FINAL: LSU 7, Alcorn St. 2

Broussard pitches Tigers over Braves

By HUNT PALMER
BBI Senior Writer

Paul Mainieri said following LSU’s, 7-2, win against Alcorn State that the best thing about the game was that it was over.

Tuesday’s showing was a far cry from LSU’s, 19-0, trouncing of the Braves (7-26) back on February 18, but it was enough to get the job done.

Mainieri handed the ball to sophomore right hander Joe Broussard (4-0) who dealt a career-best 6 1/3 innings, yielding just a pair of runs on five hits while striking out eight to earn the victory.

His offense wasn’t much help.

“I knew (the offense) was going to come along some time,” Broussard said with a grin. “Our bats have been swinging well. I knew if I kept putting up zeros that we had a good chance to win this game.”

Senior catcher Jordy Snikeris cranked his first career home run in the second inning to put the Tigers (26-7) on the scoreboard, but the visiting Braves answered he bell in the top of third with one of their own.

Alcorn St. left fielder Joshua Powell spanked a two-out RBI single up the middle to score Antolin Morales who singled of Broussard to open the inning.

Southpaw Cedric Pomerlee, who entered the game with a healthy 6.75 ERA, wiggled out of jams in the third and fourth innings to maintain the, 1-1, tie, but he couldn’t overcome walks to Tyler Hanover and Mason Katz to lead off the LSU fifth.

After the free passes, Austin Nola’s hot shot got under Rodney Warren at first base to load the bases. Ty Ross’ sacrifice fly and Tyler Moore’s safety squeeze plated Hanover and Katz to give the Tigers a, 3-1, advantage.

In the seventh, Broussard, who had retired 10 in a row since the Powell RBI single, left a fastball out over the plate to Eduardo Gonzales who tattooed the scoreboard in left field for his sixth home run of the season.

Jann Butler followed with a ringing double off the wall in right to send the Tiger bullpen to work.

After a strikeout of Angel Rosa, Broussard was lifted for Kevin Berry who fanned Morales but walked Christian Hickman, the go-ahead run.

Mainieri summoned Nick Rumbelow to put out the fire, and the sophomore right hander got Gabriel Lebron swinging to squelch the threat.

In the bottom half, Katz matched Gonzales’ blast, his out to right field for his first opposite field home run of the season.

“I knew it was gone,” Katz said. “I backspun it well, and I got a little help from the wind to push it out. Those are always fun.”

The Brave defense faltered to help pad the LSU lead.

After Katz’ blast, Nola’s groundball was fielded cleanly by Rosa at shortstop, but he fired low to first to allow Nola to move to second with no one out.

Ross laid down an effective sacrifice bunt to advance Nola 90 feet before Moore’s check swing infield hit sent Nola scurrying home to nudge the lead to, 5-2.

LSU would add a pair in the eighth, and Chris Cotton and Joey Bourgeois combined to hurl a perfect ninth to preserve the win.

“We just didn’t have very many quality at bats early in the game, and because of that we ended up having to use some guys out of the bullpen that I had no intention of using,” Mainieri said. “We just have to play them one game at a time, and I felt we had to use those guys in order to win the game tonight.”

Mainieri likely wanted to reserve those arms for LSU trip down to New Orleans Wednesday for the Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic where his team will take on Southern Miss at Zephyr Field in Metarie.

Below is Hunt Palmer’s game blog.

It’s spring break at LSU, but the Tiger baseball team is busy this week. Tonight is the 1st of a 5-game week. LSU will travel to New Orleans tomorrow for the Wally Pontiff Classic vs. Southern Miss before Alabama comes to town this weekend.

Injuries are the story tonight. Raph Rhymes (concussion) and Alex Edward (hamstring) will sit. That stretches the outfield razor thin. Arby Fields will get the nod in centerfield which will move Jared Foster to left. Foster struggled a bit in Gainesville, so Fields will get his shot out there tonight.

