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Tigers blast Vandy in series opener, 13-4

Jared Poche threw seven scoreless innings as LSU defeated Vanderbilt 13-4 in a Southeastern Conference game at The Box on Thursday night.

Jared Poche
Jared Poche

HOW THEY SCORED

LSU first inning – Antoine Duplantis had an infield single and advanced to third on a throwing error by second baseman Ethan Paul. Duplantis scored on a ground out to the shortstop by Jake Fraley. LSU 1, VANDERBILT 0

LSU second inning – Kramer Robertson walked. Beau Jordan reached safely on an error by shortstop Tyler Campbell. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch by Jordan Sheffield. After Chris Reid struck out, Robertson scored on Michael Papierski’s sacrifice fly to the centerfielder. LSU 2, VANDERBILT 0

LSU third inning – Duplantis was hit by a pitch and stole second. Fraley walked. Duplantis scored on a double by Greg Deichmann. After Jordan Romero struck out, Fraley and Deichmann scored on a single by Robertson. Beau Jordan hit a two-run homer over the leftfield fence. Reid singled. Papierski forced Reid at second on a ground ball to the shortstop. Papierski scored on a triple by Cole Freeman. LSU 9, VANDERBILT 0

LSU sixth inning – Duplantis walked. Duplantis went to second on Fraley’s ground out and advanced to third on a throwing error by the first baseman Penn Murfee on the same play. Duplantis scored on a single by Deichmann. LSU 10, VANDERBILT 0

LSU eighth inning – With one out, pinch-hitter Brody Wofford and Fraley singled. Pinch-hitter Bryce Jordan reached on an error by the third baseman Liam Sabino. Three runs scored when leftfielder Walker Grisanti couldn’t find the ball under the bench in the Vanderbilt bullpen. LSU 13, VANDERBILT 0

Vanderbilt ninth inning – Paul singled and went to second on defensive indifference. Paul stopped at third base on a double by Grisanti. Connor Kaiser reached safely and Paul scored on an error by the third baseman Reid. Grisanti and Kaiser moved up a base on a wild pitch by Russell Reynolds. Grisanti scored on a ground out to the shortstop by pinch-hitter Nolan Rogers. Kaiser scored on Jeren Kendall’s double. Kendall scored on a single by Bryan Reynolds. LSU 13, VANDERBILT 4

LSU MISSED SCORING OPPORTUNITIES

Fourth inning – Deichmann doubled and was thrown out by catcher Jason Delay trying to advance to third on a pitch in the dirt. After Romero grounded out to the shortstop, Robertson singled. Robertson was thrown out by Delay trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt.

Seventh inning – With one out, Beau Jordan doubled. Reid flied out to the leftfielder and Papierski struck out.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Poche turned in the best game of his career as LSU won the opening game of a SEC series for the first time this season. Poche gave up four hits, walked three and struck out eight. He also hit two batters. The eight strikeouts matched his career-high. Poche struck out eight batters against North Carolina-Wilmington in the NCAA tournament last June and against Sacramento State earlier this year. Poche was very good with runners in scoring position. Vanderbilt got a runner to second base in five of Poche’s seven innings. The Commodores were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position against Poche. He struck out Alonzo Jones with two runners on base and two out in the first. Poche retired Campbell on a ground ball to the shortstop Robertson with a runner on second and two out in the second. He struck out Kendall with two runners on base to end the fifth. Poche got Will Toffey to ground out to the first baseman Deichmann with runners at first and second to end the seventh.

Poche’s comments: “I commanded my fast ball well. I don’t have overpowering stuff, so I have to command the ball. I felt good tonight. Against a team like Vanderbilt, you have to keep them off balance. You put them away any way you can. If that means you throw off-speed pitches, then that is what you do. It was definitely a goal of mine to get the team off to a good start. I didn’t want them to score early. I felt runs would be hard to come by against Vanderbilt’s pitchers. But, our hitters met the challenge and put up 13 runs. Any time I get a win, I am happy. It doesn’t matter if I give up eight runs or throw a shutout. A win is a win.”

ABOUT THE HITTERS

Both Deichamann and Beau Jordan had three hits and drove in two runs. Deichmann had a pair of doubles, while Beau Jordan was a triple shy of the cycle. Duplantis had a pair of hits and scored three runs. Duplantis reached base on all four of his plate appearances – two singles, a hit by pitch and a walk. Robertson also had two hits. . .The Tigers ended the night with 15 hits. Romero (0-for-4) and Papierski (0-for-2) were the two starters without a hit. . .LSU stranded just five runners – two in scoring position. The Tigers were 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

ABOUT THE PITCHERS

Three LSU pitchers worked the last two innings. Jesse Stallings threw a scoreless eighth, but he walked two batters. . .Russell Reynolds couldn’t get three outs in the ninth. He gave up five hits as Vanderbilt scored four runs. He left the game with two runners on base and two out. . .Doug Norman struck out Penn Murfee to end the game. . .Tigers pitchers walked five and struck out 11.

NOTES

Papierski was back in the starting lineup at catcher. Romero was the designated hitter. Duplantis batted first in the lineup. . .Three players extended hitting streaks to four games – Duplantis, Beau Jordan and Reid. Romero’s six-game hitting streak came to an end. . .LSU committed one error, while Vanderbilt made four errors. . .In the third inning, Papierski threw Kendall out trying to steal third and Bryan Reynolds out trying to go to second on a pitch in the dirt. LSU had just a 2-0 lead at that time. The Tigers put the leadoff man on base in each of the first six innings. That person scored in four of the innings. The Commodores put their leadoff batter on base one time in seven innings against Poche. . .Kendall was the lone Vanderbilt player with two hits. . .Sheffield gave up nine runs and seven hits in three innings. Seven of the runs were earned. Sheffield came into the game having yielded just 11 earned runs all season. . .The Commodores used just one relief pitcher – Chandler Day, who allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings. . .LSU is 20-9 overall, 5-5 in the SEC. The Tigers trail Western Division leader Mississippi State by 1½ games. Vanderbilt is 24-6 overall, 6-4 in the SEC. The Commodores trail Eastern Division co-leaders Florida and South Carolina by 1½ games. . .The paid attendance was 10,366. . .The actual crowd was about 5,500.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Paul Mainieri’s comments: “It was awesome. I am so proud about the way our guys got after them. It started in pregame infield and outfield. The players had a great demeanor in the dugout all night. We were going up against a good arm in Sheffield and a good ball club and we met the challenge. We laid off a lot of Sheffield’s off-speed pitches and hit his fast ball when he threw it in there. We put the pressure on them before they could put the pressure on us. We had so many clutch hits. What can you say about Poche? He was terrific all night. He couldn’t have pitched any better. If we play like that every game, we would be undefeated.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play host to Vanderbilt in the second game of their SEC series at The Box on Friday. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. Central. Alex Lange (2-2) will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-Vanderbilt game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

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