GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
The No. 1 LSU Tigers looked as such with an 8-1 victory over South Carolina in the Lowcountry on Friday night.
The Tigers (41-12, 18-11 Southeastern Conference) had lost two straight in the SEC – 7-4 on Sunday to No. 2 Arkansas and 6-5 to lowly South Carolina (28-27, 6-23 SEC) on Thursday night.
Ethan Frey, LSU’s leading hitter at .370, continued as such by going 3-for-5 with a two-run home run to right field in the third inning for a 3-0 lead, giving him 11 homers on the season. Jared Jones led off the third inning with a solo home run for a 1-0 lead. Jones added a two-run home run in the eighth for a 7-1 advantage, giving him a team-high 18 home runs on the season.
Jones also moved into third place in LSU history in career home runs with 60 in his third season.
LSU added a run in the top of the ninth as pinch-hitter Jake Brown doubled, reached third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Braswell III for the 8-1 advantage.
“Offensively, we did a little bit of everything,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “We had good plate discipline, got some free bases, drove the baseball.”
Luis Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth for a 4-1 lead, scoring Jones from third after he singled and reached third on a walk to Daniel Dickinson and a single by Frey to load the bases. Josh Pearson’s sacrifice bunt pushed LSU’s lead to 5-1 later in the inning.
LSU starter Kade Anderson moved to 7-1 on the season as he allowed four hits and one run in six and two-thirds innings with nine strikeouts and three walks. Casan Evans allowed one hit and zero runs in an inning and a third of relief.
The Tigers close the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network+.
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