Texas Southern Puts Early Scare Into No. 15 LSU Before Falling Late

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BATON ROUGE, La. – The Texas Southern baseball team took on No. 15 LSU Tuesday night and was neck-and-neck with its SEC foe until a three-run eighth inning put the game away by a 10-4 margin.

Fresh off a three-game sweep over Prairie View A&M this past weekend, TSU continued its patience at the plate in two-out situations in the first as Oscar Ponce drew a full-count walk before moving to third on Dean Salazar’s left-field single. Nic Garza, who has been red hot from the plate in 2021, continued his hot start with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

LSU moved ahead 2-1 on a two-run homer in the first and changed pitchers to enter the second. Both teams would go 1-2-3 but TSU fought back in the third as Ponce doubled to center with one out and moved to third on a wild pitch. Salazar drew a full-count walk to set up Garza but he struck out looking on a 2-2 count. Jordan Vidato, who grew up 90 miles to the east in New Orleans, also drew a full-count walk which set up Tyrese Clayborne’s RBI single to tie the game.

A passed ball allowed Salazar to score from third for a 3-2 lead and LSU once again went into its bullpen to halt the rally. The change didn’t pay off immediately as Michael Goudeau was hit by a pitch and a wild pitch during Avery Chatman’s at-bat scored the fourth run of the night for TSU and a 4-2 lead.

LSU would reclaim a 5-4 lead following a three-run third and added two in the fourth to lead 7-4. The scoring would cease for both teams and turn defensive for the next few innings as TSU remained within striking distance. LSU led the eighth inning off with back-to-back full-count walks before recording its first out. An RBI triple scored two runs followed by a sac fly would up their lead 10-4. TSU would have a runner on in the ninth as Tyson Thompson walked but that would be the lone runner as LSU managed to force a foul out and grounder to end the contest.

TSU threw four pitchers Tuesday night as Jaiden Beck (0-1) got the start and went 2.2 innings. Alex Olguin, Jesse Garcia, and Adolf Castillo came on in relief as Olguin struck out three while Beck had two strikeouts.

Texas Southern is back in action at MacGregor Park on Friday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.