It was apparent that LSU shortstop Jordan Thompson was finding his groove at the plate last weekend against Texas A&M. The evidence continued to mount against Central Arkansas on Tuesday when his line drive to left-center field cleared the fence at Alex Box Stadium.
Thompson had gone five games without a hit before Saturday in College Station, but Thompson was 3 for 8 and reached base three other times during the last two games of that series.
On Tuesday, his three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning — his second of the season — broke a 4-4 tie and propelled the Tigers (19-2) past the Bears (11-9) in a 10-4 victory.
“I’m just trying to stay short to the ball — not trying to do too much,” Thompson said Sunday after an 8-6 loss to Texas A&M. “Just staying within myself in the game instead of trying to do more than I need to do.”
Thompson, who batted second-to-last on Tuesday, was one of four LSU batters with two hits against the Bears, finishing the night with a double and a home run during his five at-bats.
Although he has scuffled at the plate, Thompson has been a shutdown defender at shortstop with just one error so far this season.
The Tigers gave some lightly used pitchers this season some work against the Bears.
Blake Money hadn’t started a game since May 7 of last season against Alabama in Tuscaloosa. And that had been a short one after allowing two earned runs on two hits without a recording an out.
The former Friday night starter for LSU found himself back in a bullpen role this year, and he had combined for just six innings in five appearances before his first start.
Against Central Arkansas, Money worked 3⅔ innings, retiring the first nine hitters he faced before giving up four earned runs and three hits in the fourth inning, which gave the Bears a 4-3 at the time. True freshman left-hander Griffin Herring came in after Money, striking out the final batter to retire the side and working 2⅓ innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Three more pitchers finished the game.
The Tigers jumped to a lead in the first inning when Dylan Crews roped a ball that cleared the fence in right center. That brought home Josh Pearson, who was batting leadoff for the first time this season and singled.
Crews’ home run was his 46th at LSU, tying him for the eighth-most in school history with Blair Barbier.
LSU added a third run in the second inning on a sac bunt by Alex Milazzo. After Central Arkansas took a 4-3 lead, Pearson tied the game again with an RBI single. He finished the night 2 for 5 with the lone RBI.
After Thompson’s three-run home run in the fifth, LSU manufactured runs in the sixth on a pair of walks and a fielder’s choice to load the bases. The first run scored on a balk, and the other two raced home when Brayden Jobert reached second base on a fielding error for the 10-4 lead.
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