FINAL: LSU 14, Maryland 3

Tiger bats heat up for lopsided victory and series sweep

By HUNT PALMER
BBI Senior Writer

After two bitter, blustery days at Alex Box Stadium, Mother Nature cooperated more fully Sunday afternoon, and the Tiger bats showed their appreciation.

LSU (3-0) exploded for 14 runs on 14 hits, after scoring just 6 on 15 in the previous two games combined, to rout Maryland 14-3.

“The first two nights were really hard on the hitters,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Today the wind shifted, and we had the southerly wind instead of the northerly wind so it was more to the benefit of the hitters.”

Eight of nine starters registered at last one hit for the Tigers to finish of a sweep of Maryland (0-3), LSU’s seventh season-opening sweep in eight years.

LSU was led by freshman shortstop Alex Bregman who reached all five times he came to the plate including three singles and a pair of walks. He also scored three times.  Juniors Ty Ross and JaCoby Jones added a home run a piece to aid six Tiger hurlers, five first timers, who combined to hold Maryland to just three runs on seven hits.

“We were very inexperienced coming into the game,” Mainieri said. “Brent (Bonvillain) got his first start. I thought he pitched very well. He pitched out of a couple of jams. I thought all the guys that came out of the ‘pen, starting with Nate Fury, threw well.”

Fury, a junior from Delgado Community College, followed Bonvillain, a fellow Delgado alum, and fired a perfect fifth that included a strikeout, and he picked up his first win as a Tiger.

“Nate’s been around, and he went out there, kept the ball down, was throwing good offspeed and got us right back up there to keep the tempo of our offense going,” Ross said.

The frame bridged the gap between Ross’ three-run bomb in the fourth and the Tigers pushing another run across in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-2.

In the seventh Maryland touched freshman right hander Russell Reynolds for a run to chip into the lead, but, like Ross did in the fourth with his three run homer to answer a game-tying two-spot, the Tigers had an answer.

Thirteen Tigers came to the plate in an eight-run tidal wave of a seventh inning to slam the door on any fading hopes the Terrapins had of clawing back into the game.

Back to back singles by Bregman and Raph Rhymes led it off. Mason Katz took a pitch off the shoulder, and JaCoby Jones moved everyone up a base with his single that Maryland centerfielder Charlie White lost in the sun.

Tyler Moore ripped a two-run single through a drawn in infield to plate two more, and Christian Ibarra followed with a ringing double to leftcenter adding another pair.

“Everybody was really locked in today,” Bregman said. “I feel like we were squaring balls up the first two days but they weren’t going anywhere because of the weather. Today was a good day to hit, and I feel like we really needed this day.”

Sophomore leadoff man Chris Sciambra finished the day one of two with a pair of walks. In his first action back from neck surgery, Sciambra reached base nine times in the three games.

The Tigers will take Monday off and begin a stretch of four games in five days when Lamar visits Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday at 6 o’clock. Sophomore lefty Cody Glenn will take the ball.

Below is Hunt’s game blog in chronological order.

Gorgeous day to break out the broom at the Box. The gold uniforms are beaming in the sunlight, and the wind is out of the south which means temperatures are up a bit and right handed hitters have a chance to get one out of here. They could have hit the it twice and not reached the seats for the first two days.

I’ll have more on the offense in “Around the Horn”, but today needs to be a productive day for the Tiger bats.

LSU’s starting pitching has been excellent thus far, and Brent Bonvilain looks to continue that today. I think he’s the best option on Sundays exactly because of what we’ve seen in Games 1 and 2. LSU needed Cotton in those games.

We’ve got a 3:15 curfew today which means that we will not start the top of a new inning after that time.

No TV, but I’ll have the blog going. Remember, I’ll only update after the completion of each half inning.

