With two runners on base in the bottom of the first, LSU left fielder Raph Rhymes stepped up and hit a homerun over the left-center field wall. LSU never looked back, taking the early lead and cruising to an easy 9-4 victory over Auburn Friday, March 22 in Baton Rouge.
No. 3 ranked LSU (20-2, 3-1 SEC) and its bats were too much to handle in the first of three games against Auburn (15-7, 0-4 SEC). The Tigers were unable to find a rhythm pitching until Reid Carter entered the game.
Carter pitched well for Auburn, allowing two runs on three hits in his four innings pitched.
Daniel Koger had a rocky start to the game for Auburn, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing five runs, five hits and three walks. Jay Wade came in for relief, but only pitched two innings after giving up a quick two runs in the fifth.
Wade was carted off the field after dodging a line drive and possibly injuring his knee or ankle. He was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays.
LSU added on to its lead in the third after a Mark Laird walk set up Mason Katz for the 2-RBI homerun into left field. The deep ball gave LSU a 5-2 lead, and they later scored two more runs in the fifth from a Christian Ibarra two-run single.
Auburn had an impressive nine hits in the game against LSU pitcher Aaron Nola, but was unable to capitalize on having runners on base. Nola was able to pitch 6.2 innings and had nine strikeouts with only two earned runs.
Auburn scored one run in the second off of a Blake Austin single that scored Damek Tomscha and another in the third when Garrett Cooper had an RBI double down the right field line to score Jordan Ebert. Tomscha went 3-for-3 on the night with a double and two singles.
Throughout the night, Auburn missed opportunities to score, stranding runners on base multiple times, including having the bases loaded in the eighth and only scoring one. The Tigers out-hit LSU 12-10.
In the ninth, Auburn scored on a Cullen Wacker RBI single, but was shut down quickly after losing 9-4. Tomscha went 3-for-3 on the night with a double and two singles.
Auburn looks to get its first SEC win Saturday, March 23 against LSU in Baton Rouge at 6:30 p.m.
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