AUSTIN, Texas — First they were friends, but on this night they were enemies.
Luis Hernandez and Jared Spencer were teammates at Indiana State for the past two seasons. Together, they won 89 games and reached a super regional in 2023.
But the two found themselves occupying different dugouts on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Hernandez was LSU’s starting catcher, while Spencer was starting on the mound for Texas.
The senior faced off against the left-hander three times. And after laying down a sacrifice bunt in the second inning, it was Hernandez who got the better of Spencer.
Hernandez went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs against Spencer as LSU took down Texas 8-2 in Game 1 of the first Southeastern Conference series between the two teams.
Hernandez ended up going 3 for 4 with a homer and two singles.
It took a few innings, but Friday was another good night for LSU’s offense. The Tigers had 13 hits and every starter had at least one.
LSU put a man in scoring position in each of the first three innings but didn’t score until the fourth when Hernandez marched to the plate with one on and nobody out.
With the count at 1-2, Hernandez took a high cutter from Spencer and deposited it into the LSU bullpen in left field. The two-run homer was his third of the year and gave LSU a 2-1 lead.
After LSU extended its lead to 3-1 on a sacrifice fly out from Josh Pearson in the fifth inning, Hernandez dug back into the batter’s box and shot a single into left field that scored another run to give the Tigers 4-1 lead.
Spencer’s night was over by the end of the fifth inning. He threw a career-high 96 pitches, but LSU’s assault on Texas pitching had only begun.
A run-scoring bunt single from senior Michael Braswell, a run-scoring double by junior Chris Stanfield and a two-run single from junior Jared Jones put four runs on the board for LSU in the seventh inning to give it an 8-2 lead.
All four runs were charged to redshirt senior right-hander Andre Duplantier. Duplantier entered Friday’s game with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings.
LSU’s offense eventually stole the show, but sophomore left-handed starter Kade Anderson was the story for LSU on the mound.
He allowed just two earned runs and one extra-base hit in six innings. He gave up seven hits, but the first three didn’t even leave the infield.
His fastball sat in the mid 90s and mostly used the heater and his slider to retire hitters. He finished with eight strikeouts.
Junior right-hander Zac Cowan replaced Anderson in the seventh inning and threw three shutout innings to finish the game.
LSU and Texas will square off for Game 2 of the series in Austin on Saturday. First pitch from UFCU Disch-Falk Field is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be available to stream on SEC Network+.
