LSU Downs McNeese 6-3, Improves to 10-3

Photo By: LSUsports.net

Da Boot Sports
3/9/2022
By: David Penn


   BATON ROUGE, LA - The LSU Tigers took on the McNeese Cowboys at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field on a chilly Wednesday night after inclement weather postponed the game originally scheduled for the previous day. 

   LSU posted a 6-3 victory over the Cowboys to improve their record to 10-3, while McNeese falls to 8-5.
   
   Will Hellmers started for the Tigers and earned his second win of the season, while Jacob Berry continues to pace the team in the homerun department lifting his sixth dinger of the season into the seats.

   Hellmers pitched the first three innings of the contest, striking out three and walking two. Grant Taylor, Sam Dutton, and Paul Gervase would pull the middle relief work for the Tigers. Taylor and Dutton struck out two batters a piece, and Gervase would earn four Ks. Trent Vietmeier would close the game out for LSU after retiring the final two batters of the ninth inning.

   Gavin Dugas would kick off the scoring for LSU by sending a two run shot into the right field seats that would score Jordan Thompson.

   The bats would simmer down for LSU until the seventh inning when Jacob Berry hit a ball that was curling towards the foul pole but managed to stay fair giving him his team leading sixth homerun of the season.

   In the eight inning Dylan Crews would reach on a field’s choice but score Drew Bianco. Berry would come back up and smack a double down the right field line that would score Tyler McManus and Crews but Berry was thrown out at third base trying to stretch the double into a triple. Dugas went 3-3 at the plate to lead the Tigers on offense.

   Coach Johnson had this to say about McNeese and his own Tigers, “We have a lot of respect for McNeese and their program, and they have a really good pitching staff, so this is a good win for us. We’re going to play in a lot of games like this during the season where you need significant pitches and at-bats at key moments in the game. I was really pleased with how this game unfolded and how our players responded in challenging situations.”

   Christian Vega (1-1) started on the mound for the Cowboys and went two innings for McNeese.

   The Cowboys got on the board in the fourth inning when Julian Gonzales would cross home plate on a wild pitch.
Brayden Duhon would knock a double into left field in the ninth inning that scored teammates Reid Bourque and Peyton Johnson which would cap the scoring off for the contest.

   Next LSU will play Bethune-Cookman in its final weekend series before SEC play begins against Texas A&M. First Pitch against Bethune-Cookman will be Friday March 11, 6:30pm, Saturday March 12, 2:00pm, and Sunday March 13, 1:00pm, all games times are Central Time.

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