Thatcher Hurd struggles but Tre Morgan hits for the cycle in run-rule win over Southern

Despite falling behind early in the game, the Tigers managed to bounce back in a big way against Southern on Tuesday night thanks to a monster game from Tre Morgan. He hit for the cycle in order and totaled eight RBI in an 18-4 win as the game ended after seven innings thanks to the run rule.

UCLA transfer Thatcher Hurd got his first start on the mound in an LSU uniform, and it did not go as planned. Going into the season, coach Jay Johnson said that Hurd had some work to do because he was struggling with accuracy. That showed big time against the Southern Jaguars.

Hurd only lasted two full innings before being pulled after giving up four runs on six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. That rough start had the Tigers down 4-0 going into the bottom of the third inning. That’s when the LSU bats showed up big time.

After Dylan Crews was hit by a pitch and Brayden Jobert was walked, Gavin Dugas hit an RBI double to right field to score Crews and cut the lead to 4-1.

Morgan then hit Dugas with the “Anything you can, do I can do better,” as he hit a two-RBI double to left field to cut the lead to 4-3. Then, Jared Jones hit a two-run shot to left to give the Tigers their first lead of the ball game.

Christian Little came in to pitch for Hurd in the third inning and he continued on the mound until the middle of the 6th inning. Little was given the job of stopping the early bleeding and he did his job very well.

He finished the game going 3.2 innings, and he only allowed one hit with six strikeouts and one walk.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, after Josh Pearson was hit by a pitch and Crews walked, Jobert finally got a good swing on a pitch as he hit a three-run shot to left field to make it 8-4 Tigers after four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, LSU put up five more runs as Jordan Thompson scored on a wild pitch, Morgan hit a three-RBI triple to left field to score Dugas, Jobert and Crews, and Jones hit an RBI single up the middle to score Morgan to make it 13-4 after five innings.

Freshman Griffin Herring made his first appearance of the season as he came in to get the final out of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Thompson scored on a groundout by Ethan Frey. Gavin Guidry followed that with an RBI single to left field to score Stevenson and make it 15-4 before Morgan hit a three-run bomb to make it 18-4.

With that homer, Morgan completed the cycle. He hit a single, double, triple, and a homer in that order. Morgan’s cycle was the first cycle for LSU since Mikie Mahtook in 2010 against Alcorn State.

Morgan finished the game 4-for-5 with eight RBI.

Herring stayed in to pitch the seventh inning as he tried to end the game in a run rule. The first batter he faced roped a double to the left field line and he was removed from the mound after that as Garrett Edwards came in to pitch for the Tigers. Edwards got three outs in a row without allowing a run to close things out.

LSU will be back in action this weekend in the Round Rock Classic as the Tigers take on Kansas State on Friday at 2 p.m. CT.

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Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire