BATON ROUGE - LSU struggled to get a hit off of West Virginia for the early portion of their NCAA Super Regional game, but once they broke through the Tigers continued to pour it on against the Mountaineers to take a 16-7 lead with the help of a seven-run fifth inning.

Tiger freshman Derek Curiel smashed a three-run home run to the opposite field in the fourth inning to get the scoring started for LSU. The deep shot was the first hit of the game for LSU and gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning at Alex Box Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Curiel took a high and away pitch to left field for the Tigers first hit of the game after Luis Hernandez and Daniel Dickinson both were hit by pitcher Griffin Kirn in the third.

LSU struck again in the fifth inning when Steven Milam slapped another opposite-field grand slam to right to put the Tigers ahead 7-1.

Curiel would add another RBI with a liner to right that would score that would plate Hernandez to make it 8-1.

Chris Stanfield would continue the hit parade with a 2 RBI single to center as LSU scored seven runs in the fifth inning.

LSU would add another huge inning of runs in the sixth when they drew two bases-loaded walks and then lead-off hitter Josh Pearson stepped into one and belted the Tigers second grand slam of the day as he roped one to right to push LSU ahead 16-5 with a six-run inning.

The Tigers did trail early in the game when West Virginia worked a pair of baserunners around with a sacrifice bunt.

LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson was struck in the back of his pitching arm with a sharp liner back to the mound in the second inning and the Mountaineers were able to score from third after sacrificing a pair of baserunners over.

Anderson was back out to pitch in the third inning and retired the side in order and appeared to get better after the contact as he would sit down nine of the next 12 batters he faced.

West Virginia would start to touch up Anderson in the sixth inning with four runs on four hits to make it a 10-5 ballgame.

Anderson's final line was seven innings pitched, seven runs, six of them earned with seven strikeouts and two walks on 113 pitches. 

LSU secured their victory in the sixth inning. After two runs came in off of bases loaded walks, senior Josh Pearson hit a grand slam for a 16-5 lead.

West Virginia would try to catch up with a few home runs of their own in the seventh and ninth innings, but it wouldn't be enough to top LSU. The Tigers win 16-9.

LSU and West Virginia will play game two of the Super Regional on Sunday with a scheduled first-pitch set for 5 p.m.. The Tigers are just one win away from a College World Series berth.