LSU is on its way to another Super Regional.

Three Tigers' pitchers combined to hold Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns to just three hits and LSU won the Baton Rouge regional, defeating the Cajuns 5-1 before 10,191 actual attendance Sunday night at Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field.

The win sends LSU (55-9) into next week's Super Regional, when they will entertain Oklahoma, the winner of the Blacksburg region.

Brent Bonvillain (3-0,) Nick Rumbelow and Chris Cotton allowed only five baserunners the entire game, shutting down a Cajuns' offense that was among the nation's leaders.

Cajuns' starter Cody Boutte (8-4), who threw 29 pitches in a game earlier in the day against Sam Houston State, pitched valiantly for the Cajuns, working into the fifth inning before faltering.  Boutte allowed only four hits, but walked six, three of them in the fifth when LSU got on the board.

With two out, Boutte walked Mason Katz.  Raph Rhymes then hit a little flare into no man's land between the pitchers mound and second base that Boutte was unable to field.  The left hander then issued back to back walks to Christian Ibarra and Ty Ross to score LSU's first run and end Boutte's night.  Cord Cockrell came in to get the final out.

But the Tigers padded the lead next inning when, with one out, Mark Laird singled, as did JaCoby Jones.  Tournament Most Outstanding player Alex Bregman singled home Laird to make the score 2-0.  Kendall Mayer relieved Cockrell and struck out Katz, but Rhymes lined a single to the opposite field to bring home two more runs.

Louisiana (43-20) got its run in the sixth inning when Jace Conrad doubled home Dex Kjerstad, who had reached on Bregman's error to open the inning.  Conrad stole third, but the Cajuns couldn't get him home, as Bonvillain got Blake Trahan to fly out to short center for the first out.  Rumbelow then entered and struck out Caleb Adams and Tyler Girouard to end the inning.  The Cajuns did not have another base runner the rest of the night.

Bregman's eighth inning homer off Ben Carter ended the scoring.

In addition to Bregman,  LSU pitchers Bonvillain and Austin Nola were named to the all-tournament team, along with catcher Ty Ross, first baseman Mason Katz and outfielder Raph Rhymes.  Adams and Girouard were the two Cajuns on the team.

 

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