It took a while for the LSU Tigers to really wake up, but they walked away with a 7-1 victory over the Grambling State Tigers on Tuesday night. The Tigers improve to 15-7 and pick up a much-needed second win in a row.
Things have not been going LSU's way as of late, as they just recently fell out of the Top 25 rankings. This game started with more of the same, as it took them until the eighth inning to actually pull away.
The pitching had a couple of hiccups, but only gave up the one run and overall had a nice day.
Cooper Williams had another clean outing. He's gotten punished a couple of times with tough outings, but has had a lot of good showings, too. His current ERA of 9.35 should be much lower by the time the season is over.
Gavin Guidry only faced two hitters in this one, but struck one out and retired the other to put together a clean outing. He had given up at least one run in his last three appearances, so it was good to see him have this one.
There wasn't too much to complain about with the bullpen in this game.
The offense, however, took a while to wake up. They only had three runs going into the eighth and were mostly struggling. Even Jake Brown went 0-for-4 in this game, and he's been impossible to get out.
Omar Serna hit the second home run of his young career. His hitting .250 so far is actually a bit of a win, given that he's mostly known for his power potential. The Tigers will want him to get that average quite a bit higher, but it's a nice start for the freshman.
LSU is going to need its young players like Serna to step up and produce as they search for more consistent bats. The lineup was filled with a lot of those younger names in this one.
Zach Yorke also had a nice day with three walks and a single. The Tigers really need his bat to get back to what it looked like to start the year. His patience at the plate remains strong, though.
LSU will need the momentum of the big four-run eighth inning as they prepare for the No. 8-ranked Oklahoma Sooners this weekend.