LSU 7, Arkansas 5, Final
LSU pulled away with a five-run fifth inning to beat Arkansas, 7-5, on Sunday to win the SEC series at Alex Box Stadium.
Arkansas dropped the final two games of the series. The Hogs (33-15, 14-10 SEC) lead the SEC West by one game over Auburn and Ole Miss. They play host to Texas A&M in a series starting Friday, then finish at Georgia. They do not play any midweek games the rest of the season. The Hogs have not won an SEC road series.
LSU (28-20, 12-12) knocked out Arkansas starter Isaiah Campbell (3-5) in the fifth with four straight hits.
The Hogs trailed 6-1 with their only answer a Heston Kjerstad solo homer in the top of the fifth. Kjerstad added a two-run single in the seventh as the Hogs cut the lead to 6-5. LSU added a single run in the seventh off of freshman reliever Bryce Bonnin. Barrett Loseke shut down the Hogs over the final two innings, but the Hogs couldn't rally.
Reliever Matthew Beck had been hammered in his last two outings, but he shut down the Hogs with the last nine outs. He relieved with no outs in the seventh and was victimized by a two-run error to allow the lead to shrink to 6-5.
Beck worked a 1-2-3 ninth, including a called strike three against pinch hitter Jared Gates. LSU starter Freshman AJ Labas (6-1) was superb through six innings. He had thrown a complete game shutout against Lamar on Tuesday, but was making just his third SEC appearance. He allowed only Kjerstad's homer.
LSU 7, Arkansas 5, End 8th Inning
Luke Bonfield reached on a one-out walk, but the Hogs couldn't muster a hit. Carson Shaddy was called out after fouling three pitches on a 2-2 count. Heston Kjerstad's fly to medium left ended the frame.
LSU had scored in four straight innings, but Loseke put the Tigers down 1-2-3 in the eighth.
LSU 7, Arkansas 5, End 7th Inning
The Hogs have climbed into the game with four runs with the help of two LSU errors. Nick Bush relieved for the Tigers and promptly gave up the first walk of the day on a 3-2 pitch to Luke Bonfield. Carson Shaddy followed with a double to left, Bonfield moved to third. Heston Kjerstad singled to right center for two runs. Kjerstad has three RBI on the day. Koch's grounder was stopped by Jake Slaughter at third. The throw was wild of first with Kjerstad moving to third. It was a hit for Koch, who ended up at second on the throwing error. That ended the day for Bush. He did not record an out. He was replaced on the mound by Matthew Beck. Jordan McFarland couldn't make contact and was out on strikes. Jax Biggers popped out to shallow left. Eric Cole's bouncer caught first baseman Austin Bain in between hops for a two-run error. Kjerstad and Koch scored. Casey Martin lined out to center to end the 7th.
The Tigers answered in the bottom of the inning against freshman Bryce Bonnin, but poor base running took them out of a bigger inning. It was only Bonnin's second SEC appearance and it did not last long. It was his first time to pitch since facing Ole Miss on March 30. Austin Bain doubled to right. Daniel Cabrera bounced out to second with Bain taking third. Zach Watson singled to left to make it 7-5. Barrett Loseke relieved, his second appearance of the weekend. Hunter Feduccia bounced to McFarland. The throw forced Loseke off the base covering at first. Watson rounded the base at second and Loseke fired for the out. Feduccia reached base. Jake Slaughter's bouncer ended the inning.
LSU 6, Arkansas 1, End 6th Inning
Jax Biggers singled to right center. Eric Cole was out on a fly to center. Casey Martin smoked a liner to the shortsop for the second out. Dominic Fletcher was out on a soft tap in front of the plate fielded by the catcher. LSU freshman starter AJ Labas, a consistent strike thrower, has had the Hogs off balance with a dandy change-up.
Casey Scroggins replaced Lee to start the LSU 6th. Jake Slaughter fanned before Brandt Broussard reached on an infield hit to short. Broussard stole second when Carson Shaddy missed the tag. Grant Koch's throw beat the runner. The call was upheld after a video review. Hal Hughes looped a single to center with Broussard beating the throw from Dominic Fletcher. It was the third hit of the day for Hughes and it's a 6-1 lead. Hughes went to second on the throw. Antoine Duplantis ended the inning with a bouncer to short.
