BATON ROUGE — Ryan Patterson went 4-for-5 with a career-high five RBI as LSU rolled to a 13-2 victory over Texas State to complete a three-game sweep at Alex Box Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers (No. 1 Collegiate Baseball, No. 3 Baseball America, No. 5 ESPN/Sports Weekly) won their seventh straight game and will travel to Metairie, La., on Tuesday to face ninth-ranked Tulane at Zephyr Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
LSU’s seven-game win streak is its longest since the Tigers won seven straight from April 7-19, 2002.
The Tigers have allowed just two runs or less in each of the seven consecutive wins, lowering their cumulative ERA to 2.01.
LSU (9-1) fell behind for the second-consecutive day when Richard Martinez homered to deep right field, giving the Bobcats (8-6) a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers responded with a four-run third inning. Derek Hebert led off the frame with a double down the right field line. Ryan Patterson then singled up the middle to plate Hebert. Three batters later, Nick Stavinoha ripped a 0-1 offering up the middle to score Patterson and J.C. Holt.
Stavinoha would later score on a sacrifice fly by Jon Zeringue to extend the lead to 4-2. Zeringue enjoyed a remarkable weekend at the plate batting .778 (7-for-9) in the series with three doubles, one homer and five RBI.
TSU starter Tom Robbins (2-2) fell into trouble again in the sixth, surrendering two hits before leaving the game. Chris Jean relieved Robbins to face Matt Liuzza. The Kenner, La. native worked a full count before drilling his first homer of the season over the left field bleachers, increasing the lead to 7-2. Liuzza extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Robbins worked 5.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on 12 hits while adding two strikeouts.
The Tigers erupted for six runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by Patterson’s three-run double down the left field line.
LSU starter Nate Bumstead (1-0) recorded the win in his first start of the season, allowing two earned runs on four hits in six innings of work. Bumstead did not start in the Tigers’ first two weekend series due to a shoulder injury.
TSU — 020 000 000 – 2 7 2
LSU — 004 003 60X – 13 16 0
WP – Bumstead (1-0)
LP – Robbins (2-2)
E – Ramos (8), Cooper (3)
LOB – TSU 8; LSU 7
2B – Patterson (5), Zeringue (7), Hebert (2); HR – Martinez (1); Liuzza (1) SB – Tierce (1), Anson (1); Stavinoha (1)
Time – 2:32
Att. – 8,103 (paid); 4,472 (actual)