BATON ROUGE, La. – Behind the strength of two 5-run innings, No. 11 Kentucky evened up the series Friday night with a 13-10 victory over top-ranked LSU inside Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 28-6 on the season and 10-4 in the league, while the Tigers dropped to 28-6 overall and 8-5 in SEC play.
The series finale of the LSU-Kentucky three-game set is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT first pitch and can be streamed on SEC Network+. The matchup is available to listen to on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.
Similar to the first game of the series, third baseman Tommy White got the Tigers on the board first with an RBI double. During Friday’s matchup, centerfielder Dylan Crews reached via a hit-by-pitch and White followed him up by smoking a ball into the right-centerfield gap to score Crews and make the tally after one inning, 1-0.
Kentucky responded with a two-run homer in the second to take a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers struck back in the bottom half of the inning with shortstop Jordan Thompson starting off the frame with a single. Second baseman Ben Nippolt followed with a walk and catcher Alex Milazo advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Left fielder Tre’ Morgan roped a 2-RBI single over the shortstop’s head to retake the 3-2 lead for LSU.
After a scoreless third from both squads, White launched his 12th dinger of the season to straightaway centerfield in the bottom of the fourth. Before sending one over the wall, Morgan reached via HBP and Crews smoked a double to RCF to score Morgan and make the score 4-2.
White’s homer extended the LSU lead to four after four innings. The Wildcats scratched across five runs in the fifth with a three-run triple and an RBI single to overtake the 7-6 lead.
Kentucky extended its lead with a five-run seventh, anchored by three free passes, three hits, an error, and a sac fly. The Wildcats led 12-7 after seven innings.
LSU’s rally came in the bottom of the eighth inning, shortening the lead to two. The inning got started with a walk from pinch hitter Josh Pearson and an HBP from Morgan. Crews came through with a single to load the bases for the Tigers, and White drew the walk to make the score 12-8.
First baseman Jared Jones looped a 2-RBI single to left field to close the margin even further to 12-10. Kentucky added one run in the ninth to account for the final score.
(Recap via LSU Athletics)
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