Tyler Moore is in there at 1st after Grant Dozar’s 3-error game at Floirda over the weekend. Moore was great over the weekend, and his earning a spot would be big down the stretch here. He’s a future pillar of the program, and he needs those at bats.

Intersting that Jordy Snikeris is the DH against the righty. That generally goes to Dozar. Seems like a strong statement by Mainieri.

On the mound for LSU, Mainieri is going to try to get as much as he can out of Joe Broussard and Cody Glenn. Those guys may throw the entire game if they can. Tigers need to save some arms for tommorrow. Broussard and Glenn have to do their job.

Starting Lineups:

Alcorn St (7-25)
1. Alvin Jackson CF .236
2. Joshua Powell LF .252
3. Rodney Warren 1B .304
4. Eduardo Gonzalez RF .344
5. Jann Butler DH .280
6. Angel Rosa SS .326
7. Antolin Morales 3B .148
8. Christian Hickman 2B .365
9. Gabriel Lebron C .222

SP- Cedric Pomerlee RHP (0-3, 6.75ERA, 26.2IP, 35H, 26R, 20ER, 23BB, 11K, OPP BA- .333)

LSU (25-7)
1. JaCoby Jones 2B .285
2. Tyler Hanover 3B .295
3. Mason Katz RF .351
4. Austin Nola SS .308
5. Ty Ross C .326
6. Tyler Moore 1B .333
7. Jordy Snikeris DH .412
8. Jared Foster LF .239
9. Arby Fields CF .192

SP- Joe Brousard RHP (3-0, 4.08ERA, 17.2IP, 18H, 10R, 8ER, 6BB, 16K, OPP BA- .257)

Top 1
Broussard makes quick work of Alvin Jackson. 1 out… Joshua Powell rolls to short. 2 out… Brousaard gets Rodney Warren on strikes. Up and down in order go the Braves… LSU 0, Alcorn St. 0

Bottom 1
JaCoby Jones flies to the track in right field. Long 1st out… Hanover grounds to short. 2 out… Mason Katz doubles to right center… Austin Nola walks. 1st and 2nd with 2 out for Ross… Great running catch by the right fielder Gonzalez. He tripped over the bullpen mound and made the play to end the inning… LSU 0, Alcorn St. 0

Top 2
Eduardo Gonzalez not as fortunate at the dish. He takes a called third. 1 out… Jann Butler with Alcorn’s first hit, singles to right… Angel Rosa bounces into a FC, 4-6. He’s on at 1st… Ross pegs Rosa at 2nd to retire the side… LSU 0, Alcorn St. 0

Bottom 2
Tyler Moore grounds softly to 2nd. 1 out… Jordy Snikeris goes deep. Man has he swung it well this last week. This one goes out to left… Jared Foster lines a single to left… Fields rolls into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning… LSU 1, Alcorn St. 0

Top 3
Antolin Morale rifles a leadoff single to center… Christian Hickman pops up a bunt attempt and Broussard squeezes it. 1 out… Broussard walks Gabriel Lebron on a full count pitch to turn the lineup over… Alvin Jackson flies to left. 2 out… Joshua Powell comes up large with the 2-out RBI single to center. Morales scores. Runners at 1st and 2nd… Rodney Warren flies to left to retire the side… LSU 1, Alcorn St. 1

Bottom 3
JaCoby Jones is out on strikes. 1 out… Hanover takes a called third. 2 out… Curveball hits Katz in the foot… Katz takes off for second and the throw goes sailing into center. Katz over the 3rd with 2 out… Nola draws a walk… Ross pops foul over by the LSU dugout to end the inning… LSU 1, Alcorn St. 1

Top 4
Eduardo Gonzales pops to the pitcher’s mound. Nola makes the catch. 1 out… Jann Butler flies to leftcenter and Fields does a great job of calling Foster off and making the running catch. Those gave LSU fits this weekend. 2 out… Broussard blows Angel Rosa away… LSU 1, Alcorn St. 1

Bottom 4
Tyler Moore walks… Snikeris grounds into a fielder’s choice. Moore is out at 2nd. Snikeris on at 1st… Foster walks. 1st and 2nd… Arby Fields hit it well to left, but it’s run down on the track for the second out… Jones pops to short and LSU leaves 2 more… LSU 1, Alcorn St. 1

Top 5
Antolin Morales lines to 2nd. 1 out… Christian Hickman goes down swinging. 2 out… Gabriel Lebron flies to right. 5 strong innnigs from Broussard… LSU 1, Alcorn St. 1

Bottom 5
Hanover walks… Katz walks. Alcorn bullpen begins to work… Austin Nola goes 5 hole on the Alcorn 1st baseman. It was hit very sharply. That loads the bases… Ty Ross flies to rightcenter. Sac fly scores Hanover. Katz to 3rd. Nola holds… Moore drops down a safety squeeze and Katz just beats the flip home. Nola to second. Moore is safe at 1st… Snikeris flies to center. 2 out… Foster flies to center to end the inning… LSU 3, Alcorn St. 1

Top 6
Alvin Jackson chops to 3rd. 1 out… Joshua Powell fans. 2 out… Rodney Warren looks at strike 3. Broussard now through 6… LSU 3, Alcorn St. 1

Bottom 6
Arby Fields pops to short. 1 out… JaCoby Jones flies to right. 2 out… Tyler Hanover flies to right… LSU 3, Alcorn St. 1

Top 7
Eduardo Gonzales with a no-doubter off the scoreboard in left. Whoa… Jann Butler with a ringing double off the right field wall. Tiger bullpen gets to work… Angel Rosa can’t catch up to the fastball again. He’s out on strikes. 1 out… Mainieri out to get Broussard. On comes Kevin Berry… Berry gets Antolin Morales swinging. 2 out… Ball four to Hickman gets away from Ross. Butler moves up. Hickman to first. Mainieri is going to summon Rumbelow… Hickman takes 2nd… Gabriel Lebron fans. Rumbelow gets the Tigers out of the jam. Stretch time… LSU 3, Alcorn St. 2

Bottom 7
Katz rides his 6th homerun of the season out to right… Nola grounds to short but Rosa’s throw is low and goes into the camera well. He’s on at 2nd. E6… Ty Ross’ sac is successful. He’s out 1-3. Nola to 3rd… Tyler Moore swung out of self defense and his roller got by the mound and was kicked by the 2nd baseman. Nola scores. Moore is safe at 1st with a single… Snikeris flies to right. 2 out… Foster goes down swinging. That’s all for the 7th… LSU 5, Alcorn St. 2

Top 8
Alvin Jackson reaches on an infield single to 3rd… Joshua Powell drops down a bunt. Ross guns him down at 1st. It was close. Jackson to 2nd… Nasty slider freezes Warren. 2 out… Eduardo Gonzales was bidding for his second bomb of the night. It fall just shy in left. Foster catches it on the track to retire the side… LSU 5, Alcorn St. 2

Bottom 8
Righty Ryan Fuentes is the new Alcorn hurler… Arby Fields is plunked. Think he’ll be going here… Fields steals 2nd on the first pitch… Jones fans, but Fields takes 3rd on the pitch. 1 out… Hanover slashes a single to center to plate Fields… Katz goes down swinging. 2 out… Nola waks… Ross hits a missile to center. That sends Hanover around to score. Nola over to 3rd… Moore grounds to second to end the inning… LSU 7, Alcorn St. 2

Top 9
Chris Cotton on to get the last 3 outs… Pinch hitter Justin Barney fans. Mainieri wants Bourgeois… Jordan Boston flies to right. 2 out… Antolin Morales pops to 3rd and that’s it.

FINAL: LSU 7, ALCORN ST. 2