HOUSTON – LSU junior right-hander Luke Holman pitched 5.2 shutout innings and first baseman Jared Jones drove in three runs as the second-seeded Tigers defeated No. 13 Texas 6-6 in the Astros College Classic at Minute Maid Park on Friday night. 3 defeated.
LSU improved to 9-1 on the season while Texas fell to 7-2.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT when they take on UL Lafayette at Minute Maid Park. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed free on Astros.com and all Houston Astros social media channels, including X, Facebook and YouTube.
The LSU-UL Lafayette game will be televised by the Space City Home Network and will be available on the channel throughout the Astros' five-state viewing area of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Space City Home Network is available on DirecTV, AT&T Uverse, Xfinity, Consolidated Communications, btel, Astound, Phonoscope and I-Net.
The LSU-UL Lafayette game will also be televised by MLB Network; However, the MLB Network broadcast will air in the Astros' five states of Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
“Kudos to our players, they have improved a lot over the last week,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “We're excited about the increasing trend of them learning more about winning baseball and winning at bats. We definitely saw that tonight.”
Holman (3-0) recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in 5.2 innings and allowed just three hits and one walk. He threw 91 pitches against the Longhorns, including 61 strikes.
“Luke is the best pitcher I have ever coached when it comes to executing pitches,” Johnson said. “As far as pitch-to-pitch execution goes, I don’t know how you plan for him because he can beat you in a lot of different ways. The skill, talent and execution are at a different level right now.”
Jones was 3-for-4 with three RBI, two doubles, two runs and his fifth home run of the season, a three-run blast in the seventh inning.
Texas starting pitcher Lebarron Johnson (1-1) was blamed for the loss as he gave up two runs on four hits in 3.0 innings with three walks and six strikeouts.
LSU took a 2-0 lead early in the fourth inning when shortstop Michael Braswell III hit a two-run single off Texas reliever Tanner Witt.
The Tigers scored four runs in the seventh when third baseman Tommy White blasted a solo home run – his second of the season – and Jones launched a three-run blast to give LSU a 6-0 lead.
Texas cut the deficit to 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh when catcher Kimble Schuessler hit a home run off LSU reliever Nate Ackenhausen.
The Longhorns cut the deficit to 6-3 in the ninth on a two-out, two-run double from designated hitter Casey Borba, but LSU reliever Fidel Ulloa then struck out Texas second baseman Dee Kennedy to end the game .
Ackenhausen worked 2.1 innings in relief of Holman, recording no walks and six strikeouts and allowing three runs on three hits.
“There’s still a lot of baseball ahead of us and there are things we need to do better,” Johnson said. “Tonight was a great win, but we still have so much of the season ahead of us and we have our hands full tomorrow with another really good team.”