BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU first baseman Jared Jones and designated hitter Ethan Frey combined for six hits and five RBI Tuesday night, as the seventh-ranked Tigers posted a 10-3 win over McNeese in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
LSU improved to 32-6 on the season, while McNeese dropped to 27-6 after seeing its 12-game win streak come to an end.
The Tigers open a three-game SEC series versus Alabama at 7 p.m. CT Thursday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised on ESPNU.
“It was really great to be home tonight after a seven-game road trip,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “I really want to thank all of the fans who came to the park and supported our team. Our players definitely felt their support tonight.”
Jones was 3-for-3 at the plate Tuesday night with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored. His two-run homer highlighted a three-run LSU first inning and marked his 12th dinger of the season.
“Jared was great tonight, and he’s had a really great season,” Johnson said. “He had a tough weekend (at Auburn) by his standards, but he got back to work and was outstanding tonight. I didn’t feel like he would be held down for very long.”
Frey was 3-for-4 on the night with a double, two RBI and two runs scored as LSU racked up 13 hits against the Cowboys’ pitching staff.
“Jared and Ethan are two of our better hitters, and they took great at-bats,” Johnson said, “and it made this a very good game for us.”
Freshman right-hander William Schmidt (6-0) was credited with the win as he limited McNeese to two runs on five hits in 3.1 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
Freshman right-hander Mavrick Rizy highlighted LSU’s bullpen effort by firing 2.2 scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and six strikeouts.
Rizy, freshman left-hander Cooper Williams and junior right-hander Jacob Mayers combined to record 10 strikeouts and no walks over the final 4.2 innings while allowing just two hits.
McNeese starting pitcher Parker Morgan (1-1) was charged with the loss, as he surrendered three runs on four hits in 0.1 inning with one walk and one strikeout.
