BATON ROUGE, La. – Designated hitter Cade Beloso launched a three-run homer and collected four RBI Tuesday night as top-ranked LSU defeated Grambling State, 17-5, in seven innings at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

LSU improved to 22-3 on the year, while Grambling dropped to 9-15.

LSU opens a three-game SEC series at 7 p.m. CT Thursday versus Tennessee in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The game will be televised on ESPNU, and it may be heard on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network.

Grambling led Tuesday’s game 3-2 heading into the bottom of the third inning, but centerfielder Dylan Crews and third baseman Tommy White started a rally with back-to-back singles before Beloso followed with his third homer of the season to give LSU a 5-3 lead.

First baseman Jared Jones blasted a solo homer – his eighth dinger of the year – and catcher Alex Milazzo lined an RBI single to punctuate the inning and increase LSU’s advantage to 7-3.

“I’m very proud of our team,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “You start getting into this middle point of the season with midweek games in between conference series, and sometimes as a coach you have to worry about the mindset of your team – I never have to worry about that with these guys. They showed up today ready to work and took care of business tonight, and now we’re moving on to the weekend.”

Right-hander Blake Money (1-0), the second of five LSU pitchers, was credited with the win as he entered the game at the beginning of the third inning and allowed three runs on two hits in two innings of work with two walks and two strikeouts.

LSU starting pitcher Christian Little worked the first two innings, limiting Grambling to no runs on one hit with one walk and four strikeouts.

Grambling starter Jacorey Boudreaux (0-2) was charged with the loss, as he surrendered seven runs on nine hits in three innings with three walks and no strikeouts.

LSU erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning as run-scoring singles by Beloso, rightfielder Paxton Kling, pinch hitter Ben Nippolt and pinch hitter Brayden Jobert highlighted the outburst.