GOOD NEWS: The Tigers have brought him back….

Neither team was giving an inch.

It took until the fourth inning for either team to muster a hit. LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson struck out 13 Southeastern Louisiana batters, but LSU’s offense failed to support him.

That was until the top of the ninth inning.

The Tigers trailed 3-1 going into the final frame, but a pair of clutch two-out at bats led the Tigers to a 4-3 win.

Southeastern Louisiana retired two of the first three LSU batters, and had Mac Bingham to his final strike. Bingham battled back and drew a walk, which set the table for the late-game heroics.

With two on and two out, Ethan Frey had a pinch-hit double to cut the deficit in half and bring the top of the order back up. That brought up Paxton Kling, who despite starting 0-for-4, became the hero for LSU.

Kling hit a line drive past the third baseman to drive in two more runs, giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead. The same offense that struggled to get on the board for eight innings delivered when it was needed most.

Steven Milam was another integral part of the win, and got the offense going in the ninth. He singled with one out and accounted for the first run of the inning on Frey’s double.

Milam also accounted for LSU’s first run of the game. He singled in the fifth inning and two batters later, Bingham brought him home on an RBI single up the middle.

The late game heroics wouldn’t have been possible without the dominance shown for much of the game by the LSU pitching staff. LSU’s pitchers struck out 20 batters, led by Anderson’s 13 to start the game.

Anderson pitched five innings, allowing two hits, two walks and one unearned run. It was another impressive outing for the freshman from Madisonville, Louisiana, who has only allowed one earned run in 14 innings this season.

Fidel Ulloa and Nate Ackenhausen each struck out three in three combined innings. Ulloa allowed an earned run on two hits, but Ackenhausen closed the game in the ninth with three straight strikeouts.

LSU narrowly avoided another mid-major upset loss to a team that already has a pair of upset wins this season against East Carolina and Cal State Fullerton.

The Tigers have one more non conference series as they face Xavier University (Ohio) this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday night and the game will be streaming on SEC Network.