BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Mason Katz drove home four runs, two on a towering home run to center, and LSU beat Jackson State 11-7 on Friday in both teams’ opening game of the NCAA tournament.
Jared Foster added a two-run homer over the left-field bleachers for LSU (53-9), the host of the Baton Rouge regional. Foster entered the game in place of left fielder Raph Rhymes after Rhymes bloodied his nose in a collision with shortstop Alex Bregman.
LSU starter Ryan Eades, struggling with control, yielded two runs and left in the third inning with two runners on. Kurt McCune (4-1) ended the threat and went on to earn the win with 4 2/3 shutout innings, including five strikeouts.
Jackson State starter Alexander Juday (7-5) yielded seven runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Charles Tilery twice hit run-scoring doubles, and Fred Hampton homered for Jackson State (34-21).
