LAFAYETTE, La. — LSU’s troubled season continued Tuesday night, as Louisiana-Lafayette’s Andy Gros shut out the Fighting Tigers on seven hits and the Ragin Cajuns cruised to a 7-0 victory Tuesday night in front of a raucous sellout crowd at Moore Field.
LSU (14-9) suffered its first shutout since a 13-0 loss at Mississippi State last March 25, as the Cajuns (13-8) are the first non-SEC team to blank the Tigers since Cal St. Fullerton knocked the Tigers out of the 1992 South I Regional with an 11-0 rout.
The Tigers have now lost three consecutive games for the first time this season. LSU lost three in a row twice in 2001, once in March to Southern, Tulane and Georgia, and again in May when the Tigers were swept at Arkansas.
LSU, which lost two of three to Vanderbilt in its opening Southeastern Conference series last weekend, continues SEC play starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Ole Miss in the first of a three-game set.
Gros, who didn’t make it to the third inning in his previous two starts against LSU, allowed just one LSU baserunner to reach third base, allowing no walks and striking out seven. Gros became the second Cajun pitcher to throw a complete game within a week, as Justin Gabriel went the distance in a 2-1 triumph at Baton Rouge last Tuesday.
The Cajuns got on the board in the first inning thanks to the Tigers’ 45th error of the season, as Rocky Scelfo bobbled Jason Wilson’s routine ground ball. Wilson went to second on Cory Coles’ high chopper to Scelfo at second, then Brad Saloom’s single scored Wilson for a 1-0 UL-Lafayette lead.
Tiger starting pitcher Vargas retired the side in order in the second, but soon found himself in trouble in the third by yielding a leadoff double to Chase Lambin and walking ninth-place hitter Phillip Hawke.
Two batters later, Coles took Vargas deep over the right field fence for a three-run home run that put the hosts in front 4-0.
True freshman Vargas, making his first career start, lasted just three innings, yielding four runs on three hits in taking the loss.
Tiger reliever Brian Wilson gave up an RBI single to Lambin in the fourth, but then was victimized again by LSU’s porous defense in the fifth, as Jason Wilson reached on an error by Wally Pontiff, and three batters after Coles walked, Mike Kabel singled up the middle to score two runs and make it 7-0.
The Tigers’ frustration boiled over in the seventh inning when left fielder Matt Heath was ejected for arguing a called third strike by home plate umpire Travis Hargroder.
LSU’s lone bright spot came in the ninth when Pontiff led off with a single to right-center, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games.