COLUMBIA, S.C. — Matt Liuzza and Jon Zeringue launched two home runs apiece as LSU cruised past South Carolina, 12-7, in the rubber match of a three-game Southeastern Conference opening series on Sunday at Sarge Frye Field.
The Tigers (18-3, 2-1) captured their third-straight SEC series, taking two out of three games from the Gamecocks (19-2, 1-2), while pounding out seven homers and 39 hits during the weekend. Seventeen of the 39 hits came on Sunday, the most by LSU since collecting 20 hits in a 19-1 win over Jacksonville State on February 22.
LSU (No. 1 Collegiate Baseball, No. 4 Baseball America, No. 5 ESPN/Sports Weekly) returns to action on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they travel to Shreveport to face Centenary at Fair Grounds Field, before entertaining Mississippi State in a three-game series next weekend.
South Carolina starter Matt Campbell (4-1), who hadn’t allowed an earned run in 28.2 innings of work, was roughed up for six runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings. The junior left-hander entered Sunday’s contest having only allowed 10 hits all season.
Nate Bumstead (3-0) went six innings, allowing six earned runs on eight hits, to pick up his third win of the season.
Following Steve Pearce’s RBI double, the Tigers scored six unanswered runs over the first four innings to get on the board. LSU knotted the score at one on Liuzza’s second-inning leadoff homer.
The sophomore catcher wasn’t done yet. After Ryan Patterson and J.C. Holt reached to begin the fourth, Liuzza greeted Campbell for his second homer of the day and third of the series, extending the lead to 4-1.
Campbell gave way to Jason Fletcher after Will Harris delivered a two-run single that scored Zeringue and Nick Stavinoha. Harris finished the day 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.
Bumstead set down six straight batters between the third and fourth innings, including the first two Gamecocks to start the fifth, but South Carolina mounted a three-run, two-out rally to cut the score to 6-4.
Bryan Triplett and Steve Pearce delivered RBI singles, while Landon Powell collected his sixth and seventh RBI of the series on his two-run triple.
The Tigers seemingly put the game away in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring four runs to stretch the lead to 10-4. Will Harris drove in his third run of the day on an RBI single that plated Blake Gill. Jon Zeringue smashed his first of two solo-homers on the day in the seventh, and Gill followed with an RBI double that scored Clay Harris.
South Carolina took advantage of four LSU walks to narrow the deficit to 10-6 in the seventh. Clay Dirks relieved Bumstead and walked Powell and Michael Campbell, only to get out of the inning on a critical runner’s interference call that erased what would have been the Gamecocks seventh run.
Tommy King grounded to shortstop Matt Horwath who flipped to Gill at second to get Campbell. Campbell interfered with Horwath at second base, and by ruling, King was out on a double play to retire the side.
LLSU padded the lead in the top of the ninth on Zeringue’s sixth homer of the season and Ryan Patterson’s RBI single.
Clay Dirks registered the first save of his career, working three innings to close out the game, while allowing one run on one hit.