LSU 5, Arkansas 1, End 5th Inning
The Hogs answered with a single run. Heston Kjerstad homered high off the foul pole in right. He made a bid earlier in the game, but this one was only in doubt whether it would stay fair. It was his 10th of the season. Kjerstad stuck out five times Saturday night. Grant Koch followed with a single, but was doubled off first when Jordan McFarland's soft liner to short was caught.
The Tigers reclaimed the lead with four runs, knocking out Isaiah Campbell with four straight hits to score two runs. Reliever Evan Lee gave up a sac fly for a third, then an RBI single. Light hitting LSU shortstop Hal Hughes singled with one out, his second hit of the day. Beau Jordan sliced a double into the corner in right with Hughes stopping at third. That brought out pitching coach Wes Johnson for a visit and got Lee up in the bullpen to begin to warm. Antoine Duplantis singled to center to score Huges. Jordan moved to third. Austin Bain hit a double that bounced over the fence to score Jordan, Duplantis taking third. That ended Campbell's day with Lee taking the mound. Daniel Cabrera hit a fly to right for a sacrifice fly with Duplantis scoring. Bain moved to third. Zach Watson added an RBI single to left to score Bain. Eric Cole went to the wall to catch Hunter Feduccia's drive to end the frame.
LSU 1, Arkansas 0, End 4th Inning
Casey Martin popped to center. Dominic Fletcher was out on strikes. Luke Bonfield bounced to short. The throw pulled the first baseman off the bag, but Bonfield was tagged out. The Hogs have had only one base runner in four innings.
The Tigers got back-to-back doubles with two outs to get the lead. Austin Bain was out to open LSU fourth on a dribbler in front of the plate, but not before a video review. Isaiah Campbell threw him out after pouncing on the roller with his bare hand. Daniel Cabrera was out to a slow bouncer to the right side. Carson Shaddy flipped to Campbell covering first. Zach Watson doubled off of Casey Martin's glove into left field. Hunter Feduccia doubled to the warning track in right center to give LSU a 1-0 lead. Jake Slaughter popped to right for the third out.
Arkansas 0, LSU 0, End 3rd Inning
The Razorbacks went 1-2-3. Jordan McFarland was out on strikes. Jax Biggers popped to center. Eric Cole bounced out to second.
LSU had the first runner in scoring position. Hal Hughes singled to right and went to second on Beau Jordan's ground out to third. Antoine Duplantis, the top Tiger threat, hit a flare to left that Heston Kjerstad raced in to catch to end the frame.
Arkansas 0, LSU 0, End 2nd Inning
Carson Shaddy had the first hit of the game, a one-out single against LSU starter AJ Labas. Heston Kjerstad was out on a deep fly to right. Grant Koch worked a 3-2 count before ending the inning on a pop out to short stop.
Hunter Feduccia gave LSU its first hit, a two-out single bounced through the left side. Jake Slaughter's slow bouncer to short ended the second. Isaiah Campbell has been sharp through two innings. He didn't make it out of the second last week against Alabama in his Sunday start.
Arkansas 0, LSU 0, End 1st Inning
It was 1-2-3 for both sides in the first. There were hard hit balls by both teams, but none fell in. Eric Cole and Casey Martin both hit the ball hard to center but were out to open the game.
UA starter Isaiah Campbell hit 94 mph on the first batter. He went 3-2 to Beau Jordan. The LSU lead-off man hit a sinker liner that Dominic Fletcher dove and caught in right center.
Pregame
Arkansas and LSU will start at 2 p.m. in a game that will determine the winner of the series. The Razorbacks are going for their first series win over the Tigers since 2011 and first series win in Baton Rouge since 2004.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Isaiah Campbell is on the mound for Arkansas. He is going opposite of LSU freshman right-hander AJ Labas (5-1, 3.18 ERA).
Carson Shaddy, Jordan McFarland and Luke Bonfield are back in the lineup today. This is the first time Shaddy has played in 15 days.
It will be hot today. The high is 84 degrees in Baton Rouge.