BATON ROUGE — Ivan Naccarata’s RBI grounder in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted LSU over Texas State, 2-1, in front of 5,247 fans on a cool Saturday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.
The paid crowd of 8,360 was the seventh-largest attendance figure in Alex Box Stadium history.
The Tigers (8-1) ran their win streak to six games, the longest by an LSU club since the Tigers won seven straight between April 7-19, 2002. That stretch started with a 9-5 victory at Auburn and ended with a 4-2 loss at South Carolina.
LSU and Texas State (8-5) will close out the series Sunday at Noon. Senior right-hander Nate Bumstead (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will get the start for the Tigers, while TSU will counter with senior left-hander Tom Robbins (2-1, 2.86).
Tickets for the game will sell for just $1 if fans present their LSU men’s basketball ticket versus Kentucky. The stadium ticket office opens at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
LSU trailed 1-0 in the top of the third. Jose Rodriguez beat out a ground ball to shortstop Derek Hebert and then came around to score on Evan Tierce’s RBI single into shallow leftfield. The Bobcats collected three straight singles and could have added another hit, but Ryan Patterson’s diving catch off the bat of Mark Cooper prevented another run from scoring.
TSU’s lead did not last for long. The Tigers tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the third when Jon Zeringue blasted his second homer of the season into left-center field.
Zeringue finished the game 3-for-3 with a double, one RBI and one run. The junior is hitting .833 in the series after Friday’s 2-for-3 performance.
LSU starter Lane Mestepey held the Bobcats scoreless in the middle innings, but then fell into trouble to start the seventh. Pinch-hitter Emi Alaniz drew a full count and singled up the middle to lead off the frame. Jose Rodriguez followed and grounded out to Naccarata at third, advancing Alaniz to second. Alaniz would make it to third on Dominic Ramos’ groundout.
Mestepey left with two outs in the seventh, yielding to fellow left-hander Jason Determann. The Baton Rouge native got Tierce to fly out to left field and end the threat.
Mestepey worked 7 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits. The junior left-hander also added three strikeouts and one walk.
Matt Liuzza started the go-ahead seventh inning, driving a 1-0 pitch inside the third-base line for his third double of the season. The sophomore catcher extended his hitting streak to eight games, the longest of his career.
Jon Zeringue then singled through the left side, moving Liuzza to third. A batter later, Naccarata grounded to second baseman Jose Rodriguez who tried to turn a double play, only to get Zeringue at second. Liuzza scored the go-ahead run from third, while Naccarata collected his seventh RBI of the season.
Determann (2-0) worked a scoreless eighth and ninth to pick up the win in relief allowin just one hit in 2.1 innings.
TSU starter Brian Hurley (1-2) took the loss, allowing just six hits and two runs in six innings.
TSU — 001 000 000 – 1 8 1
LSU — 001 000 10X – 2 6 1
WP — Determann (2-0)
LP — Hurley (1-2)
E — Hurley (1); Gill (2) LOB — TSU 9; LSU 4
2B — Liuzza (3), Naccarata (1); HR — Zeringue (2)
Time — 2:18
Att. — 8,360 (paid); 5,247 (actual)