BATON ROUGE — Designated hitter Chris Jackson collected three of LSU’s 18 hits and drove in one run Saturday to lead the second-ranked Tigers to an 11-4 victory over a squad of former Tiger players in the annual Alumni Game in Alex Box Stadium.
LSU is now 6-0 against the Alumni squad in a series that began prior to the 2000 regular season.
“I like us again offensively,” said LSU head coach Smoke Laval. “We took some good swings, and we took some good passes at the baseball.”
LSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-out RBI single by third baseman Bryan Harris, but the Alumni scored two of their own in the top of the second on a two-run double by Ryan Jorgensen off the leftfield wall.
The Tigers roared back with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good.
Shortstop Derek Hebert reached on an error to begin the inning and was followed with a single by Jackson. Centerfielder Bruce Sprowl ripped a double to right to drive in Hebert, and leftfielder Quinn Stewart drove in Jackson with an RBI groundout. After doubling in Sprowl with two outs, second baseman Clay Harris scored on an RBI single by first baseman Jordan Mayer.
The Alumni closed the gap to 5-4 in the top of the third, but the Tigers responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 8-4. Rightfielder Nick Stavinoha launched a two-run homer over the leftfield bleachers with no outs, and Jackson followed two batters later with an RBI single.
Senior right-hander Brandon Nall earned the win for the Tigers, giving up two earned runs on four hits in two innings of work. He also allowed one walk and did not strike out a batter.
“He’s (Nall) got to get his second pitch in the zone, and I understand that it was his first outing live in two years,” Laval said. “He’s better. He’s prepared to do better than what he did.”
Newcomers Eric English, Edgar Ramirez and Chris Cahill combined to shut the door on the Alumni, allowing no runs on just six hits in the final five innings of play.
Nate Bumstead took the loss for the Alumni, allowing five runs (all earned) on seven hits in two innings. Mike Fontenot was 4-for-5 on the night, while Jorgensen finished with two hits and a pair of RBI.
The Tigers open the regular at home next weekend as they welcome the Nicholls State Colonels to Baton Rouge for a three-game series beginning Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Alumni 022 000 000 — 4 12 3
LSU 143 020 10x — 11 18 1
E-Padron, Jorgensen, Youman, Fontenot. DP-LSU 2, Alumni 1.
LOB-LSU 11, Alumni 7. 2B-Sprowl, C. Harris, W. Harris, Weaver, Jackson, Jorgensen, Naccarata. 3B-Hebert. HR-Stavinoha.
SB-Theriot. CS-Jackson.
Winner-Nall. Loser-Bumstead. Umpires-Aldridge, Layrisson, Detrich.
Time-2:39. Attendance: 3884 (1889 actual).