BATON ROUGE, La. — The Wildcats' offense rose to the challenge Tuesday night with 10 runs on 12 hits to pick up a huge 10-7 road win over No. 24 LSU at Alex Box Stadium. The victory is Bethune-Cookman's first over a ranked opponent since 2017, with the last regular season win coming in 2014.

LSU (22-12, 6-6) struck first in the opening frame, grabbing two runs on two hits to take a 2-0 advantage. The Tigers opened the inning with two straight walks before scoring on a caught stealing and a base hit by Derek Curiel.

Bethune-Cookman (23-10, 10-2) quickly responded in the second with three runs on six hits to take a one run lead. Erick Almonte, Christopher Watson, and Darryl Lee each picked up RBI hits as the Tigers used three different pitchers in the inning.

The Tigers would then tie the game in the bottom of the inning on a Jake Brown single after a walk and a base hit to begin the frame.

In the third, LSU would retake the lead following a Cade Arrambide RBI double to deep center field. Sergio Rivera nearly made a spectacular leaping grab to rob the Tigers but couldn't quite secure it as it popped out of his glove as he hit the wall.

Bethune-Cookman tied the game once again in the fourth after Jorge Rodriguez crushed his first home run of the season. But LSU answered once again, with Curiel picking up another RBI hit to make it 5-4 Tigers.

The Cats tied the game for the third time in the fifth on a double by Michael Rodriguez. B-CU was aided by an error on a pickoff attempt, allowing the runner to advance into scoring position.

LSU took its final lead in the sixth, as Jake Brown hammered a solo homer to right field to go ahead 6-5.

The Wildcats blew the game open in the sixth, scoring five runs on just two hits to take a four-run advantage. Darryl Lee got the rally started with a triple and he would score on a single by Andrey Martinez. After two hit batters, LSU would then walk in two runs and allow two more on an error at second base.

Trailing 10-6, the Tigers had multiple chances to comeback in the late innings. They loaded the bases in the seventh inning with no outs, but Jean Zambrano came up big, striking out the side to eliminate the threat.

In the ninth, LSU got the tying run to the plate after a B-CU error. But Zambrano came through again, induced a groundout from Curiel to snatch the upset victory.
 

• The Wildcats' win is their first over LSU in program history.
• Jean Carlos Zambrano picked up his first win of the season. He pitched the final three innings, allowing no earned runs on just one hit with three strikeouts.
• Jorge Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season.
• Darryl Lee finished 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, and an RBI.
• Erick Almonte and Christopher Watson each drove in two runs.
• LSU used nine different pitchers in the game.

The Wildcats finish out the road trip in Itta Bena as they take on the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils for a three-game series. Game one begins Friday at 7 p.m.

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