A seven-run seventh inning and a career-high 10 strikeouts by LSU starter Austin Ross lifted the Tigers to a 10-2 victory over fourth-seeded Southern in Game 1 of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Friday at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (47-16) will face Baylor, a 5-0 winner over Minnesota, at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday. Southern (30-16) will face the Minnesota at 1 p.m. CT Saturday.
The Saturday LSU game will be broadcast live on 870 WWL and 105.3 WWL-FM.
With the win, LSU is now 19-0 all-time in NCAA Regional opening games at home.
"I knew this was going to be a hard-fought game," LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said. "Southern played a fantastic seven or eight innings there and I'll be happy if we never see another lefty (Chase Richard) like Southern threw today."
Ross had a great outing, allowing two runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out 10. Ross tied his career high for strikeouts in a game, a mark he set on March 1 of this season against Central Florida.
The winning pitcher for LSU was Paul Bertuccini (2-0). Bertuccini pitched 1.1 innings and allowed no runs and no hits and struck out two.
Second baseman DJ LeMahieu and left fielder Ryan Schimpf led LSU offensively, as they each collected three hits.
Southern jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when second baseman Ozzie Lamis singled up the middle on the opening pitch. The next batter, designated hitter Victor Franklin blasted Ross' delivery over the wall in right.
Two batters later, right fielder Brad McDavid tripled, but was held at third when Ross struck out the final two batters of the inning to end the Jaguar threat in the first.
Richard, the Southern starter, held the Tigers scoreless through the first five innings until Schimpf doubled to lead off the sixth, stole third base and scored on a throwing error by catcher Michael Thomas to make the score 2-1.
Ross left the game in the top of the seventh with two outs, giving way to Bertuccini. Bertuccini struck out Franklin with two Jaguars in scoring position to end the inning.
After first baseman Sean Ochinko singled to lead off the seventh, Chris McGhee entered the game as a pinch runner and reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Hanover. Two batters later, shortstop Austin Nola singled up the middle to score McGhee and tie the game at 2-2.
Richard (6-4) left the game after Nola's single, giving way to right-hander Kyle Wahl.
The Tigers took a 3-2 lead when the next batter, LeMahieu singled home Nola and reached second on a fielding error by Southern centerfielder Toddrick Stevenson. Schimpf followed with a single up the middle to score LeMahieu and put LSU ahead 4-2.
Blake Dean then singled to left, advancing Schimpf to third. Dean moved up to second on the throw to third. The next batter, Micah Gibbs, lined a shot at first baseman Frazier Hall that was ruled an error. Schimpf and Dean scored on the play, giving LSU a 6-2 advantage.
Gibbs moved up to second when Mikie Mahtook was hit by a pitch. Both Gibbs and Mahtook scored on a liner by pinch hitter Derek Helenihi. Helenihi was thrown out at third on the play to end the Tigers' rally with the score at 8-2.
LSU continued scoring in the eighth when Hanover led off the inning with a triple off the wall in right-center field and scored on a double by Jared Mitchell, putting the Tigers ahead 9-2. LeMahieu singled home Mitchell to give the Tigers a 10-2 lead.
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