BATON ROUGE, La. – Initial pitcher Jaden Hill’s 6.2 innings of shutout, Cade Doughty’s imposing home run and By Gavin Dugas The two RBI solo propelled the No. 15 LSU to a 3-1 win on Friday over UT San Antonio at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The Tigers went to 12-3 in the year with the win and the Roadrunners dropped to 5-4.
The Tigers will return to the diamond on Saturday night at 7 pm CT to face the Roadrunners in the second game of the series. The match will be broadcast on the SEC Network with Dave Neal and Kyle Peterson on the conference call. Fans are also encouraged to tune in to LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.
Ma’Khail Hilliard (2-0) registered the victory, working 0.1 inning with a strikeout that ended the top of the eighth inning and kept the contest tied at 1-1.
Hill started the game and scored six eliminations, giving up running in four strokes with two strokes. Garrett Edwards won the defense, removing the orderly side in the ninth with a strikeout.
“It was a great ball game,” said the LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “UTSA has a very good hitting team and their shot was excellent tonight. We hit some strong balls with the runners in a position to score, but they made some very good defensive plays. We don’t hit the clubs well, but I attribute part of that for UTSA pitch.
“We gave up the lead in eighth place, but we came back immediately to mark the opening races and I am happy that we have found a way to win.”
Doughty broke a goalless draw late in the sixth when he launched a home run to the left field to give LSU a 1-0 lead. The homer was Doughty’s fourth of the season.
Hilliard entered the game at the top of eighth place, inheriting the first and second runners with two eliminations.
Hilliard induced a ball on the ground that was put on the pitch by the second baseman Zach Arnold, but first base Tre ‘Morgan dropped Arnold’s pitch for a mistake that allowed the tied race to score. Hilliard, however, eliminated the next UTSA batsman to close the entry.
At the end of the eighth, the Tigers responded emphatically with a Dylan Crews shot down to the right and a hit shot to Morgan. After Doughty reached the choice of a fielder and an intentional walk for HD Cade Beloso, Dugas hit a ball for second base and ran across the line to hit the back throw in a potential double game.
Morgan and Doughty scored in the play to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead before Edwards fired a ninth goalless entry to secure LSU’s victory.
UTSA reliever Hunter Mason (1-2) was charged with defeat as he allowed two runs in a 1.2-entry hit with a walk and an elimination.