LSU blasts Tennessee, 11-3
Jordan Romero had three hits, including his ninth home run of the season, as LSU extended its winning streak to seven games with an 11-3 victory against Tennessee in their Southeastern Conference game Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU first inning – Antoine Duplantis and Jake Fraley walked. Duplantis and Fraley successfully executed a double steal. Duplantis scored on a single by Kramer Robertson. Fraley scored on a single by Romero. Robertson scored on a single by Chris Reid. Both Romero and Reid advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by Bryce Jordan. Romero and Reid scored on Beau Jordan’s double. Beau Jordan scored on a single by Greg Deichmann. LSU 6, TENNESSEE 0
LSU second inning – Romero hit a leadoff home run over the leftfield fence. LSU 7, TENNESSEE 0
LSU third inning – With two out, Duplantis singled. Fraley singled and Duplantis scored when centerfielder Brodie Leftridge misplayed the ball. Fraley went to second on the error. Fraley went to third on an infield single by Robertson. Fraley scored on a successful double steal with Robertson. LSU 9, TENNESSEE 0
Tennessee third inning – Leftridge doubled and advanced to third on a fly out to the rightfielder by Chris Hall. Leftridge scored on a ground out to the third baseman by Nick Senzel. LSU 9, TENNESSEE 1
LSU fifth inning – Deichmann walked and Cole Freeman singled. Both Deichmann and Freeman moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Duplantis. Deichmann scored on a sacrifice fly to the rightfielder by Fraley. LSU 10, TENNESSEE 1
Tennessee fifth inning – Leftridge singled and Hall walked. Leftridge went to third on a fly out to the rightfielder by Senzel. Leftridge scored on a wild pitch by Jared Poche. LSU 10, TENNESSEE 2
LSU seventh inning – Deichmann walked and Freeman singled. Duplantis flied out to the leftfielder. Freeman was safe at second and Deichmann scored when first baseman Derek Lance made a throwing error on Fraley’s ground ball. LSU 11, TENNESSEE 2
Tennessee eighth inning – Benito Santiago hit a triple. After Matt Waldren flied out to the centerfielder, Max Bartlett was hit by a pitch. Santiago scored on a sacrifice fly to the centerfielder by Lance. LSU 11, TENNESSEE 3
LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES
Sixth inning – Romero singled and Reid reached safely on an error by the catcher Santiago. Bryce Jordan grounded into a double play to the third baseman. Beau Jordan grounded out to the third baseman.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Romero had another big day at the plate with two singles and a home run. Romero drove home a run with his single in the first. Romero also reached base on a walk. During LSU’s seven-game winning streak, Romero is 8-for-24 with two homers and six RBIs.
ABOUT THE HITTERS
Romero was one of four LSU players with multiple-hit games. Robertson had two singles and a RBI, while both Duplantis and Freeman had two hits. Bryce Jordan (0-for-4) was the only starter without a hit. . .The Tigers had 13 hits – 11 singles, a double by Beau Jordan and a homer by Romero. . .LSU stranded eight runners – five in scoring position. The Tigers were 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position. . .Five LSU batters delivered a RBI hit in the first – Robertson, Romero, Reid, Beau Jordan and Deichmann.
ABOUT THE PITCHERS
Poche was the beneficiary of the LSU offensive outburst and picked up his sixth victory of the year. Poche did not have an easy time as he permitted ten base runners – eight hits and two walks – in 5.1 innings. Poche struck out three hitters. In two innings, Poche got the final out with a runner in scoring position. Poche retired Jordan Rodgers on a fly out to the rightfielder Duplantis with two runners on base to end the first. He got Rodgers to ground out to the second baseman Freeman with a runner at third and two out in the fifth. Volunteers batters were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Poche, who left the game with two runners on base. . .Russell Reynolds worked the last 3.2 innings to register his first save of the year. Reynolds allowed one run and three hits with one strikeout. Reynolds, who hit two batters, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by getting Senzel to fly out to Fraley in centerfield.
NOTES
LSU had its normal lineup – Romero catching, Deichmann at first base and Bryce Jordan as the designated hitter. . .Fraley and Robertson extended hitting streaks to 12 games and six games, respectively. . .Duplantis had his first multiple hit game since April 28 against Ole Miss. Duplantis was 3-for-33 since that game against the Rebels prior to Saturday. . .Tennessee starting pitcher Zach Warren got one out – on a sacrifice bunt – before being relieved in the first inning. Warren allowed six runs and five hits with two walks. . .LSU only had two runs and three hits after the third inning. . .Both Leftridge and Bartlett had three hits for Tennessee. . .The Tigers are 35-16 overall, 16-10 in the SEC. LSU is still fourth in the SEC West – behind Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The Volunteers are 26-25 overall and 7-19 in the SEC. Tennessee is tied with Arkansas for last place in the overall league standings. . .The paid attendance was 2,297.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “We have a very good offensive team that takes an excellent approach at the plate and that was certainly evident today. That first-inning outburst was huge for us and set the tone for the game. Jared gave us a solid outing and worked into the sixth inning which was exactly what we needed. Russell Reynolds continues to be very effective out of the bullpen. Our pitching is set up nicely for the final game of the series. We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now, which is critical at this time of the season.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play Tennessee in the finale of their Southeastern Conference series at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Central. Caleb Gilbert (4-2) will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-Tennessee game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.