Starting Lineups:

Maryland 0-2

1. Charlie White CF 1-6
2. Jordan Hagel RF 2-8
3. Kyle Convissar 2B 3-8
4. K.J. Hockaday 3B 2-8
5. Matt Bosse LF 1-4
6. LaMonte Wade 1B 1-6
7. Jack Cleary 0-4
8. Blake Schmit SS 2-5
9. Jose Cuas N/A

SP- Alex Robinson LHP

LSU 2-0

1. Chris Sciambra CF 4-6
2. Mark Laird RF 1-8
3. Alex Bregman SS 2-8
4. Raph Rhymes LF 2-7
5. Mason Katz 1B 0-7
6. JaCoby Jones 2B 1-4
7. Alex Edward DH 1-4
8. Ty Ross C 2-6
9. Christian Ibarra 3B 1-6

SP- Brent Bonvillain LHP

Top 1
Bonvillain attacks the zone and gets a ground ball to Katz from Charlie White. 1 out… Jordan Hagel flies to center. Quickly two gone… Kyle Convissar grounds to short. Bregman smothers it and fires on to first. Nice start for Bonvilain. Tigers coming up… LSU 0, Maryland 0

Bottom 1
Sciambra fans on three pitches, all fastballs. 1 out… Mark Laird grounds to short. 2 gone… Bregman walks… Bregman steals second. He’s got two of those this weekend… Rhymes grounds to second. Inning over… LSU 0, Maryland 0

Top 2
K.J. Hockaday chops to third. Easy for Ibarra. 1 out… Matt Bosse ropes a double into the right field corner… After falling behind 3-0, Bonvvilain battled back and just missed on a 3-2 offering to LaMonte Wade. He walks. 1st and 2nd with 1 out… Jack Cleary hammers a liner right at Ibarra who snares it and fires to Jones at second to double off Bosse. Good break. Good defense. Threat gone… LSU 0, Maryland 0

Bottom 2
Katz flies to left. He’s 0 for 8. 1 out… JaCoby punishes a 3-1 fastball. It leaves the yard in left center… 1-0 LSU… Alex Edward rolls to second. 2 out… Ross hit it hard but right at the 1B. He’s the third out… LSU 1, Maryland 0

Top 3
Nice slider gets Schmit swinging. 1 out… Jose Cuas grounds to short. Bobble by Bregman, but he makes the throw. 2 out… Ugh. Bonvillain gets ahead 0-2 on White and then goes ball, HBP. White is on and will likely run… Hagel rips a single passed a diving Bregman for a single. 1st and 2nd… Big play. Bonvillain gets Convissar swinging. Ball to the screen and Ross chases it down, fires and just clips Convissar at first. White was coming to the pate and would have scored. Bonvillain wiggles out again… LSU 1, Maryland 0

Bottom 3
Ibarra lines out to right. Well hit. 1 out… Sciambra walks… Laird missed on two bunts. He’s been poor at that all weekend. Sciambra moves up on a wild pitch. Laird dumps a single into shallow right. Sciambra has to hold at third. Corners with 1 out… Bregman scorches a liner into right. That scores Sciambra. Laird holds. 2-0 LSU… Rhymes hits into a 4-6-3 double play. Killers, those double plays… Tigers add a run. We head to the 4th… LSU 2, Maryland 0

Top 4
Great AB from Hockaday who fights off some pitches and singles to left… Bosse singles passed Bregman. Scimabra comes up throwing but doesn’t have the arm to get Hockaday at third. Bosse moves up on the throw. Trouble now with 2nd and 3rd and none out… Wade flies to center. Deep enough. Sciambra makes the smart throw and goes to third to hold Bosse. 1 out. 2-1 LSU… Bonvillain plunks Cleary with a 2-2 count. His second 2 strike HBP in four innings. 1st and 2nd. 1 out… Big strikeout of Schmit. High heat. 2 gone… Cuas pops to shallow center. Jones was camped out but didn’t make the catch. Run scores. E 4. 2-2… White flies to left. Side retired, but we’re tied… LSU 2, Maryland 2

