BATON ROUGE — LSU starting pitcher Jason Determann turned in a career best effort by going eight innings and striking out six as the Fighting Tigers got past New Orleans, 7-2 on Wednesday night at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (31-14-1) opens a three-game Southeastern Conference series with Mississippi State on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. in Starkville. The series continues at 3 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m.
The Tigers will enter the weekend at 15-5-1 in the SEC, leading the overall conference race by two and a half games over Auburn and three games over Mississippi St. LSU hosts Auburn May 9-11 before closing the season at Arkansas.
Determann, a redshirt freshman and product of Baton Rouge’s Catholic High, had not pitched more than 5 1/3 innings in his career prior to Wednesday’s game, threw 77 of his 108 pitches for strikes and gave up just one earned run and no walks in improving to 4-0.
In 2002, Determann pitched just seven innings in two outings before undergoing season ending Tommy John surgery to repair a damaged ligament in his elbow.
LSU (No. 6 Collegiate Baseball, No. 10 Baseball America, No. 12 ESPN/USA Today) broke open a 2-2 tie by scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth.
J.C. Holt started the fifth with a base hit, and two batters later, Blake Gill reached safely on an error by UNO third baseman Austin Wasserman, who could not handle a hot smash by Gill.
Clay Harris’ single to center field scored Holt with the go-ahead run, and then Gill and Harris would score when Ivan Naccarata lined a triple into the right-center field gap.
UNO (20-25), which was looking for its first win in Baton Rouge since sweeping the season series in 1997, got on the board first in the top of the third on back-to-back doubles by a pair of Baton Rouge products, Central High’s Mike Forbes and Parkview Baptist’s Chris Adams.
LSU loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, but UNO held onto its 1-0 lead when starting pitcher Chris Bourgeois induced Clay Harris to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Ryan Patterson drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, and would go to third when a pitch by Bourgeois bounced in front of catcher Mike Nuckles and went all the way to the backstop. Patterson then came home on Jon Zeringue’s ground ball to tie the game at 1-1.
A double by Liuzza kept the inning alive for leadoff hitter Bruce Sprowl, who bounced a single into right field to score Liuzza and make it 2-1 in LSU’s favor.
UNO tied the game in the top of the fifth on Adams’ sacrifice fly, which was helped by a two-base throwing error by Gill on an infield single by Joe Pietro that sent the Privateer leadoff hitter to third, and a catcher’s interference call against Liuzza with Forbes at the plate that extended the inning.
Bourgeois (2-6) gave up nine hits and six runs (four earned) in five innings.
UNO (20-24) 001 010 000– 2 9 1
LSU (31-14-1) 000 240 01x– 7 11 2
Chris Bourgeois, David Gray (5) and Mike Nuckles; Jason Determann, Billy Sadler (9) and Matt Liuzza.
WP–Determann, 4-0.
LP–Bourgeois, 2-6.
2B–UNO: Mike Forbes (11), Chris Adams (7), Mike Nuckles (8); LSU: Matt Liuzza (4).
3B–LSU: Ivan Naccarata (3).
T–2:28.
A–7,173 (paid); 2,600 (actual).