SEC Baseball: Louis Coleman Pitches LSU to Victory over NSU

Junior right hander Louis Coleman had a superb outing on Tuesday night to lead the Tigers to a 10-3 victory over Northwestern State. Coleman pitched six innings, giving up only four hits, striking out seven, and walking no one.

Coleman gave up a lone unearned run in the first inning on an error by center fielder Leon Landry, but rebounded to close out the inning before any more damage could be done.

The Tigers struggled early at the plate, going three up three down in the first two innings. Landry found a rhythm to lead off the third with a triple, and scored on a sacrifice fly by shortstop DJ LeMahieu to tie the game at one.

The Tigers would pick up runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. DH Jared Mitchell drew a two-out walk in the fourth and scored on a single by catcher Sean Ochinko.  LeMahieu singled up the middle in the fifth inning, and then he stole second.

Second baseman Ryan Schimpf drilled a single into center to advance LeMahieu to third. LeMahieu was brought home by third baseman Michael Hollander’s sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

The Demons answered in the top of the seventh with a two-out ground-rule double against relief pitcher Austin Ross. Right fielder Brett Johnson slapped a grounder through the gap to score Joe Urtuzuastegui, Northwestern State’s second run of the game.

Seven proved to be a lucky number for the Tigers. LSU pounded out seven runs on seven hits in the seventh inning to bust open a 3-2 ballgame.

Relief pitcher Justin Morgan, who entered the game in the fifth, walked Schimpf to lead off the inning. Hollander sacrificed to Morgan, and Schimpf advanced to second. Right fielder Blake Dean doubled to left center, scoring Schimpf and giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead. 

Morgan intentionally walked first baseman Matt Clark to set up the double play, but that backfired when Mitchell hit a single along the right side, scoring Dean and advancing Clark to third.

Ochinko singled to center field, scoring Clark and advancing Mitchell to second, giving the Tigers a 6-2 lead. 

Justin Morgan was pulled for relief pitcher Johnnie Santangelo. Right fielder Derek Helenihi doubled to left center scoring both Mitchell and Clark.

Landry doubled to right center scoring Helenihi, and LeMahieu singled up the middle scoring Landry which signaled the end of Santangelo.

Santangelo gave up two runs and three hits to the three batters he faced in only six pitches.

Blaine Boss entered the game looking for two outs to end the inning. LeMahieu was caught stealing by Demons catcher Anthony Jones to record the second out of the inning.

Boss walked Schimpf, but Hollander singled through the right side to advance Schimpf to second. Nick Pontiff entered the game as a pinch hitter for Dean. Boss struck out Pontiff looking to finally end the seventh inning, with the Tigers leading 10-2.

Northwestern State scored its final run in the eighth when second baseman Chase Lyles singled up the middle and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. Justin O’Neal doubled down the left field line scoring Lyles. 

Afterward, Jones flew out to center to record the second out of the inning. DH Lance Lacoste singled to right to advance O’Neal, but he was thrown out at the plate when he tried advancing to home, ending the inning with the Tigers leading 10-3.

Coleman picked up his first decision of the season, while Campbell lost his third straight. Ross earned his second save of the season. The game took two hours and 39 minutes, and the paid attendance was 7,253.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday. LSU will host the University of New Orleans and NSU will host UL-Lafayette.