BATON ROUGE, La. – Sixth-ranked LSU used an eight-run fourth inning to defeat Ball State 9-3 and even the series Saturday evening at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
Sophomore pitcher Alex Lange improved to 2-0 on the season and earned his 14th career win after allowing three runs on five hits in six innings of work. Lange is now tied with Lloyd Peever (1992) for the second-most consecutive wins to start an LSU career. Patrick Coogan (1995-97) holds the top spot with 16.
Ball State’s Brendan Burns (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season. The sophomore allowed four runs, four hits and four walks in three innings of work.
Shortstop Kramer Robertson led the way for the Tigers with his bat. The junior went 3-for-3 with two RBI in the contest. Robertson reached base in all five at bats.
LSU improved to 11-3 with the victory, while Ball State dropped to 8-8. The two teams return for the final game of the series at Noon Sunday.
The contest may be viewed online only on SECNetwork +, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Fans can listen to the game on the LSU Sports Radio Network, including 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge.
“This was an important win, because we now have a chance to win the series tomorrow,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Ball State is an outstanding ball club with a lot of veteran players, and they play with a lot of confidence. They were tough on Alex Lange tonight, but he made some clutch pitches to get out of jams early, and we put together some great at-bats in that fourth inning to take the lead. Even with the big lead, I wasn’t entirely comfortable because of the way Ball State swings the bats, but our bullpen was excellent in relief of Alex tonight, and we’re in good shape with our pitching for the final game tomorrow.”
The Cardinals continued their hot offensive play in Baton Rouge in the third inning. With runners on first and second, second baseman Ryan Spaulding hit a two-RBI triple down the right-field line to clear the bases and give Ball State a 2-0 lead.
LSU cut into the lead in the bottom of the third when right fielder Antoine Duplantis extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a two-out double to score centerfielder Jake Fraley.
Thirteen Tigers came to the plate in the eight-run fourth inning. The Tigers loaded the bases against Burns to start things off. On the first pitch he saw, first baseman Greg Deichmann singled through the right side off of reliever BJ Butler to score Bryce Jordan and Beau Jordan.
Third baseman Chris Reid loaded the bases once again with a walk. Second baseman Cole Freeman followed with an RBI infield single to the shortstop to score Michael Papierski. Robertson added to the Tigers’ lead with a single through the left side to plate two more runs.
After Freeman and Robertson advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch, Fraley hit a two-RBI single to left field to clear the bases. The Tigers added their final run on a sac fly by Beau Jordan, which scored Fraley.
The Cardinals added a run in the fifth inning against Lange to make it a 9-3 game. First baseman Caleb Stayton hit a two-out single to left field to score Spaulding.
LSU relievers Jesse Stallings, Hunter Newman and Alden Cartwright combined to shut out the Cardinals over the final three innings, allowing just two hits with one walk and one strikeout.