BATON ROUGE — Will Harris’ two-out grand slam homer culminated a five-run fifth inning outburst as LSU captured a 7-1 victory over Southeastern Louisiana Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU junior left-hander Lane Mestepey (2-1, 2.95) faces SLU left-hander Rodney Story (0-2, 2.57) in Game 2 of the series at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m.
LSU starter Justin Meier (4-0) battled through some early trouble to pick up his fourth win of the season. The sophomore right-hander went seven strong innings, allowing one run on six hits, while adding two strikeouts and two walks.
Center fielder J.C. Holt went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Two batters into the game, SLU starter Chad Pendarvis (0-3) served up a fastball to Holt who ripped the 2-2 offering over the left-field bleachers for his first homer of the season. The opposite field shot gave the Tigers (14-2) an early 1-0 advantage.
SLU (5-7) sent six batters to the plate in the third, tying the game on Trent Hebert’s RBI double that scored Jimmy Bertelson, who reached on a leadoff walk.
Meier settled in between the fourth and sixth innings, retiring nine straight batters at one point.
“I got a little shook up in the third, but other than that I did alright,” said Meier. “When you walk the first guy in any inning, it gives that team the momentum. When you get that first guy out it puts a little damper in the dugout.”
Holt’s leadoff triple to start the fifth sparked LSU to the five-run inning. The junior outfielder drove a line-drive just out of the reach of Russel Taylor up against the center field wall. The Tigers then regained the lead on Matt Liuzza’s RBI sac-fly.
Three out of the next four LSU hitters reached safely, loading the bases for Will Harris, who made his second consecutive start after going a perfect 4-for-4 Tuesday night at UL-Monroe.
Harris, with a single and walk to his credit, drilled a 2-0 Pendarvis pitch over deep left-center field, giving the Tigers a five-run cushion they would not relinquish. It was Harris’ second homer of the season and the first grand slam by LSU this season.
“I was really happy they left the left-hander in,” said Harris. “I thought they would go to the right-hander. I worked a good count, found a fastball to hit and got it.”
Pendarvis (0-3) was charged with six runs on nine hits, allowing two walks during his stint.
The Tigers added another run in the seventh, collecting three straight singles before Ivan Naccarata’s RBI sacrifice fly that scored Clay Harris.
Liuzza’s hitting streak ended at 14 games, as he was 0-for-4 at the plate with the sacrifice fly.
Michael Bonura came on in the eighth and worked two strong innings to preserve the win. The freshman right-hander struck out one, allowing no runs and no hits.
“Michael Bonura looked really, really good tonight,” said head coach Smoke Laval. “I think he is getting a little more relaxed here. With Meier keeping us there, it was good to see our pitchers perform well.”
SLU 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 6 1
LSU 1 0 0 0 5 0 1 0 x — 7 12 1
E-Bertelson, D. Hebert. DP-LSU 2. LOB-SLU 7, LSU 8.
2B-T. Hebert, Roth, Zeringue. 3B-Holt. HR-Holt (1), W. Harris (2). HBP-Tyler. SF-Liuzza, Naccarata.
Win-Meier (4-0). Loss-Pendarvis (0-3).
Umpires-Miller, Layrisson, Aldridge.
Start-6:32 p.m. Time-2:20.
Att. – 8308 (paid)