BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU pitcher Paul Skenes started his third start of the season striking out 7 of the first nine Butler hitters he faced. By the end of his outing, Skenes fanned a a career-high 13 while allowing one hit Friday night against Butler to propel the Tigers to a series-opening 12-2 victory inside Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

LSU moves to 8-1 on the season and the Bulldogs fall to 2-8 on the year.

With the bats, Dylan Crews paced the Tiger offense with three RBI, all coming on a three run homer in the 5th inning, one in which LSU erupted for six runs.

Saturday’s contest is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. CT first pitch at “the Box.” The Tigers will face Central Connecticut State, and fans can view the matchup on SEC Network+. The game can also be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates.