HOUSTON — The Houston Cougars dominated LSU in every phase of the game, collecting 18 hits off of five Fighting Tiger pitchers and striking out 14 batters in a 11-3 victory Friday night at Cougar Field in the opener of a three-game series.
The Fighting Tigers (7-2) will look to even the series Saturday at 7 p.m.
Anthony Bourn led off the bottom of the first for Houston with an infield single, then scored without the benefit of another hit, going to second on a wild pitch, third on a ground out by Keith Whatley, then scoring on a Bo Pettit balk.
Hyung Cho, who was on first when Pettit balked, and Chris Snyder walked for the Cougars to give them another threat in the first, but Pettit fanned Stuart Musselwhite and retired Jesse Crain on a ground ball to escape further harm.
Pettit retired the first two batters in the second, but three straight singles by Gabe Lucas, Bourn and Whatley made it 2-0, as Whatley’s hit plated Lucas.
Houston pitcher Brad Sullivan, a 2001 freshman All-American, ran into a little trouble in the third inning when he walked three consecutive LSU batters with two out, but the Tigers squandered the opportunity when Jason Vargas flied to left to end the frame.
Houston responded with a pair of runs in their half of the third, as Musselwhite’s leadoff double led to an RBI single by Gabe Cooley, and Anthony Scalise’s base hit scored Crain for a 4-0 lead. Like the Tigers, the Cougars would load the bases, but Pettit kept the Tigers afloat by Crain went 4-for-5 and Bourn 3-for-5 as all 10 Cougars who got to the plate had at least one hit. Wally Pontiff went 2-for-4 and was LSU’s only player with more than one hit.
The Tigers got on the board in the fourth when Chris Phillips doubled home Matt Heath, and it appeared LSU might climb closer when it loaded the bases, but for the second consecutive inning, the runners were hung out to dry when Pontiff flied to center.
The Tigers would pull to within 4-2 in the fifth when Sean Barker singled and scored without the benefit of another hit, getting around the horn on a stolen base, a ground ball and a balk by Sullivan.
Sullivan went just five innings, but struck out nine to improve to 2-0 on the year. Cougar reliever Nathan Mitchell struck out four in 2 1/3 scoreless innings, but was removed for the ninth inning, denying him a save opportunity.
The Cougars (5-3) put the game away with a four-run seventh, as Crain led off with a double and Cooley walked before a two-run double by Scalise made it 7-3, then back-to-back RBI singles by Cole Bruce and Cho extended the Houston lead to 9-3.
LSU’s Bo Pettit took the loss in his hometown, giving up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in six innings, throwing 137 pitches.
Senior David Miller pitched for the first time since 1998 when he was a sophomore at the University of New Orleans. Miller lasted only one-third of an inning, giving up two runs on three hits.