LSU baseball outlasts Ole Miss to clinch series victory in crucial SEC slate

BATON ROUGE — They may have been playing through a dense haze, and dodging rain drops to try and get the game in, but LSU baseball wasn't going to let anything detract it from the task at hand against Ole Miss on Friday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.

Star hitter Tommy White, like he has the last several weeks, remained white-hot and ignited the Tigers' offense with a solo home run in the first. Starting pitcher Luke Holman dazzled, not giving up a hit to the Rebels until a check swing from Andrew Fischer in the fourth, the only hit off of him.

A day after securing a berth in next week's SEC Tournament, LSU handled the Rebels 4-0 to clinch another SEC series victory.

The Tigers (35-20, 12-17 SEC) will go for the sweep 1 p.m. Saturday.

REQUIRED READING Tommy White leads LSU baseball to pivotal Game 1 win against Ole Miss

Despite Tommy White's stellar hitting, LSU baseball couldn't pull away from Ole Miss

For the second straight day. White opened his day 3-for-3 at the plate and by the fifth inning had already had an RBI and a run scored.

And while LSU had nine hits through five frames, it couldn't get timely hits, going 3-for-19 with runners on base. Once baserunners reached scoring position, the Tigers were a forgettable 2-for-14. Those woes allowed Ole Miss, who had nowhere near the attempts at hitting with runners on, just eight at-bats, and in scoring position, Rebs went 0-for-4, to hang around the game as the Tigers only built a 4-0 lead.

Up 4-2 in the sixth, LSU left the bases loaded. The only time White was retired on the day, he struck out and Jared Jones followed it up with a strikeout as well.

LSU baseball's Luke Holman pitches great but lack of run support rears its head again

With his team needing to collect quality wins here near season's end, Holman put together one of this best outings on the season.

The junior right-handed, from the outset of this season, has been LSU's best starter and one of its most consistent pitchers on staff. And his performance against Ole Miss Friday couldn't have been timed any better.

He made one mistake in the top of the sixth to Rebel leadoff hitter Luke Hill who belted a two-run homer to right field but other than that, Holman kept his opponents guessing. He threw seven frames, allowing just the two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts, a mark he's hit eight times this season.

LSU standout reliever Griffin Herring making his mark on pivotal series vs Ole Miss

Less than 20 hours from recording a save in game one, Griffin Herring entered the game for LSU in the eighth inning with Ole Miss sporting two baserunners and no outs.

The left-handed then proceeded to generate back-to-back strikeouts before inducing a soft chopper back to him to get the Tigers out of the jam.

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Herring now has six saves on the season, which is tied for the SEC lead with Kentucky's Johnny Hummel.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball outlasts Ole Miss to clinch series victory in SEC series