Tigers extend winning streak to 12 after sweeping Miss. State

The LSU baseball team posted its third consecutive Southeastern Conference series sweep over the weekend against Mississippi State, and in the process, upped their winning streak to 12 games. The games were the final regular-season contest at the current Alex Box Stadium.

The new Alex Box Stadium, which is located about one mile south of campus, will be ready for the Tigers in the 2009 season.

LSU (35-16-1, 15-11-1) posted the sweep with a 9-4 win on Sunday after overwhelming the Bulldogs on Friday, 15-6, and 16-4 on Saturday.

The Tigers’ current winning streak is the most since the 2000 team won 13 in a row to finish the season with its last of five national championships. Sunday’s game marked the largest paid attendance in Alex Box Stadium history (8,701). After the victory, over 100 former LSU players spanning seven decades of baseball in Alex Box Stadium joined current players, coaches, fans and LSU Athletics Director and legendary Tiger baseball coach Skip Bertman to commemorate 70 years in “The Box.”

The Tigers remained in first place in the SEC West, 1.5 games ahead of Alabama and Ole Miss.

Jared Bradford (9-4) notched the victory Sunday, giving up four earned runs on 10 hits in six innings and striking out seven. D.J. LeMahieu (two hits, two runs batted in) and Blake Dean (two hits, solo home run) paced the Tigers at the plate. Daniel Bradshaw notched his fourth save of the season.

MSU posted a 2-0 lead in the first, but Dean’s 12th homer of the season cut the deficit in half. LSU took the lead for good in the third when Derek Helenihi plated a run and then Ryan Schimpf later came around to score on a wild pitch. The Tigers added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh for the victory.

On Friday, LSU exploded for 12 runs and 15 hits in the first three innings. For the game, the Tigers notched 21 hits and posted a seven-run second inning. Every player in LSU’s lineup posted at least one hit. Jared Mitchell had four hits, including a home run, and scored four runs. Leon Landry had three hits, while Matt Clark and Schimpf each had second-inning home runs.

Louis Coleman (4-0) got the victory after throwing 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. Coleman, who came in for starter Ryan Verdugo, allowed only two hits. Saturday’s contest featured the No. 22 Tigers registering four home runs, including two by Schimpf. On the hill, Blake Martin threw seven strong innings for the victory. Schimpf had four hits and watched as four other teammates each posted two hits. Leon Landry and Dean each had home runs. The Tigers fell behind 1-0 in the first, but took the lead with a four-run third inning.

LSU also put up five runs in the fourth and a pair of three-run innings in the seventh and eighth innings. Martin (4-3) allowed two hits and at one point retired 11 hitters in a row. He struck out eight in the contest.

LSU played UNO on Tuesday at Zephyr Field in Metairie as part of the Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic. The LSU Tigers travel to Auburn on Thursday to finish the regular season.

Thursday and Friday’s games are scheduled for 6 p.m., while Saturday’s game is slated for 2 p.m. The SEC Tournament starts on May 21.

SOFTBALL TEAM FALLS IN SECOND ROUND OF SEC TOURNAMENT

The Lady Tigers were unable to capitalize on home-field advantage as they went 1-1 in the SEC Tournament held at Tiger Park this weekend.

LSU (42-16) beat Auburn, 4-0, in the opening round on Thursday, but then fell to Alabama, 7-4, on Saturday.

The Lady Tigers received the national No. 9 seed after finishing the regular season with the seventh-best RPI.

That means LSU, Delta State, Louisiana-Lafayette and East Carolina will meet in the Baton Rouge Regional on Friday.

The Lady Tigers take on Delta State at 7 p.m. on Friday. The regional final will be held on Sunday.

LSU finished second in the SEC West with a 17-11 league mark. Florida won the SEC Tournament with a 4-1 win over Alabama on Sunday.

Against Auburn, Cody Trahan (17-4) got the complete-game victory while allowing two hits and striking out eight. Quinlan Duhon had two hits and a run batted in and Shannon Stein notched a solo home run.

In the contest against Alabama, the Lady Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but lost it in the bottom of that inning and could never get the lead again.

Duhon had a solo home run and two hits and Stein also had two hits in the contest.

Not having the services of ace Dani Hofer again appeared to hurt the Lady Tigers as Trahan started the game and received the loss after allowing two runs and three hits in 2.2 innings.

Tiffany Garcia gave up four runs and four hits in 2.1 innings of work.