LONG BEACH, Calif. — Ryan Patterson and Quinn Stewart each launched home runs, and four LSU players collected at least two hits, as the Fighting Tiger offense busted loose for 14 hits in a 7-2 victory over Long Beach State in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday at Blair Field.
LSU (7-6) returns to Alex Box Stadium to begin a four-game homestand on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CST against Southeastern Louisiana. The game will mark the homecoming for first-year Lions coach Dan Canevari, who was an assistant under Tiger coaches Skip Bertman and Smoke Laval from 1991 through 2002.
The Tigers host Winthrop in a three-game series this weekend and open Southeastern Conference play on March 14 at home against Florida.
Long Beach (10-5) held LSU to a total of two runs and 12 hits in the series’ first two games, but the Tigers busted loose on Sunday for eight extra base hits, including a season high six doubles.
LSU (No. 13 Baseball America, No. 14 Collegiate Baseball, No. 21 ESPN/USA Today) grabbed its first lead of the series with a three-run sixth inning.
It started with a leadoff double by Aaron Hill, and the Tigers grabbed a 3-1 edge when Patterson launched a two-run home run to left-center field, Patterson’s second of the series and his team high third of the year.
Clay Harris followed Patterson with a double down the left field line, and Harris scored one batter later on Bruce Sprowl’s ground ball single to right field.
Stewart tied Patterson for the team lead in home runs with a one-out solo shot in the seventh to center field. It was Stewart’s first home run since February 18 against Louisiana-Monroe.
Clay Harris, who had made only one plate appearance this season due to a shoulder injury, was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Every LSU player had at least one hit in the Tigers’ second highest hit output of the season, trailing only a 19-hit outburst on February 11 at Centenary.
The runs were more than enough for LSU starter Bo Pettit, who allowed just one run on five hits over six innings to earn his first win of the season. The fifth-year senior from Houston threw 106 pitches in his first start of the season after picking up the save in the series finale last Sunday against Houston.
LSU put the game out of reach with single runs in the final two innings, scoring in the eighth on Sprowl’s RBI double and in the ninth on a single by Naccarata on a sinking line drive.
LSU tied the game in the fourth on Clay Harris’ two-out single that scored Naccarata, who doubled into the left field corner one batter earlier.
The Dirtbags (No. 9 Collegiate Baseball, No. 11 Baseball America and ESPN/USA Today) took a 1-0 lead in the second when Troy Tulowitzki singled home Paul Macaluso, who led off the frame with a double.
But despite having runners on third base in the third, fifth and sixth innings, Long Beach did not score again until the eighth, when a dropped fly ball by Sprowl allowed Macaluso to reach second and eventually score on a ground ball in front of the plate by Tulowitzki.
LSU 000 103 111 — 7 14 1
Long Beach St. 010 000 010 — 2 9 2
Bo Pettit, Billy Sadler (7), Brandon Nall (9) and Dustin Weaver; Cesar Ramos, Bo Ashabraner (6), Carlos Muniz (9) and Todd Jennings.
WP–Pettit, 1-0.
LP–Ramos, 0-2.
2B–LSU: Ivan Naccarata (3), Will Harris (2), Aaron Hill (2), Clay Harris 2 (2), Bruce Sprowl (1); LBSU: Paul Macaluso (2), Sean Boatright (1).
HR–LSU: Ryan Patterson (3), Quinn Stewart (3).
T–3:39.
A–2,107.