METAIRIE, La. -- LSU pitcher Jake Tompkins made the most of an unscheduled start by striking out 10 in 4 2/3 innings, and Clay Harris and Brad David completed the shutout as the Fighting Tigers (31-15) cruised to a 13-0 rout of New Orleans (22-23) Tuesday night at Zephyr Field. LSU has now shut out three of its last four opponents, the Tigers' first stretch of three shutouts in four games since blanking Mississippi State three times in a four-game series in 1975. The Tigers shut out UNO for just the second time in series history, with the first coming in a 3-0 victory on May 23, 1987 in the NCAA South II Regional. LSU returns to Southeastern Conference action Friday at 7 p.m. EDT at Tennessee in the opener of a three-game series, a game that will be televised live by Comcast Sports Southeast. The series in Knoxville continues at 4 p.m. Saturday (Fox Sports Net) and at 2 p.m. Sunday (Jumbo Sports Network). Tompkins, who hadn't started since March 24 after being moved to the bullpen, started in place of scheduled starter Jason Vargas and did not walk a batter in his stint, getting needed work after pitching just 7 2/3 innings in the previous three weeks. Tompkins threw 70 pitches to improve to 4-0, as he was eligible for the win despite not going five innings because he was on a set pitch count. Harris, who had started the previous two midweek games against Southern and Louisiana-Monroe, struck out five over 3 1/3 innings of relief to run his streak of consecutive innings without a walk to 18 1/3. He retired the side in order on three pitches in the eighth, all on ground balls to second base. David worked a scoreless ninth to complete the whitewash. LSU pitchers struck out 16 batters on the evening, the most this year and the most since fanning 18 last year against Nicholls State. The Tigers went out in order in the first, but Sean Barker led off the second with a single, and Eric Wiethorn was hit by a Brandon Kling pitch to put two runners on. Barker and Wiethorn would both move up on a wild pitch by Kling, and Barker would come home when Chris Phillips grounded into a fielder's choice. The score would hold until the sixth, when LSU pushed across another run, as Aaron Hill and Barker singled before a balk moved the runners to third and a wild pitch by Kling scored Hill. Kling, a Baton Rouge native who threw 144 pitches on Friday in a complete game loss to Western Kentucky, gave up four runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings to fall to 4-4. LSU began to bust loose in the seventh, as Jason Columbus' leadoff triple led to another run on Phillips' RBI single. Rocky Scelfo would double off the left field wall two batters later to score Phillips and chase Kling from the game. Phillips, J.C. Holt and Hill would all contribute RBI singles in the Tigers' four-run eighth, with the last run in the frame coming home when Holt scored on a wild pitch following a strikeout by Barry Melancon, the Privateers' fourth pitcher of the night. The Tigers would add five more in the ninth, running LSU's margin over UNO in five meetings at Zephyr Field to 57-15.
