Holman shines in Tigers Friday win over Ole Miss
BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU junior right-hander Luke Holman limited Ole Miss to two runs in 6.2 innings Friday, as the Tigers posted a 4-2 win over the Rebels in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
LSU, which has won four of its last five SEC series, improved to 35-20 overall and 12-17 in conference play. Ole Miss dropped to 27-27 overall and 11-18 in league games.
LSU and Ole Miss, who have both qualified for next week’s SEC Tournament, will conclude the series at 1 p.m. CT Saturday in the final regular season game of the year in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
Saturday’s contest will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network, and it will be streamed on SEC Network +.
Holman (8-3) allowed just two runs on five hits in 6.2 innings with no walks and nine strikeouts. He fired 96 pitches in the outing, 69 for strikes.
“Luke pitched like an ace,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “I think he is one of the best pitchers in the entire country. He’s had a great season for us, and when you pitch like that, you’re going to give your team a chance to win because it doesn’t force you to be perfect offensively.”
Ole Miss starter Liam Doyle (3-3) was charged with the loss, as he allowed four runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings with no walks and four strikeouts.
LSU left-hander Griffin Herring earned the save – his sixth of the season – for the second consecutive game, recording 2.0 perfect innings with two strikeouts.
“I’m really proud of Griffin, and his competitive makeup is as good as anybody in the country,” Johnson said. “He’s had an All-American caliber season, and when the game’s on the line in such a leverage spot in the season for us, there’s nobody else that I’d rather have out there.”
The Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when third baseman Tommy White blasted his 21st homer of the year. White was 3-for-4 on the day with two doubles, one homer, one RBI and two runs scored.
LSU extended the lead to 2-0 in the second on a two-out RBI single by catcher Alex Milazzo.
The Tigers added two runs in the fifth as designated hitter Hayden Travinski provided an RBI groundout, and leftfielder Josh Pearson lined a run-scoring single.
Ole Miss reduced the margin to 4-2 in the sixth when second baseman Luke Hill hit a two-run homer, his third dinger of the season.