KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Nate Bumstead limited Tennessee to one run on five hits in seven innings, while the LSU offense pounded out 11 runs — ignited by an eight-run second — to roll past the 10th-ranked Vols, 11-1, in the rubber match Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Tigers (31-11, 10-8) captured the series, rebounding to win the final two games of the set after dropping Friday’s opener and now sit alone in third place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
Arkansas maintained its three-game lead on LSU (No. 7 Baseball America, No. 8 Collegiate Baseball and ESPN/Sports Weekly) with a dramatic 11-10 win against Kentucky. The Tigers are one game back of second-place Ole Miss who was swept by Georgia on Sunday.
The Vols (31-11, 10-8) dropped their second series in as many weekends and fell into second-place in the SEC East as a result of Florida’s sweep of Vanderbilt.
J.C. Holt sparked the Tigers at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI. Holt, a 2004 Golden Spikes Award nominee, collected his 10th three-hit game of the season.
Ivan Naccarata started the second-inning scoring ripping an RBI double to right field, plating Jon Zeringue who reached on a leadoff single. Two walks later, Derek Hebert drove in Naccarata on a single of his own.
Holt delivered the big blow of the inning, smashing a three-run double that gave the Tigers a 6-0 advantage.
Tennessee starter Ben Riley was chased one batter later when Ryan Patterson extended his hitting streak to a team-high, 14 games on a RBI triple.
Riley (3-3) was tagged for eight runs on six hits, recording just three outs during his stint.
Joey Andrews, in relief of Riley, set down the next four batters before surrendering a solo-homer to Patterson in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Bumstead (6-2) was outstanding, setting down 12 of the first 15 batters, before allowing a two-out double to Alex Suarez in the fifth. Suarez would come around to score the Vols only run on Eric King’s single.
The senior right-hander was relieved in the eighth by freshman righty Michael Bonura who was equally impressive. Bonura retired all six batters he faced to work a perfect eighth and ninth.
LSU returns to action on Tuesday night when the Tigers travel to New Orleans to face Tulane in the Louisiana Superdome. The contest, which was originally scheduled for 7 p.m., has been pushed back to 7:45 p.m. in an attempt to reclaim the national collegiate single game baseball attendance record of 40,106.
Game four of the NBA playoff series between the New Orleans Hornets and the Miami Heat in the New Orleans Arena, adjacent to the Superdome, is scheduled for 7 p.m. The later starting time for the baseball game will ease traffic in the area and will allow NBA fans to come over and catch the last half of the baseball game.
Tickets for the Tulane-LSU game are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling the Tulane Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE or 1-866- GIVE2TU, the LSU Ticket Office at 225-LSU-2184 or 1-800-960-8587, online at www.ticketmaster.com or by visiting any Ticketmaster Outlet.
Ticket prices are $15 and $12 for adult reserved seats and $8 for youth reserved sections. General admission tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for youth.
LSU 11, Tennessee 1 (Apr 25, 2004 at Knoxville, Tenn.)
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LSU…………….. 080 102 000 – 11 15 0 (31-11, 10-8 SEC)
Tennessee……….. 000 010 000 – 1 5 2 (31-11, 10-8 SEC)
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Pitchers: LSU – Bumstead; Bonura(8). Tennessee – Riley; Andrews(2); Massey, B.(5); Cobb(7).
Win-Bumstead(6-2) Loss-Riley(3-3) T-2:23 A-2185
HR LSU – Patterson (9).
Riley faced 8 batters in the 2nd.