Tigers blank Cats to even series

By Hunt Palmer

LSU put some things together on Saturday.

The pitching produced. The offense stung the ball. The defense made some stellar plays, and the result was a comfortable, 7-0, series-evening win over Kentucky.

William Schmidt set the tone with 5.1 scoreless innings of work. When he gave way to Zac Cowan in the sixth with runners on first and third, Cowan fanned back-to-back hitters on six pitches to escape the threat in 5-0 game.

Cowan also raised his game with runners on the corners and one out in the eighth when he got two swinging strikeouts to strand the pair. He’s rediscovered some of last year’s magic over his last three outings, and his effort Saturday saved the bullpen for Sunday when LSU will have to cobble a gamer together without a proven starter.

Steven Milam’s bounding chopper just inside the first base bag in the bottom half plated a pair of runs with two outs to make it 7-0.

Freshman slugger Mason Braun had the two loudest swings of the game for the Tigers. He whipped an RBI double into the right field corner in the second and launched a home over the wall in right field for a three-run blast in the fourth.

Defensively, Milam did his usual duty by making a couple dandy plays. The highlight, though, was an inning ending double play courtesy of right fielder Jake Brown’s powerful left arm. With runners at second and third and one out in a 5-0 game, Brown hauled it a fly ball in shallow right field and fired a one-hop laser to Omar Serna who applied the tag to preserve the shutout and spark the Alex Box Stadium crowd.

THE SCORECARD

William Schmidt: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 88 pitches, 52 strikes

Zac Cowan: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 54 pitches, 39 strikes

LSU was 9-for-29 (.310).

LSU was 6-for-19 (.316) with runners on.

LSU was not retired in order after the first and had multiple baserunners in six of eight innings.

Mason Braun: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

LSU pitching only issued three walks and struck out 10.

Kentucky did not have an extra-base hit.

WHAT’S NEXT

The rubber match is Sunday at noon. LSU has not announced a starting pitcher. Kentucky will throw lanky lefty Ben Cleaver whose ERA is 2.46 this season. In six starts, he has not recorded an out in the fifth inning yet.

Both teams will likely use a host of arms to decide the series.