ATHENS, Ga. — LSU jumped on Georgia for six runs on seven hits in the top of the first inning and never looked back as the Fighting Tigers cruised to a 12-5 victory in the opener of a three-game Southeastern Conference series on Friday night at Foley Field.
LSU (14-7-1, 3-0-1 SEC) will look to clinch its second conference series this season and its sixth in a row dating back to last season on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT). Georgia (11-8, 0-4) has dropped eight consecutive conference games dating back to last season.
The first seven LSU batters all collected base hits as the Tigers plated five runs before the Bulldog starting pitcher Sean Ruthven could retire a hitter.
Bruce Sprowl hit a high pop-up in foul territory between home plate and first base to start the game, but the ball carried back into fair territory, landing just inside the line between Georgia catcher Jason Jacobs and first baseman Justin McClain.
J.C. Holt’s bunt traveled just about as far as Sprowl’s hit, but it was just as effective, as Bulldog third baseman Lee Mitchell waited for the ball to roll foul, but it died on the infield grass halfway up the line.
Sprowl and Holt would soon come across the plate when Aaron Hill lined a double into the left-center filed gap, extending Hill’s hitting streak to 10 games.
Ivan Naccarata, LSU’s leading hitter, then extended his hitting streak to 19 games with an RBI double that fell just inside the left field foul line to score Hill for a 3-0 Tiger lead.
Following a Blake Gill single that put runners on the corners, Clay Harris hit a lined shot that Mitchell appeared to have a chance of stabbing with a diving attempt, but the ball caromed off of his glove into left field, and Naccarata easily scored from third.
Quinn Stewart grounded a single back beyond the pitcher’s mound to score Gill before Ruthven finally struck out Ryan Patterson for the first out of the inning. LSU extended the lead to 6-0 when Harris scored on Matt Liuzza’s ground ball to Mitchell at third base. Although Mitchell’s throw pulled Marshall Szabo off the bag at second and left Stewart safe, LSU could score no more as Sprowl flied to right and Holt took a called third strike to end the frame.
The barrage lasted 23 minutes as Ruthven threw 48 pitches. It marked LSU’s biggest first inning since a seven-run uprising vs. Birmingham-Southern last February 10.
LSU posted a pair of runs in the third on two-out back-to-back solo home runs by Patterson (his team high fifth of the year) and Liuzza (his first career LSU home run). The back-to-back homers were LSU’s first since last year’s regional game against Tulane when Holt and Hill connected in the fourth inning of that game.
Ruthven (2-3), the son of former major league hurler Dick Ruthven, was replaced by Paul Lubrano following Liuzza’s home run. Ruthven gave up eight runs (all earned) on nine hits in just 2 2/3 innings.
Mitchell scored Georgia’s first run in the fourth, as he led off with a double and then advanced on a pair of ground balls, scoring on Jon Armitage’s grounder to Gill at second base.
Georgia scored two runs in the seventh off of LSU reliever Greg Smith to close to within 8-4 in the seventh and had a chance to narrow the margin even further, but when David Coffey tried to score on a wild pitch by Billy Sadler, Coffey was called out at the plate by umpire Jack Cox, although television replays showed that Coffey beat Liuzza’s tag by a half-step. Sadler then struck out Szabo and Armitage to end the threat.
Hill’s second double of the game in the eighth scored Sprowl and Holt to expand LSU’s lead back to 11-4 and allowed Hill to tie a career high with four RBI.
Every LSU player had at least one hit, with Sprowl collecting his second three-hit game in four SEC contests to pace the Tigers’ 14-hit attack. LSU has scored 32 runs and banged out 55 hits in four conference games.
Mitchell went 3-for-4 and Jason Jacobs was 2-for-3 to lead the Bulldogs at the plate.
Tiger starting pitcher Brian Wilson won his third straight start to improve to a team best 5-2 on the season, giving up two runs on seven hits in six innings.
LSU (14-7-1, 3-0-1) 602 000 040– 12 14 1
Georgia (11-8, 0-4) 000 101 210– 5 11 2
Brian Wilson, Greg Smith (7), Billy Sadler (7), Jordan Faircloth (9) and Matt Liuzza; Sean Ruthven, Paul Lubrano (3), Jake Baker (7), Eric Roberts (7) and Jason Jacobs, Ned Yost (9).
WP–Wilson, 5-2.
LP–Ruthven, 2-3.
2B–LSU: Aaron Hill 2 (8), Ivan Naccarata (5), Clay Harris (6); UGA: Lee Mitchell (6).
HR–LSU: Ryan Patterson (5), Matt Liuzza (1); UGA: Justin McClain (2).
T–3:22.
A–1,868.