BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — William Schmidt pitched six strong innings and LSU defeated South Carolina 6-1 on Saturday in the first game of a Southeastern Conference doubleheader at Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field.

Schmidt allowed one earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts for the win. Grant Fontenot followed with three innings of one-hit relief, striking out four, as the Tigers improved to 27-21. The Gamecocks fell to 22-26.

LSU scored twice in the first inning on RBIs by Derek Curiel and Cade Arrambide, then added three runs in the second on a single by Curiel and a two-run single by Steven Milam. Arrambide added a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the fourth. Curiel, Milam and Arrambide each finished with two RBIs. Omar Serna Jr. singled and scored twice.

South Carolina opened the scoring in the top of the first when Ethan Lizama doubled and drove in Talmadge LeCroy. Parker Marlatt pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts for the Gamecocks. Amp Phillips took the loss, allowing five earned runs over six innings.

Both teams grounded into two double plays. South Carolina managed six hits to LSU’s eight.