Josh Smith and Jaden Hill lead LSU to 17-5 win over Air Force
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Josh Smith had four hits and Jaden Hill gave up one run in five innings as LSU defeated Air Force 17-5 at The Box on Sunday afternoon.
HOW THEY SCORED
LSU first inning – Smith and Brandt Broussard singled. Antoine Duplantis walked to load the bases. Smith scored on a bases-loaded walk to Daniel Cabrera. Broussard and Duplantis scored on a double by Zach Watson. After Drew Bianco struck out, Cabrera and Watson scored on Saul Garza’s double. Garza scored on a double by Brock Mathis. After Hal Hughes grounded out to the shortstop, Mathis scored on a single by Smith. LSU 7, AIR FORCE 0
LSU second inning – With one out. Cabrera doubled. After Watson grounded out to the third baseman, Cabrera advanced to third on a balk by Ethan Nichols. Bianco hit a two-run homer over the leftfield fence. LSU 9, AIR FORCE 0
LSU third inning – Hughes doubled and scored on a double by Smith. LSU 10, AIR FORCE 0
Air Force fourth inning – Christian Gambale doubled and scored on a single by Daniel Jones. LSU 10, AIR FORCE 1
LSU fifth inning – With one out, Hughes doubled. Hughes stopped at third on a double by Smith. After Broussard popped out to the third baseman, Hughes and Smith scored on Duplantis’ double. Duplantis went to third on a single by pinch-hitter Gavin Dugas. Duplantis scored when shortstop Tommy Gillman made a throwing error at second base on Watson’s ground ball. LSU 13, AIR FORCE 1
LSU sixth inning – Garza and Giovanni DiGiacomo singled. Hughes walked to load the bases. Pinch-runner CJ Willis scored on Chris Reid’s sacrifice fly to the leftfielder. Braden Doughty singled to load the bases. DiGiacomo scored on a single by Duplantis. Hughes scored when third baseman Nic Ready made an error on Dugas’ ground ball. Doughty scored on a sacrifice fly to the rightfielder by pinch-hitter Cade Beloso. LSU 17, AIR FORCE 1
Air Force seventh inning – Gillman was hit by a pitch. After Gabe Martinez flied out to the centerfielder, Ashton Easley singled. Pinch-runner Alexander Pup advanced to third and Easley moved to second on a wild pitch by Rye Gunter. Colby Brown walked to load the bases. Pup scored on a sacrifice fly to the centerfielder by Drew Wiss. Easley scored on a single by Ready. LSU 17, AIR FORCE 3
Air Force eighth inning – Rob Dau doubled. After Pup flied out to the centerfielder, pinch-runner Ben Hauser scored on a Martinez’ single. Martinez went to second on a wild pitch by Riggs Threadgill. Martinez advanced to third on a ground out to the shortstop by Jonathan Imperial and scored on a wild pitch by Threadgill. LSU 17, AIR FORCE 5
LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME
Smith matched his career-high with four hits. He had four hits in two games during his freshman season in 2017. Smith had two singles in the Tigers’ seven-run first inning. His second hit of the inning drove in the final run. Smith had doubles in his next two at-bats. The two doubles equaled his career-best in a game.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
Hits: LSU 20, Air Force 9
Errors: LSU 0, Air Force 2
Left on base: LSU 10, Air Force 9
Runners in scoring position: LSU 11-for-22, Air Force 3-for-9
Double plays: Air Force 0, LSU 0
Stolen bases: Air Force 1, LSU 0
Walks issued: Air Force 4, LSU 4
Strikeouts recorded: LSU 11, Air Force 9
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
LSU
Josh Smith: 4-for-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, 2 2Bs
Saul Garza: 3-for-4, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs, 1 2B
Antoine Duplantis: 3-for-5, 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 1 2B
Hal Hughes: 2-for-4, 3 runs scored, 2 2Bs
Daniel Cabrera: 1-for-2, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 2B
Zach Watson: 1-for-4, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs, 1 2B
Drew Bianco: 1-for-6, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs, 1 HR
Jaden Hill: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
AIR FORCE
Christian Gambale: 2-for-4, 1 run scored, 1 2B
Daniel Jones: 2-for-4, 1 RBI
John Byrnes: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 K
NOTES
LSU’s starting batting order was Smith, SS; Broussard, 2B; Duplantis, RF; Cabrera, LF; Watson, CF; Bianco, 1B; Garza, DH; Mathis, C; Hughes, 3B. . .Bianco, Mathis and Hughes all collected their first hit of the season. Mathis had a double in the first. Bianco hit a home run in the second. Hughes led off the third with a double. . .Doughty’s single in the sixth was the first hit of his career. . .Dugas and DiGiacomo came off the bench to get their first hit of the year. . .Every LSU starter had a hit and scored a run. Broussard and Hughes were the only starters without a RBI. . .The Tigers had nine doubles – one shy of the school record. . .Hughes had two doubles in a game for the first time in his career. . .Air Force starting pitcher Ethan Nichols gave up nine runs and nine hits in 1.2 innings. . .Hill struck out five batters in the first two innings. He struck out Martinez and Easley with two runners on base in the second. Hill struck out Rob Dau and Gillman after giving up a run in the fourth. . .Chase Costello, who gave up four runs against Army on Saturday, threw a perfect sixth inning with one strikeout. . .Both Rye Gunter and Riggs Threadgill allowed two runs in their one inning. Trent Vietmeier gave up one hit with one strikeout in his one inning. . .LSU is 3-0. The Tigers have gone unbeaten on opening weekend 11 times in Paul Mainieri’s 13 years as coach. . .Air Force is 1-2. . .Louisiana-Monroe and Army also went 1-2 in the tournament. ULM lost to Air Force 1-0 on Saturday night and beat Army 10-3 in the first game Sunday. . .The paid attendance was 11,403. The actual crowd was about 7,300. The paid attendance for the three games of 35,463 was the largest for a LSU opening weekend in school history.
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to Southeastern Louisiana at The Box on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Central. The Lions (0-3) lost to Louisiana Tech 12-8 in Hammond on Sunday afternoon. Cole Henry will be the starting pitcher for the Tigers. The LSU-SLU game will be available on the SEC Digital Network.
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