AUBURN, Ala. — Shane Youman pitched three scoreless innings to close out game three of the weekend series with Auburn and give LSU a 12-10 win Sunday in Auburn.
LSU (21-10, 7-4 SEC) took two of three games on the road this weekend and looks to move back into the nation’s top 10 when this week’s polls are released Tuesday.
Youman faced the minimum number of batters in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and solidified his spot in the LSU bullpen on his way to picking up his first save of the season.
Reliever Heath McMurray pitched 2 2/3 innings to pick up his first win as a Tiger and improve to 1-1 on the season.
For Auburn, reliever Brandon Mayfield received the loss and fell to 4-1 on the season.
Offensively, Wally Pontiff hit a pair of home runs in consecutive at bats in the fifth and sixth innings to drive in three runs. Also, Mike Fontenot hit a solo home run — his ninth of the season — and Ray Wright hit a two-RBI triple with two outs in the sixth to put the Tigers ahead for good.
Wright along with Brad Hawpe would each get three hits on the day as the Nos. 4-9 batters in the LSU lineup went 14-of-28 on the game.
After scoring four runs in the bottom of the first in game one of the series and three in the second game, Auburn once again put runs on the board in their first frame to take an early lead on Ben Saxon. Rich singled on the first pitch of the game before Mailon Kent reached base on an error by Ryan Theriot. The next batter, Gabe Gross, hit an RBI single up the middle and Faulkner grounded into a double play to drive in Kent and make the score 2-0.
The LSU Tigers answered in the top of the second with two runs of their own. Jeremy Witten walked with one out and Jeff Lipari doubled off the wall in left field to put runners on second and third for No. 9 hitter Ray Wright. Wright hit a two-RBI single to tie the game but was picked off of first base one pitch before Theriot doubled to right field, costing LSU a run.
Brad Cresse extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a leadoff single in the top of the third inning, and he advanced to second on a single through the hole by Blair Barbier. However, each was stranded after a pair of pop outs by Wally Pontiff and Witten ended the inning.
Auburn took a 3-2 lead on a one-out triple in the third followed by an RBI groundout by Kent.
However, LSU answered with three runs in the top of the fourth. Lipari walked to open the frame and advanced to second on a perfectly executed bunt single by Wright. A trio of sacrificies — a bunt by Theriot, and two RBI pop outs by Fontenot and Cresse — gave LSU the 5-3 lead.
The Auburn Tigers would fight back with a run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Streeter off of LSU reliever Heath McMurray.
Starters Ben Saxon and Lavale Speigner were each pulled in the third inning after getting into trouble. Saxon pitched 3 1/3 innings while giving up four runs on five hits. Speigner allowed five runs on six hits while walking four and striking out one.
Auburn reliever Brandon Mayfield gave up a leadoff home run to Pontiff to start the fifth inning and give LSU a 6-4 lead.
Once again, Auburn would battle back in the fifth by getting a single, double and a walk to load the bases by Brett Burnham who blasted a grand slam to give Auburn an 8-6 lead.
Auburn’s lead wouldn’t last long as Mike Fontenot hit a one-out home run to cut the lead to 8-7 before Brad Hawpe singled and Barbier hit an RBI double to tie the game at 8-8. LSU regained the lead on Pontiff’s second straight home run, a two-run shot to right field. Leading 10-8, LSU continued to smash the ball, getting a pair of singles from Witten and Lipari and a two-RBI triple to center by Wright to lead 12-8.
Witten’s single chased Auburn’s Mayfield and brought in ace reliever, senior Colter Bean.
Through five innings, each of LSU’s batters had at least one hit.
For the fifth time in six innings, Auburn led off an inning with a hit, this time a double into left center field off of McMurray. That run scored on a one-out single by Kent, who then stole second and scored on a single up the middle by Gross to cut the LSU lead to 12-10.
LSU went down quietly in the top of the seventh and reliever Shane Youman came in relief of McMurray in Auburn’s half of the inning. Youman sat the Tigers down in order for the first time since the second inning.
Neither LSU nor Auburn would score in the eighth inning as Youman and Bean continued to pitch well. Bean would also sit the Tigers down in order in the top of the ninth to give Auburn one last chance in the bottom of the inning.
Facing Auburn’s No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters, Youman forced two to ground out and struck out Burnham to end the game.
LSU returns to action Tuesday against New Orleans at Zypher Field in Metairie, La., before returning home to face Southern Wednesday night in Alex Box Stadium at 7 p.m.