BATON ROUGE — Nate Bumstead worked eight-plus strong innings and Jon Zeringue went 3-for-4 –a single shy of the cycle — as LSU posted an 8-2 victory over Houston Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (12-2) won the series from the Cougars (5-9) after dropping a 10-5 decision on Saturday.
“It is still early in the season but we are trying to find an identity,” said LSU head coach Smoke Laval. “They showed me a lot today with very good character and poise.”
Bumstead (2-0) held the Cougars scoreless for eight straight innings before falling two outs shy of a complete-game shutout. The Cougars (5-9) plated two runs in the ninth to chase the senior right-hander after his most impressive start of the season. Jason Determann came on to record the two final outs.
“Smoke is trying to get us throwing as much as we can so we can get ready for SEC games,” said Bumstead. “Once I got in the game, I felt pretty good. The ball was really jumping out of my hand.”
Houston starter Brad Lincoln (1-1), making his first road start of the year, fell into trouble early, surrendering back-to-back singles to J.C. Holt and Ryan Patterson to start the game. Blake Gill then drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Holt would come around to score the game’s first run on a wild pitch.
Matt Liuzza didn’t waste any time extending his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games. The Metairie native ripped a two-run single into center field, plating Patterson and Gill to stretch the lead to 3-0. Liuzza finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Bumstead retired five straight batters between the fifth and sixth innings. With two outs in the sixth, Brent Cooley and Cole Bruce singled, giving Stuart Musslewhite and the Cougars their only serious scoring threat in the first eight innings.
Musslewhite singled sharply into left-center field for his third hit of the day, but Patterson came up firing and threw a strike to Liuzza at home who promptly tagged Cooley to end the frame.
With the momentum in hand, the Tigers pushed across three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ivan Naccarata led off with a single, setting the stage for Jon Zeringue who drilled a 0-1 Lincoln fastball off of the right-field scoreboard, giving the Tigers a five-run cushion at 5-0.
All five runs were charged to Lincoln, who allowed 11 hits, a walk and a strikeout in five innings.
Following Zeringue’s team-high third homer of the season, Derek Hebert dropped a single into shallow right field, while Holt collected his third hit of the day, sending Hebert to third. The Tigers scored their sixth run on Patterson’s 5-4-3 double play that plated Hebert.
Zeringue wasn’t done yet. The junior right-fielder belted a triple into the left-center field gap to score Naccarata in the seventh. He finished the series 7-for-13 (.538 ) with three doubles, a triple, and a homer.
“The outfield was laying back on some balls, not attacking them,” said Zeringue. “Any chance I got this weekend, I was trying to go the extra base.”
Hebert’s RBI groundout increased the advantage to 8-0 before Houston pushed across two runs in the ninth.
LSU (No. 1 Collegiate Baseball, No. 3 Baseball America, No. 4 ESPN/Sports Weekly) travel to Louisiana-Monroe on Tuesday for a first-pitch scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Freshman left-hander Clay Dirks (1.37, 2-0) will go after his third-consecutive win. The Cougars host Texas A&M on Tuesday.
UH — 000 000 002 – 2 10 0
LSU — 300 003 20X – 8 15 0
WP– Bumstead (2-0)
LP — Lincoln (1-1)
LOB — UH 7; LSU 9 2B — Bruce (5); Liuzza (4), Stavinoha (1), Zeringue (10); 3B — Zeringue (1); HR — Zeringue (3); SF — Johnson (1); SB — Holt (4)
Time — 2:33
Att. — 8,177 (paid); 5,153 (actual)