LSU cruises past SFA to improve to 11-1
By: Brandon Dunn
Updated: March 5, 2013
BATON ROUGE, La. -- No. 3 LSU (11-1) received RBI contributions from seven different players en route to a 9-2 victory over Stephen F. Austin (3-7) Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU returns to the field Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against Sacred Heart at Alex Box Stadium. The game will air in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net and 100.7 FM in the Baton Rouge area.
"We just kind of grinded this one out," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. "We gave some of the young guys the opportunity to start tonight, and I was very pleased with the way they responded. It was great to see (freshman centerfielder) Andrew Stevenson get his first career homer and (freshman catcher) Chris Chinea crushed a ball into left-centerfield for a double. I thought (junior leftfielder) Sean McMullen really battled at the plate and as well and delivered a key RBI base hit."
Stevenson (2-for-3) hit his first career home run over the right field wall in the third inning, increasing the Tigers' lead to 3-0.
The Tigers scored the first two runs in the second inning on an RBI single by first baseman Mason Katz and a sacrifice fly from second baseman JaCoby Jones.
LSU went on to add two more runs following Stevenson's homer in the third with an RBI double from designated hitter Raph Rhymes and an RBI single from Katz, increasing the lead to 5-0.
Rhymes (1-for-2) and Katz (2-for-4) each have now recorded a hit in 10 straight games.
Stephen F. Austin chipped into the Tigers' lead with an RBI single from catcher Zach Marberry in the fourth inning.
LSU widened the gap in the sixth with an RBI double from Chinea, followed by an RBI single from McMullen.
Third baseman Christian Ibarra added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI single to center field.
LSU reliever Kevin Berry (2-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings.
Stephen F. Austin starter Justin Choate (1-1) suffered the loss, giving up five earned runs on five hits in five innings.
