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No. 3 LSU jumped out on starter Michael O'Neal (4-2) for five runs in four innings and won, 5-1, at Alex Box Stadium Saturday night, despite leaving 12 runners on, mostly thanks to Auburn's ineptitude at the plate with runners on base.
The typically reliable catcher Blake Austin, receiving O'Neal for the first time this season, left five on base, including grounding into a double play with the bases loaded to end the eighth. Hunter Kelley was a bright spot, leading off and grabbing two hits, as was Cullen Wacker, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, extending his hit streak to nine games, a career high.
LSU (21-2, 4-1) starter Ryan Eades improved to 5-0 after allowing only one run to score on seven hits and two walks in 6 2/3 innings. Auburn's bullpen was impressive for the second night in a row, with Justin Camp and Rocky McCord going the final four frames and holding the Bayou Bengals' bats to four hits and no runs. The staff continued to struggle to strike batters out, though, recording only a fourth-inning K of Andrew Stevenson.
Mason Katz pounced again, with a two-run double in the first to open the scoring. Raph Rhymes picked up another RBI in the third, and the lead grew to 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth, before Ryan Tella doubled and was knocked in by Damek Tomscha in the top of the fifth for Auburn's lone run.
Auburn was awful with men on base. The Tigers left the bases loaded in the fifth, runners on second and third in the sixth, stranded a leadoff double in the seventh and left 'em loaded again in the eighth with the Austin double play. For the game, Auburn was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Cody Glenn will try to lead LSU to a sweep Sunday at 1 p.m., while Will Kendall is expected to get the start for Auburn.
Box score, via auburntigers.com
Auburn 1 (15-8,0-5 SEC) |
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| Player | ab | r | h | rbi | bb | so | po | a | lob | avg |
| Hunter Kelley rf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .375 |
| Jordan Ebert 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | .284 |
| Cullen Wacker lf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Garrett Cooper 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | .316 |
| Ryan Tella cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .295 |
| Damek Tomscha 3b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .260 |
| Blake Austin c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .319 |
| Dan Glevenyak ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .247 |
| Sam Gillikin dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .171 |
| Patrick Savage ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .268 |
| Michael O'Neal p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Justin Camp p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Rocky McCord p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Totals | 34 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 9 | 10 | |
LSU 5 (21-2,4-1 SEC) |
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| Player | ab | r | h | rbi | bb | so | po | a | lob | avg |
| JaCoby Jones 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | .213 |
| Mark Laird rf | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .348 |
| Alex Bregman ss | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .417 |
| Raph Rhymes lf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .344 |
| Mason Katz 1b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | .364 |
| Christian Ibarra 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | .346 |
| Chris Chinea dh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .240 |
| Ty Ross c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | .208 |
| Andrew Stevenson cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .192 |
| Ryan Eades p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Nick Rumbelow p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Joey Bourgeois p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Chris Cotton p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - |
| Totals | 35 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 15 | 12 | |
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Auburn.............. 000 010 000 - 1 10 1 LSU................. 201 200 00X - 5 11 0 ------------------------------------------- |
| E - Ebert, J.(5). DP - LSU 1. LOB - Auburn 10; LSU 12. 2B - Kelley, H.(3); Tella, R.(5); Glevenyak, D(6); Katz(5); Ibarra(5). HBP - Laird; Stevenson. SH - Glevenyak, D(8). SF - Rhymes(2). SB - Laird(2). CS - Kelley, H.(1). |
| Auburn | ip | h | r | er | bb | so | wp | bk | hbp | ibb | ab | bf | fo | go | np | era |
| Michael O'Neal L,4-2 | 4.0 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 82 | 3.40 |
| Justin Camp | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 2.55 |
| Rocky McCord | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 37 | 3.81 |
| LSU | ip | h | r | er | bb | so | wp | bk | hbp | ibb | ab | bf | fo | go | np | era |
| Ryan Eades W,5-0 | 6.2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 28 | 5 | 10 | 113 | 1.59 |
| Nick Rumbelow | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.86 |
| Joey Bourgeois | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 2.45 |
| Chris Cotton | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1.72 |
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Win - Eades (5-0). Loss - O'Neal, M. (4-2). Save - None. WP - Bourgeois(2). HBP - by O'Neal, M. (Laird); by O'Neal, M. (Stevenson). Inherited runners/scored: Rumbelow 1/0. Pitches/strikes: O'Neal, M. 82/44; Camp, J. 28/14; McCord, R. 37/25; Eades 113/75; Rumbelow 3/2; Bourgeois 20/11; Cotton 10/8.
Umpires - HP: Josh Miller 1B: Scott Erby 2B: Donald Gilmore 3B: Fred Cannon |