How sweep it is: LSU baseball finishes off Ole Miss for big SEC series victory
BATON ROUGE – Oh, how sweep it is.
LSU baseball needed the prove something to itself, to the NCAA Tournament committee coming into the weekend. It needed quality wins and it needed to pass the eye. Or at the very least properly position itself to make a run next week at the SEC Baseball Tournament.
The Tigers demonstrably hoisted the colors, planting their flag as they earned their first sweep against an SEC opponent in its final regular season series, finishing the Rebels off, 9-3, Saturday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.
LSU (36-20, 13-17 SEC) beat Ole Miss 5-1 Thursday and clinched the series victory Friday with a 4-2 win.
"The whole theme of the weekend was 'focus,'" LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson said after LSU's sweep-clinching victory Saturday. "We can't get taken out of anything, play in the present moment. That's what it needed to be then mature baseball after that. We're playing as good as we've played all year."
"I don't think us being in the postseason even be a discussion. We have the players. We pass the eye test. We have 36 wins as an SEC team. This should be a no-brainer. We're being evaluated around the country and there are some very favorable things, if you look deeply at our record against somebody else against common opponents. We win out on all of those."
Tommy White hits grand slam, paces LSU baseball in series sweep over Ole Miss
Tommy White single-handedly may be hitting the Tigers into the NCAA Tournament. LSU's star has had 22 hits in his last 12 SEC games along with 19 RBIs and 15 runs.
REQUIRED READING Where does LSU baseball stand in NCAA Tournament projections ahead of final SEC series?
He smashed a grand slam Saturday followed by a solo home run in his next at-bat. Against Ole Miss, he had at least two hits in every game this weekend and sparked the Tigers' offense each game and in the most meaningful moments.
"Just grit," White said. "We came out and threw the first punch. I think we're in a good spot. We've won of our last five SEC series. Everyone wants to keep playing and that's a dangerous thing, when you got guys that just want to keep playing."
For the series, White went 8-for-13 with three home runs, triple, two doubles and two singles, seven RBIs and five runs.
"One guy is worth the price of admission. He put his team on his back this weekend and hopefully we go to a regional because of him honestly.
LSU baseball buries Ole Miss under two-out hits, RBIs
In each of the three games, LSU either took its first lead of the game or padded its lead on two-out hits. The Rebels could never gain any ground as the Tigers remained in the control. LSU knocked in five runs with two outs, Steven Milam had two across games one and two and Hayden Travinski brought two home in first inning Saturday to give LSU the early, 2-0 advantage.
Two-out RBIs have been one of the biggest areas the team has improved as it's build steam to go 12-5 in its last 17 games. Jay Johnson has talked extensively about his hitters' intent at the plate as well as improved discipline.
The first two games were decided by four runs or less and in those types of games, getting two-out hits and RBIs lead to wins.
"Seeing and getting the right pitches to hit are great for our confidence," White said. "In the past, we've chased and got outside of ourselves. But we're bringing it back to where it's at. Finding hard contact, hitting it where it's pitched, not trying to do too much, not trying to hit a five-run home run every time we're up there. Just putting it back where it came from.
"It's just playing the game the right way. That's how this team is together now and that's why we're winning baseball games."
Relievers Christian Little, Griffin Herring dominate, close down games
Both senior Christian Little and junior Griffin Herring each entered the game inheriting some sticky situations this weekend. And each time, the dynamic duo silenced Ole Miss to maintain LSU's leads and squash any momentum the Rebels tried to accrue.
Little pitched 1⅓ innings, striking out four batters while giving up two hits. Herring earned saves both Friday and Saturday night, going 2⅔ hitless frames with two strikes during the two innings he pitched Thursday night.
LSU BASEBALL 2025 SCHEDULE NEWS LSU baseball to play in annual college baseball series in Arlington, Texas next season
LSU CLINCHES SERIES WIN VS OLE MISS LSU baseball outlasts Ole Miss to clinch series victory in crucial SEC slate
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 sweeps Ole Miss as Tommy White leads the way for Tigers
