Marceuax, Bianco Power LSU Past Lamar 5-3

The two-week long national nightmare is over: the Tigers won a midweek game.

After dropping games to Southern University and Louisiana-Lafayette, the Tigers (27-15) brought order back to the universe with a 5-2 win over Lamar University (14-27) Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium.

Freshman Landon Marceaux got the start and the win after going through the Lamar line up one time. Marceaux faced 10 batters over the course of three innings and allowed zero runs and three hits. But the biggest victory for Marceaux was exiting Tuesday night’s game throwing those three innings pain-free.

“Tonight I felt healthy, I felt good, felt strong. I feel like that’s the key to what happened tonight,” Marceaux said. “Physically I feel great, I feel strong. I just want to get back out there and be competitive and not worry about does this hurt, am I aching or not? Just get out there and shoving it down their throat.”

In addition to feeling healthy, Marceaux owes his success on the mound against Lamar to command of his fastball.

“It all started there,” Marceaux said. “Having a good fastball, having life to it, working both sides of the plate and throwing a changeup off of that.”

After erupting for 33 runs and 43 hits over the weekend against the Florida Gators, the Tiger bats had a quiet night collecting only five runs off of four hits. The first three runs came courtesy of a Drew Bianco three-run home run to left field in the second inning. The shot was a no-doubter. It was Bianco’s second of the season, and first since February. Bianco waited for his pitch, a fastball coming on a 3-1 count, and “didn’t miss it.”

“It was really satisfying,” Bianco said after the game. “Going into that at bat I just wanted to get a little hit. That’s my approach, I’ve just been trying to put the ball in play and hit it up the middle hard and not really care where it goes. I swung through a fast ball earlier in that at bat and I was like all right you’re getting a fastball, it’s 3-1, don’t miss it. When I hit it I knew it was gone and it felt really good to have that feeling again.”

Runs four and five came from deep sacrifice flies from Brock Mathis and Josh Smith in the fifth inning.

Lamar was able to match Bianco’s home run with a shot of their own, by way of a Robin Adames home run solo blast to left field in the fifth inning.

Offense was hard to come by for both sides. Lamar and LSU combined for 11 hits and only six runners were left on base the entire night. The Tigers and Cardinals each had five three-up, three-down innings.

In typical midweek game fashion, LSU threw a variety of arms against Lamar. After Marceaux, the LSU had Matthew Beck on to pitch the fourth and fifth; Riggs Threadgill started the sixth but only lasted two-thirds of the inning before being replaced by Ma’Khail Hilliard; Hilliard was replaced with Trent Vietmeier after recording three outs and Todd Peterson took over in the eighth inning. Devin Fontenot came on in the ninth to close things out for LSU.

Fontenot created some late game drama for himself in the ninth inning but was able to pitch out of it. Fontentot allowed a leadoff single and walked three other Cardinal batters in the ninth. He allowed a run to score in a bases loaded situation when he hit Cardinal first baseman Anthony Quirion. But Fontenot was able to seal the game with a three-pitch strikeout of left fielder Reese Durand and got Durand to go down looking.

LSU is back on the field this weekend in Tuscaloosa as the Tigers take on the Crimson Tide of Alabama, co-owners of the worst conference record in the SEC with Kentucky.