BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — LSU opened a Southeastern Conference doubleheader against South Carolina with a 7-3 victory Saturday at Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field, overcoming an early deficit behind a dominant pitching performance from Marcos Paz and a balanced offensive attack.

The Tigers improved to 27-21 overall and 10-14 in Southeastern Conference play. The Gamecocks dropped to 22-26 and 8-16.

South Carolina struck first in the top of the first inning when Kennedy Bak homered to left field for a 1-0 lead. The Gamecocks did not score again until the ninth.

LSU answered in the bottom of the third, manufacturing a run without a hit. After singles from Jake Patrick and Steven Reaves, a sacrifice bunt from Mason Braun advanced both runners. Patrick scored on a sacrifice fly by Omar Serna Jr., cutting the lead to 1-0. LSU tied the game in the fourth when Cade Arrambide singled, moved to third on a double by Dawson Dardar and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brady Ruckert.

The Tigers broke the game open in the fifth. Reaves walked and Braun followed with a two-run home run to right field, giving LSU a 4-1 lead. After South Carolina changed pitchers, Arrambide singled and later scored on a single by Dardar to make it 5-1.

LSU added a run in the seventh when Arrambide homered to left, and another in the eighth on a groundout by Braun that plated Patrick, who had reached on an error.

South Carolina rallied in the ninth. With one out, pinch hitter Andrew Sutter reached on a throwing error and advanced to second. Pinch hitter Blake Parker singled, and Dylan Randolph drove in a run with a single to right. A passed ball allowed Parker to score, cutting the deficit to 7-3. But the Gamecocks could not close further.

Paz earned the win, working five innings and allowing one run on one hit while striking out eight. He walked one. Deven Sheerin relieved and tossed four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out three for his first save of the season.

Brandon Stone started for South Carolina and took the loss, going 4 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on four hits, walked one and struck out one. Logan Prisco, Cooper Parks, Connor Chicoli and Hudson Lee each appeared in relief.

Braun finished 1 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs. Arrambide was 3 for 5 with a homer and an RBI. Serna Jr. went 3 for 4 with an RBI. The Tigers outhit the Gamecocks 13-4.

The game was the first of a doubleheader necessitated by Friday’s postponement. LSU entered the weekend having lost three straight SEC series, including a sweep at Mississippi State. South Carolina had lost five of its previous six games, including a 4-0 defeat to Citadel on Tuesday.

Both teams will conclude the doubleheader Saturday evening before a scheduled single game Sunday. LSU will host Tulane on Tuesday before traveling to Georgia next weekend. South Carolina will return home to face Alabama next weekend.

Interstat’s ELO system projected LSU with a 71.20 percent probability to win the game.