BATON ROUGE — LSU wasted little time in removing any drama from the second game of its three-game Southeastern Conference series with Auburn, as the Bayou Bengals bludgeoned three Auburn pitchers for 11 runs in the third inning to highlight a 20-3 rout on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium, clinching the series for LSU.
The 11-run outburst is LSU’s second in the last three weeks in an SEC game. The Bayou Bengals also scored 11 runs in the fourth inning on April 27 against Tennessee.
The series concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. The contest is LSU’s final regular season game at home, and the traditional senior day ceremonies to honor the Bayou Bengals’ five seniors will take place prior to the game.
LSU (35-16-1, 18-7-1) can clinch its 13th Southeastern Conference championship and first since 1997 by defeating Auburn (34-16, 15-11) on Sunday and if Mississippi St. loses to Georgia. State (34-14-1, 15-10) moved into second place by defeating Georgia 7-5 on Saturday in Athens.
The 11-run outburst by LSU (No. 8 Collegiate Baseball, No. 10 Baseball America, No. 16 ESPN/USA Today) simply added an exclamation point to a game that had already turned decisively in the home team’s favor, as LSU knocked out Auburn ace Colby Paxton in the second inning.
Auburn reliever Josh Sullivan gave up a leadoff single to Ryan Patterson to start the third, and struck out Jon Zeringue, but not after Patterson moved to second on a wild pitch. Matt Liuzza followed Zeringue with a double into the right-center field gap to start the onslaught.
Two batters later, following a walk to Bruce Sprowl, J.C. Holt drove Sullivan out of the game with a bouncing base hit back past the mound to score Liuzza for an 8-1 lead.
Andrew Skinner came in for Sullivan and was rudely greeted by LSU shortstop Aaron Hill, who launched a three-run home run into left-center field bleachers. The ball had some help from a wind that was blowing out to left field at 20 to 25 MPH.
Three batters later, the lead burgeoned to 13-1 when Ivan Naccarata tripled deep into the right-center field gap, but Skinner then appeared to have matters under control by striking out Patterson for the second out and getting Zeringue to hit a ground ball to second.
But the ground ball was a slow roller, forcing Auburn second baseman Tug Hulett to charge the ball, and when he couldn’t make the play, Zeringue was safe on an error, Naccarata scored from third and the inning continued.
Liuzza brought home Zeringue with his second double of the inning, and the third Auburn pitcher of the inning, Jim Miksis, gave up an RBI triple to Sprowl, who then scored the inning’s final run on a passed ball by Bobby Huddleston.
Auburn (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 Baseball America, No. 17 Collegiate Baseball) got its first two runners on in the top of the first when Bo Pettit gave up a sharp single to Sean Gamble and walked Javon Moran. Following Hulett’s sacrifice bunt to move the runners up, Gamble scored on Huddleston’s comebacker to the mound on which Pettit could not make a throw home.
Holt reached on a one-out error in the bottom of the first and quickly moved around the horn to tie the game, stealing second and coming home on a ground ball single by Aaron Hill. Hill was then cut down on a stolen base attempt for the second out, but LSU regenerated the offense with an infield hit by Blake Gill and a walk to Clay Harris.
Naccarata punched a single into right-center to give LSU the lead before Patterson made it 3-1 with an RBI double into the left field corner.
Hill (3-for-6, 4 RBI) and Gill (3-for-5) led the Bayou Bengals’ 19-hit attack. Four other LSU players had two hits each as nine different player reached safely with a hit.
Holt lifted a two-run home run to the opposite field into the left field seats in the second to give LSU a 5-1 edge, and after a double by Hill, Gill drove him home with a single to also drive Paxton from the game.
Paxton (6-2), who gave up just three hits in eight innings in taking a 2-1 loss to LSU in the SEC Tournament last year in Birmingham, gave up six runs (three earned) on eight hits in just 1 1/3 innings in his shortest outing since being knocked out in the first inning last May 17 at Arkansas.
Pettit settled down and gave up three runs in six innings with seven strikeouts to improve to 8-2.
Auburn (34-16, 15-11) 100 011 000– 3 10 3
LSU (35-16-1, 18-7-1) 33(11) 030 00x– 20 19 1
Colby Paxton, Josh Sullivan (2), Andrew Skinner (3), Jim Miksis (3), Lee Carter (6), Chris Dennis (8) and Bobby Huddleston, Kyle Bohm (4); Bo Pettit, Greg Smith (7), Chad Vaught (9) and Matt Liuzza, Ty Jensen (7).
WP–Pettit, 8-2.
LP–Paxton, 6-2.
2B–Auburn: Javon Moran (14); LSU: Aaron Hill (24), Ryan Patterson (16), Matt Liuzza 2 (6).
3B–LSU: Ivan Naccarata (5), Bruce Sprowl (2).
HR–Auburn: Josh Bell (8); LSU: J.C. Holt (3), Quinn Stewart (6), Aaron Hill (6).
T–2:48.
A–8,437 (paid); 6,132 (actual)