BATON ROUGE — LSU erupted for seven runs in its final three at-bats to pull away from Nicholls State, 9-3, on an unseasonably cool night at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (No. 7 Baseball America, No. 9 ESPN/Sports Weekly, No. 12 Collegiate Baseball) snapped a four-game losing skid — their longest since 2002 — and improved to 25-9 on the season. LSU faces Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La., in the first Wally Pontiff Jr. Baseball Classic.
Freshman right-hander Michael Bonura (3-0, 4.35) is slated to start Wednesday’s game for LSU.
The Colonels fell to 12-22 with Tuesday’s loss and play host to UL-Monroe in a three-game Southland Conference series this weekend.
LSU has now won 12 of its last 13 games versus in-state schools over the last two seasons. The only loss came at the hands of Tulane in a 1-0 setback last Tuesday.
Justin Meier (5-2) worked seven solid innings to pick up his fifth win of the season after registering two losses and two no decisions in his last four starts, dating back to March 19. The sophomore right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on eight hits and struck out two.
“I still didn’t do as well I’m capable of, but on the other hand it finally feels good to get a win under the belt,” said Meier. “I need to be good obviously by the time we hit postseason, even if I am in relief.”
LSU’s top three in the order — J.C. Holt, Ryan Patterson and Blake Gill — combined to go 6-for-12 with five runs and five RBI.
The Colonels scratched across the game’s first run in the second inning on Michael Roberts’ RBI sacrifice fly, scoring Jake Ritchie, who had reached on a leadoff single.
The game remained 1-0 until the third when Patterson drove a 3-1 offering from NSU starter Mark Fernandez over the right field wall for a two-run homer — his fifth of the year — to give the Tigers a 2-1 advantage.
One inning later, the contest was knotted on Josh Thomas’ RBI single that plated Tony Ruiz. Ruiz had connected for a leadoff single and advanced to second on Meier’s error.
Meier surrendered a leadoff double to Roberts in the sixth before Jacob Naquin delivered a sacrifice fly to right field, breaking the 2-2 tie.
The teams battled back and forth as LSU regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth on the game’s third lead change. The Tigers’ Matt Liuzza crushed a 2-1 pitch the opposite way for his eighth homer of the season, bringing in Gill, who had singled to start the frame.
Fernandez (2-2) had set down nine straight hitters before allowing Gill to reach base in the sixth. He left the game in the sixth, allowing four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings.
Gill delivered again in the seventh, ripping a two-run double down the right field line to give the Tigers a 6-3 lead. He finished the game with his first three-RBI contest of the season, going 2-for-4 with the double.
The Tigers put the game out of reach in the eighth with the big blow coming from Clay Harris, whose two-run single scored Holt and Matt Horwath.
LSU 9, Nicholls State 3 (Apr 13, 2004 at Baton Rouge, La.)
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Nicholls State…… 010 101 000 – 3 9 1 (12-22)
LSU…………….. 002 002 23X – 9 13 3 (25-9)
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Pitchers: Nicholls State – Fernandez; Naquin(6); Myers(7); Roddy(7). LSU – Meier; Faircloth(8).
Win-Meier(5-2) Save-Faircloth(2) Loss-Fernandez(2-2) T-2:38 A-8195
HR LSU – Patterson (5); Liuzza (8).