LSU splits doubleheader with Omaha Saturday, moves to 6-1

BATON ROUGE, La. – First baseman Jared Jones drove in five runs Saturday, and right-hander Chase Shores pitched 5.0 scoreless innings as second-ranked LSU defeated Omaha, 12-1, to earn a doubleheader split in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

Omaha withstood a furious LSU ninth-inning rally in Saturday’s first game, and the Mavericks posted a 5-4 win.

LSU is 6-1 on the season, while Omaha is 2-5. The Tigers return to action at 6 p.m. CT Monday when they play host to Nicholls in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Monday’s game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SEC Network +.

Shores (2-0) blanked the Mavericks through 5.0 innings, scattering three hits while recording two walks and six strikeouts over 84 pitches.

“Chase is excellent, he’s one of the best pitchers in the country,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “He’s pitching with great confidence and great tempo, and he’s throwing all of his pitches for strikes. I thought he was good last weekend, and I thought he was better this weekend.”

Right-hander Zac Cowan followed Shores with two perfect innings that included three strikeouts.

Omaha starting pitcher CJ Hood (0-2) suffered the loss in Game 2, as he was charged with two runs on three hits in 3.0 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.

Jones powered LSU’s 13-hit attack in the nightcap with three hits and five RBI; shortstop Steven Milam was 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, and designated hitter Josh Pearson doubled and drove in two runs.

Omaha held a 5-0 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning of the opening game, and the Tigers staged a superb four-run rally, but Omaha reliever Matt Dreher was able to record the final three outs of the game to earn his first save of the season.

Omaha reliever Luke Gainer (1-0) was credited with the win, as he worked 2.1 innings with no runs, no hits, no walks and three strikeouts.

LSU reliever Grant Fontenot (0-1) was charged with the loss, as he allowed two runs after starting the seventh inning in relief of Anthony Eyanson.

Eyanson delivered a brilliant outing, firing 6.0 scoreless innings and limiting the Mavericks to three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over 93 pitches.

“I do like what our team has from a character standpoint,” Johnson said. “We need to do a lot of things better, particularly on the offensive side. I do feel like we learned a lot about our team this weekend that will serve us well. I’m really excited about the upcoming week; we really want to get on the field to compete and keep growing.”

*LSU press release

LSU head coach Jay Johnson quotes

On the response of his team after the first loss…

“I thought it was great. If you want to take a positive from the day, that was it. I told the team between games I had a conversation with Dylan Crews the day he left and he was like ‘you know what you have right after you lose a game.’ and it reminded me that team was always right back o it after a loss. They responded great and that’s what I’ll choose to focus on. There’s obviously a lot to improve on from the first game. Chase was awesome in the second game and a zero in the error column through however many games. That gives us a chance in every game, but we couldn’t overcome that one big inning in the first game.”

The difference between the two games…

“The starting pitching was great in both games. Anthony and Chase threw the ball great. In the second game, we try to learn in winning and we did yesterday, we just didn’t have a good game. We were right where we wanted in the first two innings and didn’t score. We’ve had a game like this the past two years here, which is frustrating, but there’s plenty to identify and I’m confident we’ll get fixed what we didn’t do well in that game.”