LSU baseball opens the weekend on a high note with decisive win over Butler

After escaping Austin, Texas, with a 3-0 win over the Longhorns, the LSU Tigers looked to get back in the swing of things on offense against Butler to start the weekend. The Tigers did just that with a 12-2 win over the Bulldogs on Friday.

Paul Skenes got the start for the Tigers and showed that he is in a league of his own. He pitched 6 innings allowing just one hit with 13 strikeouts and no walks.

The LSU offense started off very slow, but that is to be expected when you are used to pitchers throwing almost 100 mph and you face a guy that tops out in the high 80s.

In the bottom of the third inning, Tommy White got the Tigers on the board with an RBI double to right field to score Ben Nippolt and make it 1-0 LSU after three innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, the floodgates opened as LSU plated six runs thanks to a 3-run Crews missile to right field, White scoring on a throwing error, and Josh Pearson and Tre Morgan scoring on an Alex Milazzo bunt single. That made the score 7-0 after five innings.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, LSU plated two more runs due to a fielding error and a Pearson flyout to right. Micah Bucknam came in to pitch for Skenes and struck out one of the two batters he faced before he was pulled for Griffin Herring. Herring retired the last batter of the inning in one pitch to maintain the 9-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ethan Frey hit an RBI single to center field to score Mic Paul. Cade Beloso followed that with a 2-RBI double to right field to make it 12-0 Tigers.

Aiden Moffett got his first action of the year in the top of the eighth inning and he struggled with location as he walked three and allowed one run before Gavin Guidry came in to get the final out of the eighth inning as LSU held a 12-1 lead.

Guidry stayed in to pitch the ninth inning. He struck out three straight batters but the last hitter reached as Travinski lost the ball. Butler then scored on an RBI double and Sam Dutton came in for Guidry. Dutton retired the first batter he faced and LSU won 12-2.

LSU has a long weekend of games ahead of them as they face Central Connecticut State on Saturday and Sunday before playing Butler again on Monday.

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Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire