BATON ROUGE – No.1 LSU completed the weekend sweep of William and Mary as the Tigers captured both games of a Sunday doubleheader, winning Game 1 by a score of 9-6 and taking Game 2 by a 7-4 margin in Alex Box Stadium.
With the wins, the Tigers (7-0) completed their second series sweep of the season. William and Mary fell to 3-3 with Sunday’s losses.
LSU will be back in action Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., when the Tigers host Pepperdine in Alex Box Stadium.
“It was a long day, and we’re very happy to come away with two wins,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I wouldn’t say that we played great today, but we really battled with an outstanding William & Mary club. They made us earn everything we got this weekend, and I thought they played extremely well.”
The Tiger bats were hot Sunday, as the team combined for 23 hits in the two games. Left fielder Trey Watkins paced the LSU offense, going 5-for-8 in the two games with two triples, two RBI and two stolen bases while accounting for five LSU runs.
Also leading the LSU offense Sunday was centerfielder Leon Landry, who went 3-for-7 with three RBI and five stolen bases in the two games. In game 2, Landry tied an LSU single-game record with four stolen bases. The last Tiger to steal four bases in a game was Jared Mitchell in 2009 against Kentucky.
In game 2, the Tigers came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first inning with the help of a 3-for-5 performance from Trey Watkins and a towering two-run homer by Matt Gaudet to top William and Mary, 7-4.
The winning pitcher was freshman left-hander Jordan Rittiner (1-0), who made his first career start for LSU, going 6.0 innings and allowing only one earned run while striking out three.
The Tribe took a 3-0 lead in the first inning when a botched run-down between second and third resulted in two errors and two William and Mary runs.
The Tigers cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the frame when Watkins singled to lead off the inning and later scored on an RBI single by Blake Dean. The RBI by Dean moved him into a tie for fourth-place on LSU’s all-time list with Trey McClure for RBIs in a career.
LSU made the score 3-2 in the second when third baseman Beau Didier singled home Leon Landry. Didier scored when the next batter, Trey Watkins tripled to left-center, tying the game at 3-3.
The Tigers took the lead when the next batter, Austin Nola, reached first on an error by Tribe shortstop Derrick Osteen allowing Watkins to scamper home, giving LSU a 4-3 advantage.
Gaudet blasted his fourth homer of the season, and second of the day in the third inning. The two-run dinger put the Tigers ahead 6-3.
LSU extended its lead in the fourth when Nola smashed a double to the gap in left-center, scoring Watkins and putting the Tigers up 7-3.
Freshman right-hander Michael Reed entered the game for the Tigers in the seventh inning and pitched a brilliant 3.0 innings, allowing no runs on two hits to earn his first career save and preserve a 7-4 victory for LSU.
In game 1, the Tigers were sparked by a three-RBI performance by Leon Landry and a two-run homer by Matt Gaudet, giving the Tigers a 9-6 victory.
Catcher Micah Gibbs went 4-for-4 in the game with an RBI and a run scored.
The winning pitcher was junior right-hander Daniel Bradshaw (2-0), who went 2.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout. Garrison Sarrett (0-1) was credited with the loss for William and Mary after allowing two runs on two hits.
The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when left fielder Trey Watkins, who finished the first game 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs, walked to lead-off the inning, reached second on a balk and scored on a two-out RBI single by catcher Micah Gibbs.
LSU continued the scoring in the fourth inning when designated hitter Matt Gaudet blasted a two-run homer to put the Tigers ahead 3-0. The homer was Gaudet’s third dinger of the season. Right fielder Mikie Mahtook led off the inning with a double and scored on Gaudet’s homer.
The Tribe responded in the fifth with a four-run inning highlighted by a solo homer by right fielder Derek Lowe and a two-run single by second baseman Jonathan Slattery to put William and Mary up 4-3.
LSU regained the lead, 5-4, in the bottom of the frame when Leon Landry doubled over centerfielder Ryan Brown’s head to score Gibbs and Tyler Hanover, who laced back-to-back singles to start the inning.
After Mahtook reached first on an error, the Tigers made the score 6-4 when Landry stole third and later scored on a pitcher’s balk. Mahtook reached third after the balk and scored on an RBI double by Watkins, putting LSU ahead 7-4.
A bases loaded single by Landry in the eighth gave the Tigers a 9-4 lead. The Tribe responded in the top of the ninth with two runs off freshman lefty Zach LaSuzzo to close the gap to 9-6. Sophomore closer Matty Ott came on with two outs and earned his fourth save of the year after retiring Ryan Williams to end the game.
