Neal, Loer lead LSU past North Dakota State, 6-2

BATON ROUGE, La. – Rightfielder Brady Neal doubled and drove in two runs Tuesday night, and left-hander Justin Loer earned his first LSU win as the second-ranked Tigers defeated North Dakota State, 6-1, in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

The Tigers improved to 15-2 on the year, while the Bison dropped to 3-12.

The start time of Wednesday’s LSU-North Dakota State baseball game has been moved to 4 p.m. CT due to the forecast of inclement weather in Baton Rouge. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CT.

Wednesday’s 4 p.m. CT game will be broadcast on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, and it will be streamed on SEC Network +.

Loer (1-0) entered the game Tuesday night in the fourth inning and fired 2.1 scoreless frames, limiting the Bison to one hit with no walks and three strikeouts.

“Justin is a huge part of our team,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “He’s got a lot of weapons, and he’s a guy you trust in tough situations.”

Left-hander Javen Coleman also pitched brilliantly for the Tigers to earn his first save of the season. Coleman worked 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with one walk and five strikeouts.

“I thought Javen was really sharp,” Johnson said. “He didn’t pitch last weekend, and I think the break served him well. He gobbled up three innings on just 44 pitches.

Neal was 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, two RBI and two runs scored to pace the LSU offense.

“Tonight was a big night for Brady in terms of his improvement,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t that he just hit the ball hard; I liked the at-bats that he took and how under control he was at the plate. It’s really good for our team to get that out of him.”

NDSU starting pitcher Leland Wilson (1-2) was charged with the loss, as he allowed three runs on three hits in 2.2 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.

LSU erased a 1-0 North Dakota State lead with two runs in the bottom of the second inning as shortstop Michael Braswell III delivered a sacrifice fly, and Neal scored from third base when catcher Alex Milazzo intentionally got caught in a rundown between first and second.

The Tigers expanded the margin to 3-1 in the third when first baseman Jared Jones smashed his sixth homer of the season.

LSU added a run in the fourth when Neal singled and later scored on Milazzo’s RBI groundout, and the Tigers stretched the lead to 5-1 in the fifth on Neal’s RBI single.

Neal’s run-scoring double in the seventh increased the Tigers’ advantage to 6-1.