BATON ROUGE — LSU scored in every inning except the seventh and pounded out 24 hits to destroy Duquesne, 24-5 on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium.
The third-ranked Tigers (8-2) look to complete the three-game sweep over the Dukes (0-2) and win their seventh consecutive game when the series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
Thirteen LSU players hit safely, with six of those getting at least two hits, while 12 drove in runs and 14 scored. Mike Fontenot led the way by going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and four runs scored.
The 24 runs scored by LSU are the most since they pounded Ohio 26-5 on March 5, 1999, and the Tigers’ first 20-run game since a 21-0 rout of Louisiana-Monroe last May 27 in the NCAA Regional.
An RBI sinlge by Todd Linden and an error by Duquesne left fielder Randy Vulakovich helped the Tigers take a 2-0 lead in the first before LSU exploded for its biggest inning of the season so far, a seven-run second.
Matt Heath’s RBI double to score Zeph Zinsman got it rolling, and after a wild pitch sent Heath to third, David Raymer walked. Duquesne starter Andy Mason (0-1) then uncorked his third wild pitch of the game to score Heath.
Two batters later, Fontenot blasted a home run into the wind in left-center to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead.
Wally Pontiff’s single chased Mason from the game, and after reliever Craig Antolik uncorked another wild pitch, Linden singled home Pontiff.
Pinch-hitter Sean Barker then capped the barrage with a two-run homer, his first career LSU homer. Barker, who hit for starting designated hitter Bryan Moore, went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Heath would add a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead before the Dukes finally got on the board in the fifth on John Rieg’s RBI single that was set up when Fontenot dropped Dan Schwartzbauer’s pop fly.
The Tigers began to substitute liberally once they built their lead, as several Tigers saw action. In the sixth, Victor Brumfield and Fontenot added back-to-back RBI doubles to give LSU a 16-3 edge.
The Tigers capped off their offensive might by going one run better than their second inning, scoring eight times in the eighth, as the Tigers recorded eight hits in the frame, with Raymer getting two of them.
The support was more than enough for LSU southpaw Shane Youman, who scattered five hits over five innings and allowed just one unearned run to improve to 2-0.