Tre’ Morgan makes himself at home against Auburn again as LSU records a shutout

AUBURN, Ala. — Tre’ Morgan has fond memories of Plainsman Park.

The last time he played here, he went 7 for 13 with a triple and a home run. And on the second pitch he saw Friday, Morgan cranked a two-run home run to right field.

That’s all Paul Skenes and the Tigers would need. LSU added one more run, but Skenes and a pair of relievers would yield less than that in a 3-0 victory at Plainsman Park.

Auburn starter Chase Allsup hit Gavin Dugas with the first pitch of the game before Morgan connected on his fourth home run of the season.

Then Skenes went to work for LSU (37-8, 16-5 SEC), throwing only 89 pitches through the first six innings despite striking out 13 batters. That allowed him to extend to 7⅓ innings, his longest outing of the season.

It marked the third time this season Skenes worked at least seven innings, and he exited the mound after striking out the only batter he faced in the eighth inning. He collected a season-high 15 strikeouts, giving up six hits and one walk while tossing 110 pitches.

Morgan’s defense also shined Friday. He caught a foul ball at the fence along the left-field line in the bottom of the second inning to retire Cade Foster. In the fourth, he ran down Foster’s low-hanging fly ball, catching it on the run and firing to Jordan Thompson. The ball rolled away from Thompson, but Dugas collected it and fired to first to catch Bryson Ward before he could return to the base.

Allsup exited the game after four innings. Aside from the two runs he gave up in the first, he silenced LSU, giving up only three hits in the outing.

The next LSU run came off of left-hander Tyler Bauman in the seventh. Alex Milazzo drew a leadoff walk and advanced on a balk. Morgan against came through, lining a hit to score Milazzo. Morgan finished 3 for 5 from the plate with three RBIs. LSU had only five hits as a team against Auburn (25-19-1, 9-13).

Once Skenes left, LSU turned to left-hander Nate Ackenhausen and right-hander Thatcher Hurd to hold tight to the lead. Ackenhausen closed the remainder of the eighth inning. After he gave up a single in the ninth, Hurd emerged to cover the final three outs, two of which were strikouts.