|
TIGERS POST 4-0 VICTORY OVER AIR FORCE TO IMPROVE TO 3-0
BATON
ROUGE, La.— Eighth-ranked LSU (3-0) picked up its second shutout of the
new season Sunday, defeating Air Force, 4-0, in Alex Box Stadium.
The
Tigers outscored their opponents, 33-2, in earning three wins over the
opening weekend of the season. In addition to Sunday’s victory, LSU
defeated Air Force 10-2 on Friday and the Tigers blanked Alcorn State
19-0 on Saturday.
Air Force, which defeated Alcorn State, 6-1, earlier Sunday, dropped to 1-3 on the season with the loss to LSU.
Kurt
McCune (1-0) provided the Tigers with six solid innings of scoreless
baseball to earn the win Sunday. The sophomore right-hander punched out
four, allowed three hits and walked one on a brisk afternoon. McCune
retired the side in three of his six innings of work.
“I
thought Kurt McCune was tremendous today,” said LSU coach Paul
Mainieri. “He has such great locations on his pitches, and it always
seems he can throw exactly where he wants to. That’s the secret to his
success.”
Freshman Aaron Nola and sophomore Nick Rumbelow
combined to shut the door on the Falcon’s comeback hopes. Nola fired
two scoreless frames and struck out two. Rumbelow worked himself out of
bases-loaded ninth inning jam to protect the victory.
LSU
posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since April 2008, when
the Tigers blanked Centenary and Alabama in consecutive outings.
“It’s
tough to lose a game when the other team doesn’t score any runs,”
Mainieri said. “Everyone who took the mound for us over the weekend
really did an outstanding job. Overall, I think we played well in all
three games; there are always areas in which we can improve but I can’t
find too much fault with the way our players performed.”
The
LSU offense chased Air Force starter Michael Ceci Sunday after four
innings. The lefty gave up three runs, two earned, five hits and two
walks and struck out two.
Tyler Moore drove in two runs on a fourth inning single and Jackson Slaid provided three hits and an RBI single.
Mason
Katz led off the bottom of the fourth with a hotshot single to left. He
moved to second on Slaid’s single to right. JaCoby Jones stepped up and
crushed a ball that was tracked down in center, and Katz moved to third.
Austin
Nola hit a dribbler back to the pitcher who appeared to have Katz
caught in a rundown. Katz evaded the tag and reached third safely. Nola
was safe at first and Slaid moved to second.
Moore ripped
a liner into center that plated Katz and Slaid, and moved Nola to
third. Moore proceeded to steal second and the throw from the catcher
was off target and into centerfield. Nola jogged home to give LSU the
3-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, right fielder Raph Rhymes made a spectacular diving catch that brought Tiger fans to their feet.
The
Tigers threatened in the bottom of the sixth, but could not garner
another run. Nola drew a two-out walk and then reached third after the
catcher’s throw sailed into center. Moore made contact and was thrown
out at first to end the
threat.
Moore
showed quick reflexes in the top of the seventh. Air Force’s Taylor
Ausbun attempted to surprise the Tigers with a bunt attempt, only to
pop it up high in to the air behind the plate. Moore quickly turned
around, found the ball and made a leaping catch for the second out of
the inning. Aaron Nola registered the third out on a strike out.
LSU
reached Air Force reliever Todd Del Toro in the top of the eighth.
Rhymes led off with a hot shot single to left field and moved to second
on a wild pitch. Slaid smashed a single in front of the center fielder
and scored Rhymes to give LSU an insurance run.
Air Force
threatened in the top of the ninth. Blair Roberts reached base on an
error by Austin Nola. Garrett Custons reached base on a fielder’s
choice and made it to second on Patrick Lobo’s bloop single. Ausbun
struck out, but Moore’s throw to first was off target. Rumbelow
recovered to force pinch hitter David Thomas to fly out and end the
game.
LSU 4, Air Force 0 (Feb 19, 2012 at Baton Rouge, La.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Force........... 000 000 000 - 0 4 2 (1-3)
LSU.................... 000 300 01X - 4 9 2 (3-0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Air Force - CECI, Michael; DEL TORO, Todd(5); HOURIN, Jack(8) and CUSTONS, Garrett.
LSU - Kurt McCune; Aaron Nola(7); Nick Rumbelow(9) and Tyler Moore.
Win-Kurt McCune(1-0) Loss-CECI, Michael(0-1) T-2:09 A-10341
Weather: 56F and partly cloudy
Actual attendance: 5,078
|
