LSU Gold

Five Home Runs Lift LSU to 12-0 Victory Over Samford

FIrst baseman Jared Jones blasts a pair of three-run homers to lead to Tigers to their ninth straight win. The LSU-Samford series concludes at 11 a.m. CT Sunday at "The Box."

by Kirby Koch
New Sunday Time: 11 a.m. Box Score +0
Five Home Runs Lift LSU to 12-0 Victory Over Samford

BATON ROUGE, La. – Top-ranked LSU smashed five home runs and its pitchers tossed seven scoreless innings to lift the Tigers to a 12-0 run-rule victory Saturday night inside Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

LSU, which has won nine straight games, improved to 14-1 on the year, while Samford fell to 6-8 on the season.

The Tigers return to action Sunday morning for the series finale against Samford. The contest previously scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. CT first pitch has been moved up to 11:00 a.m. CT due to the afternoon weather forecast. The matchup can be viewed on SEC Network +, and can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.

LSU first baseman Jared Jones on Saturday night launched two homers for the second consecutive game, as he homered four times in four straight plate appearances over the course of the two contests. He was 2-for-3 on Saturday with the two dingers and six RBI.

Ty Floyd (3-0) earned the win Saturday night, firing five scoreless innings while allowing no hits in the process. Left-hander Nate Ackenhausen came in relief for Floyd and tossed the remaining two innings, only allowing one hit in the victory.

“That was an impressive game by our team,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “Ty pitched great, throwing all of his pitches for strikes, and he usually ended up with a strikeout or weak contact. It started there, and Nate came in and showed why he’s been one of our better pitchers this season.

“The offense tonight was about as impressive as it could be. All Jared has done the past two days is show how talented he is; he’s really mentally strong. I give him a lot of credit; I’ve seen young players go in the tank after a couple of difficult games, but Jared has been really impressive, not just physically but the work that he put in mentally. When he’s in the right frame of mind, he’s seeing the ball, he’s got the bat speed, and he can hit the ball out to all parts of the field as we’ve seen the past two days.”

LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews and designated hitter Tommy White reached hit milestones in their collegiate careers. With a single in the fourth, Crews reached the 200-hit mark in his career. White collected his 100th career hit in the fourth, hitting a home run to the right field bleachers.

Bulldog starter Brody Westbrooks (0-1) was charged with the loss after throwing 2.2 innings and allowing nine runs on seven hits. He allowed four of the five Tiger home runs.

LSU opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with two dingers from Crews and Jones. Following a double from right fielder Paxton Kling, Crews gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead. White immediately followed with a double to left-center and catcher Brady Neal reached via a hit-by-pitch.

With two men on, Jones launched his third homer in two days to right-centerfield and increased LSU’s lead to 5-0 after one inning.

Floyd’s command wavered some in the third when he issued two free passes, but he was able to escape the jam with a popout to short.

LSU’s offense continued to smash the baseball in the bottom half two home runs from Jones and third baseman Brayden Jobert. The Tigers started the inning with a single from Crews and an HBP from White. After Neal reached on a fielder’s choice, Jones smashed a ball over the wall in right-center field.

His second home run of the game marked the fourth straight at-bat Jones hit a ball over the wall. He picked up three RBI for his fifth homer of the year.

Right behind Jones, Jobert smashed his fourth home run of the season into the right-field bleachers. LSU led 9-0 after three innings. White joined the action in the fourth and hit a three-run shot to right field, extending the lead to the final margin.

LSU’s five home runs Saturday marked the most for the Tigers since May 19, 2022, when LSU hit five dingers at Vanderbilt.