BATON ROUGE — LSU used three bases-loaded walks in a six-run fifth inning to break open a tie game as the second-ranked Tigers mauled 18th-ranked Ole Miss, 15-2, in the first game of a three-game Southeastern Conference series Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (26-10-1, 11-5) move into sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since May 9, 1998. LSU and Ole Miss play game two of the series Saturday at 3 p.m. in a contest that will be televised by SEC-TV and Fox Sports Net. The Rebels (26-11-1, 10-6) fell into a second-place tie with Alabama (24-14, 10-6), an 11-3 winner at Tennessee on Friday. LSU is now 30-6 against the Rebels since 1990.
With the score tied in the fifth, David Raymer led off with a single, and one batter later, Raymer was retired on a ground ball, but the throw to try to turn the double play went into the LSUI dugout, moving Ryan Theriot to second. Ole Miss pitcher Pete Montrenes then walked Mike Fontenot and Wally Pontiff to load the bases, then gave up free passes to Bryan Moore and Todd Linden to bring the score to 3-1.
Montrenes, who came into the game at 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA, was pulled after giving up his third straight bases-loaded walk to Matt Heath. Montrenes walked seven and gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Zeph Zinsman’s ground ball off of Rebel reliever Ronnie Goodwin scored Moore, but the Rebels committed another error on the play when Josh Christian threw the ball into left field. Ray Wright then capped scoring in the frame with an RBI single to score Heath.
Ole Miss got on the board in the third inning with the help of an error by Tiger pitcher Jason Scobie, who dropped a throw from Bryan Moore as Scobie was covering first base on a ground ball by Burney Hutchinson. Lance Jones cashed in the error with a base hit to left field, as the Tigers yielded their 11th unearned run in their last three games and their 38th of the season.
The Tigers tied the game in the fourth on Todd Linden’s leadoff home run, his team-leading ninth of the season
Jones would launch a solo home run in sixth, but the Tigers got three more runs in the bottom of the frame, as Pontiff doubled home Theriot, Moore singled home Fontenot and Linden’s sacrifice fly plated Pontiff to put the Tier ahead 10-2.
Theriot extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a double in the seventh. Theriot is batting .550 (22-for-40) during the stretch, raising his average for the year to .368. Fontenot went 3-for-4 with three runs scored to pace the Tigers’ 13-hit attack. Pinch-hitter Sean Barker added a three-run homer for the Tigers in the eighth.
The support would be more than enough for Tiger starter Jason Scobie, who allowed six hits and two runs over eight innings to pick up his second win of the year, but first since February 17 against Houston.
Just two nights after drawing a record 11,669 fans against Tulane at Zephyr Field in New Orleans, a paid crowd of 8,413 watched Friday’s game, marking the second largest crowd in Alex Box Stadium, trailing only the 8,622 at last year’s game with Louisiana-Lafayette.
A replay of Friday’s game can be seen in the Baton Rouge area on Cable Channel 18 at 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.