Staff writer
Following a weekend of Southwestern Athletic Conference sweeps completed on the road Monday, Grambling’s baseball and softball teams slumped Tuesday in non-conference outings.
BASEBALL: LSU bolted to a 6-0 lead after three innings on Tuesday, and eight pitchers combined to work nine scoreless innings in a 7-0 shutout of Grambling in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
LSU improved to 25-15 with its fourth win in its past five games. Grambling dropped to 14-20 with Tuesday’s loss, but has won 14 of its last 23, primarily behind a prolific offense which has scored 10 or more runs nine times in those wins.
Grambling drew a goose egg for only the second time this year. The other one came in a 10-0 loss at Mississippi State March 6. The G-Men scored 36 runs in their weekend sweep at Texas Southern.
The shutout was LSU’s fifth this season and improved the Tigers’ record in midweek non-conference games to 10-0 on the year.
“Grambling has been playing really good baseball recently, and they were coming off a three-game conference sweep last weekend, so I was definitely concerned about this game,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “But, I thought our guys played exceptionally well all day.”
Grambling starter Antoine Valerio (3-2) was charged with the loss as he surrendered six runs on nine hits in 2.2 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
LSU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning when shortstop Jordan Thompson launched a solo homer –- his seventh dinger of the year -– and designated hitter Cade Beloso ripped an RBI double into the right-centerfield gap.
LSU added four runs in the third to take control.
The G-Men are home this weekend for a Southwestern Athletic Conference series beginning Friday against Prairie View.
SOFTBALL: The Lady Tigers dropped a 5-2 decision at home Tuesday afternoon to ULM, but neither institution provided any details as of late Tuesday night.
Grambling (10-14, 7-6) visits Jackson State this afternoon.