LSU beats Texas thanks to big hits from Michael Braswell, Tommy White and Jared Jones

HOUSTON — Pitch after pitch, LSU made Lebarron Johnson work.

Texas‘ right-handed starter couldn’t seem to put away any Tiger easily. He threw 30 pitches after the first inning, 59 following the second and 78 at the end of the third.

He lasted just three innings. Longhorns coach David Pierce pulled Johnson in the fourth after he surrendered a leadoff double to Jared Jones and walked Steven Milam. Both runners eventually came home to score on an RBI single from Michael Braswell.

Forcing Johnson to hit the showers early was the key for LSU, as the Tigers defeated the Longhorns at Minute Maid Park on Friday night in the first of three games at the Astros Foundation College Classic, 6-3.

Johnson is easily the best starter LSU has faced yet. A year ago, he shut out LSU in five innings of a game the Tigers went on to win 3-0. He had a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings entering Friday’s big game.

But despite all of that, LSU (9-1) made Johnson earn every out he could get. The Tigers drew three walks and four hits against Texas (7-2).

At first, the Tigers had trouble capitalizing off Johnson’s early exit; they were held scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. But Tommy White finally snapped them out of it with a 416-foot blast over the wall in left-center in the seventh, increasing LSU’s lead to three.

Then, four batters later and with runners on the corners, Jones ripped a three-run homer into the right-field stands to double LSU’s lead to six. It was his fifth long ball of the year, as he finished the night 3 for 4 with two doubles.

The only other Tiger with multiple hits was Braswell, who went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk.

Holding down the fort on the other side was right-hander Luke Holman. He was brilliant, allowing no runs and striking out 12 batters in 5⅔ innings. He surrendered just one walk and three hits.

Holman mostly stuck with his fastball but also threw an equal number of sliders and changeups (18 apiece, per Baseball Savant). He also rarely surrendered hard contact; Texas only had a .123 expected batting average against him.

Left-hander Nate Ackenhausen replaced him with two outs in the sixth. He escaped that inning and but allowed three earned runs in 2⅓ innings, cutting LSU’s lead in half to three.

Right-hander Fidel Ulloa replaced him in the ninth. He allowed a two-out double to score a pair of inherited runners but still closed out the win.

LSU returns to Minute Maid Park at 7 p.m. Saturday to face UL. The game will be televised on Space City Home Network’s alternate channel and will stream on Astros.com.