Bottom 4
Katz walks on 4 straight… 5-6-7-8, Jones is on. The freshman lefty can’t find it… And we’ll have a change. Another lefty, Jake Drossner is the new arm… Edward gets the bunt down. 2nd and 3rd with 1 out for Ross… Ross goes deep to left (bold prediction watch). Three run shot. 5-2 LSU… Ibarra pops to short. 2 out… They picked Sciambra off, but he beats a throw to second that skips into the outfield. give him a stolen base… Laird rolls to second. Big response for LSU… LSU 5, Maryland 2

Bottom 5
Bregman with a leadoff single to right. He’s 2 for 2 with a walk… Rhymes flies to right. 1 out… Great baserunning by Bregman who reads the down angle on a slider and makes second with ease… Katz rockets a single to left. Bregman motors around to score. 6-2 LSU… Katz is out 5-4 on a Jones FC. 2 out… Edward lines out sharply to left. Well hit. Well played. Inning over… LSU 6, Maryland 2

Top 6
Will LaMarche takes the ball for LSU… Matt Bosse flies to center. 1 out… Check-swing roller to Jones retires Wade. 2 out… Easy pop up to Bregman retires Cleary. Nice frame for LaMarche… LSU 6, Maryland 2

Bottom 6
Ross grounds softly to second. 1 out… Ibarra grounds to third. 2 out… Sciambra slaps a single to left center. Another 2-strike hit… Laird flies to left. Six in the books… LSU 6, Maryland 2

Top 7
Schmit greet Russell Reynolds with a solid single to center… Schmit off on the 3-2 pitch and stay out of the DP. Katz makes a play on Anothony Papio’s ground ball and gets to out at 1st. 1 gone. Schimit at 2nd… Slow roller to the right side is gloved by Reynolds. He tosses to Katz in time to get White. 2 out… Hager with a sharp 2 out RBI single to left. Schmit scores. 6-3 LSU… Convissar chops to short. Bregman flips to Jones at second. Damage limited. Stretch time… LSU 6, Maryland 3

Bottom 7
Alex Bregman chops a single to left. He’s been on all four times… Raph spanks a single to left. 1st and 2nd with no one out… Katz is plunked and now Maryland is in a world of hurt… Stevenson runs for Rhymes at second… Jones skies to center and the CF lost it in sun. Everyone up a base. 7-3 LSU… Tyler Moore hits for Edward and singles through the drawn in infield. That scores two. Moore to second, Jones to third. Still no one out and Maryland will make a change. 9-3 LSU… Sean McMullen hit for Ross and ripped it right back to the mound. Gloved by the new arm, Stinnet. Runners hold… Ibarra doubles home two more. 11-3 LSU… Chris Chinea hit for Sciambra. Tapped to third. 2 out. Ibarra to third… Jared Foster hit for Laird and was plunked on the first pitch… Bregman walks. He still hasn’t been retired today… Stevenson reaches on an infield single. Everyone up a base. 12-3 LSU… Katz grounds sharply to third. Kicked. Two runs scored. Rule it E-5. 14-3 LSU… Yocum hits for Jones and rolls into a FC. Katz is out 4-6… LSU 14, Maryland 3

Top 8
Hunter Newman on to pitch for LSU… Hockaday flies to left. 1 out… Ibarra makes a sparkling play to rob pinch hitter Kyle Moore of a single. Diving stab. 2 out… Wade fans. 1-2-3 go the Terps… LSU 14, Maryland 3

Bottom 8
Michael Barash hits for Moore and taps to the mound. 1 out… McMullen fans. 2 out… Chinea flies to right. 3 outs for a sweep… LSU 14, Maryland 3

Top 9
Martir flies to center. 1 out… Schmit grounds off the bag at first for a double… Pinch hitter Olenski flies to right. 2 out. Schmkit to 3rd… Alex Yee flies to right. Tigers sweep. Good offensive output today. Needed it. LSU is back at it Tuesday against Lamar.

FINAL: LSU 14, Maryland 3