the routine play and the spectacular play. If we make the plays, the pitchers know they can pitch to contact and not strike everybody out.”

ABOUT THE HITTERS

Beau Jordan and Lochridge also had two hits. Beau Jordan drove home runs with singles in the first and seventh innings. Lochridge drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. . .Freeman, Romero and Duplantis each had one hit. . .Fraley, who went 0-for-4, has gone back-to-back games without a hit. . .The Tigers left runners at second and third in both the first and second innings. LSU stranded nine runners – six in scoring position. The Tigers were 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Beau Jordan had two of those four hits.

ABOUT THE PITCHERS

Poche threw six shutout innings in picking up his first victory of the season. Poche gave up two hits, walked three and struck out eight. Sacramento State put three runners in scoring position against Poche. He ended the first by striking out Matt Smith with a runner on third base. With two on and two out in the fourth, Poche struck out Gunner Pollman. One inning later, Poche struck out Andrew McWilliam with a runner on second and two out. . .Three LSU relievers – Jesse Stallings, Russell Reynolds and Doug Norman – each threw one scoreless inning. The only baserunner against the bullpen was a single by McWilliam in the eighth. . .Tigers pitchers walked three and struck out 12. . .Sacramento State had one batter reach base over the last four innings.

NOTES

With a lefthanded pitcher starting for Sacramento State, Michael Papierski and Deichmann were not in the lineup. Romero was the starting catcher instead of Papierski. Adams was the designated hitter with Bryce Jordan starting at first base. Freeman was moved up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order after hitting either eighth or ninth in each of the first four games. . .Duplantis has hit safely in each of LSU’s five games. Freeman has a hit in each of the last four games. . .Sacramento State’s starting pitcher Long gave up four runs and six hits in 5.2 inning. Three of the four runs were unearned. The Hornets made four errors. . .For the first time this season, the Tigers did not commit an error. . .Romero threw a runner out trying to steal second. . .Smith, Branson Grubbs and McWilliam picked up the three Hornets hits. . .LSU is 4-1, while Sacramento State is 3-2. . .The paid attendance was 10,754. The actual crowd was about 6,200.

FROM THE CLUBHOUSE

Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “It was a well-played game. We were very crisp defensively. Poche threw good. He struck out a lot of batters, so there were not a lot of plays to be made. All three guys out of the bullpen threw exceptionally well. We did a good job against Long. I thought Duplantis had his best swings of the year. Fraley missed a couple of home runs by a foot. For Robertson to be our leadoff man, I told him he has to have more than one good at-bat a game. I guess he took that to heart.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play host to Sacramento State at The Box on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Central. Alex Lange (1-0) will be the starting pitchers for the Tigers. The LSU-Sacramento State game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

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