FOUNDERS PARK: LSU starter Kade Anderson and two relievers held South Carolina to five hits while striking out ten in an 8-1 win Friday night at Ray Tanner Field that evens the final SEC series of the regular season at a game each. The loss was the Gamecocks’ 23rd in SEC play, the most in program history.
Anderson (7-1) displayed the powerful left arm that likely will make him a first round pick this summer by striking out nine. He allowed three singles and a double, and he walked three in 6.2 innings as he lowered his ERA to 3.31.
Casan Evans and Grant Fontenot pitched the final 2.1 innings and gave up a single and a walk.
Not only did the Tigers have power on the mound, they displayed power at the plate as well. The Tigers hit three home runs, two of them by first baseman Jared Jones giving him 18 for the season.
Jones cranked a three-run homer off of Gamecock starter Jake McCoy (4-5) in the third for a 1-0 LSU lead. Following a walk, DH Ethan Frey hit a two-run homer for a 3-0 lead.
The Gamecocks scored their lone run in the bottom of the third on a KJ Scobey double and an RBI single by Gavin Braland. Anderson walked the next batter then retired eleven in a row before allowing two base runners in the sixth on a strike out-wild pitch and a single. He struck out Beau Hollins to end the inning.
The Gamecocks also left two on in the seventh and eighth innings each, and stranded a total of nine for the game. They were 2-11 with runners on and 1-9 with runners in scoring position.
Jones hit his second homer of the game in the eighth, a two-run shot off of Matthew Becker, to make it a 7-1 game, and the Tigers tacked on a final run in the ninth.
South Carolina is 28-27 overall and 6-23 in the SEC. LSU is 41-13 and 18-11.
Dylan Eskew will start for the Gamecocks on Saturday against righthander Anthony Eyanson.