BATON ROUGE, La. (March 12, 2023) – Thatcher Hurd’s dominant pitching and Tommy White’s grand slam led the No. 1 Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers to a 13-1 victory over Samford on Sunday in college baseball action at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field, completing a sweep of the series. BOX SCORE
With the win, the Tigers extended their season record to 15-1 and maintained their winning streak, which has now reached ten games. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs slipped to a 6-9 season record.
This victory marks LSU’s longest winning streak since the 2017 season, when they won 17 straight games from May 11 through June 17.
Before opening Southeastern Conference (SEC) play against Texas A&M, LSU will face the University of New Orleans (UNO) on Tuesday for an in-state midweek matchup. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on SEC Network+. Fans can also tune in to the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates for audio coverage.
After a slow start to the game, Hurd (2-0) gave the Tigers a tremendous performance, pitching five scoreless innings, striking out seven Bulldogs, and allowing no hits. Right-hander Gavin Guidry and left-hander Riley Cooper finished the game, allowing one run on no hits in the final two innings.
LSU coach Jay Johnson praised Hurd, “Thatcher was outstanding again. He’s got great stuff, he has great poise. He has elite stuff, and when he’s in an elite place mentally, he’s as good as they come.”
Samford’s starting pitcher Will Lynch (0-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on three hits in four innings.
In the third inning, centerfielder Dylan Crews put LSU on the scoreboard with his fifth home run of the season. Paxton Kling hit a single through the left side, and LSU extended its lead to 2-0 after three innings.
Kling’s impressive performance continued as he knocked in three runs and scored three times, going 3-for-5 in the game.
White broke the game open in the seventh inning with a grand slam, allowing LSU to add five more runs and close out the nine-run inning. The game ended on Kling’s walk-off three-run dinger, marking the Tigers’ third straight run-rule win and their seventh overall this season.
LSU will aim to carry the momentum of their winning streak into the SEC opener against Texas A&M. The game is scheduled for March 17th at Blue Bell Park in Bryan-College Station.
