JOURNAL SPORTS
After suffering its first home sweep at the hands of Ole Miss in program history, LSU made sure to pack its broom along with its bats in a road series at Vanderbilt.
The Tigers embarrassed No. 21 Vanderbilt with wins of 13-2, 8-3 and 21-10 as LSU secured itself the No. 4 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and strengthened its case to host an NCAA Regional.
Brayden Jobert launched two home runs and tied a school-record nine RBI as the Tigers (37-18, 17-13 SEC) completed its first sweep of Vanderbilt in program history.
Jobert crushed a grand slam and a three-run homer to add to a two-RBI double with his grand slam sparking an 11-run, eighth inning to wipe out a 9-7 Commodore (35-19, 14-16 SEC) lead.
“We made some small adjustments this week with Brayden, he went to work with it, and it’s really gratifying to see the results,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “It’s allowed him to connect his bat to his strength, and he’s incredibly strong, so it’s been a great week for him.
“Vanderbilt is the gold standard of college baseball right now, and to come in here and sweep them is something I’m really proud of.”
On Friday, Dylan Crews belted two home runs totaling three RBI to push his season home run total to 20.
LSU won its first series at Vanderbilt dating back to 2005.
The Tigers will begin the SEC Tournament on Wednesday, awaiting the winner of No. 5 seed Auburn and No. 12 seed Kentucky.
LOUISIANA TECH: Byrd High product Jonathan Fincher earned the win Saturday as the Bulldogs completed a series win at Charlotte with a 14-5 victory.
Fincher (7-2) pitched 2 2-3 scoreless relief innings to make sure that Tech’s seven-run first inning stood up.
Taylor Young, who broke Tech’s all-time hits record in the series opener, supplied three RBI to support Wade Elliott’s first-inning grand slam, giving coach Lane Burroughs his 200th win with the program.
After losing the opener Thursday, Tech rallied for an 8-3 win Friday. Charlotte had won 11 of its last 12 conference games entering the series.
The Bulldogs (38-18, 20-10 CUSA) wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and will meet Charlotte again in the first round Wednesday at 12:30.
GRAMBLING: The Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division title may have been out of reach as leader Southern swept lowly Alcorn State, but Grambling snatched the second spot in the division by finishing a sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The Tigers (25-29, 20-10 SWAC) handled business with wins of 18-13 and 16-2.
Friday, GSU dug out of a seven-run hole and ended the game on a 13-1 run. On Saturday, it was all G-Men as they put up a 10-run fourth inning highlighted by a Terry Burrell III grand slam.
ULM: The Warhawks earned their first series sweep since early April 2019 as ULM polished off Arkansas State with a 6-3 victory.
ULM (19-34-1, 10-20-1) secured the No. 10 seed in the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Championship and will face No. 7 Georgia State Tuesday in Mobile, Ala.
The Warhawks had dropped seven straight Sun Belt Series and nine consecutive conference games heading into the matchup with the Wolves (11-38, 5-24 Sun Belt), but the Warhawks get the sweep with wins of 16-9, 13-7 and 6-3 in the finale.
ULM weathered deficits of five and three runs in the first innings Thursday and Friday before methodically building a lead Saturday.
NORTHWESTERN STATE: The Demons’ season ended Friday with a 14-10 loss to Incarnate Word in an elimination game of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The No. 5 seed Demons (25-29) couldn’t muster enough pitching after starter all-conference arm Johnathan Harmon didn’t survive three innings as No. 8 seed UIW took a 5-2 lead.
The Cardinals feasted on NSU’s bullpen, although the Demons mounted a comeback with seven runs in the final three innings. UIW won 20 games this season – four against NSU, sweeping the Demons in San Antonio last month.
Photo courtesy LOUISIANA TECH