“They’re dead in the water” was a tweet I got last week, when LSU had another head scratching loss against McNeese State. After LSU went on the road in the SEC and beat #2 Mississippi State two out of three games, that tweet isn’t aging so well. Let’s breakdown the impressive road series win for the Tigers.
LSU Hitting: In game one of the series the Tigers offense was anemic at best, until late in the game when LSU amassed 5 runs on 9 hits in a 6-5 loss to MSU. LSU Coach Paul Mainieri shuffled the lineup in games two and three. That move sparked the Tigers offensively. C.J Willis had a big pinch hit double in game one, and remained in the lineup for the remainder of the weekend. Mainieri decided to move RF Antoine Duplantis from the three hole to lead off in games two and three; Duplantis responded going 6 of 12 with 2 RBI and hitting 2 HR (7th this season). Duplantis broke out of a little slump in the series win over the Bulldogs. Chris Reid also had a nice series, after sitting out game one. Reid went 4 for 5 with 2 walks and 3 RBI. Freshman Giovanni DiGiacomo also contributed at the plate getting a hit in each of the three games. The Tigers struck out 41 times in the series. Sure, the Bulldogs have a great pitching staff, but that’s a staggering total for the weekend.
Grade: A-
LSU Pitching: After a brilliant outing the week before in a win over Georgia, Zack Hess got knocked around in game one against Mississippi State giving up three home runs. Hess (2-2) gave up 11 hits and 6 runs, along with 3 strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work. Trent Vietmeier was solid in relief of Hess, holding State scoreless for the remainder of the game. LSU would lose game one 6-5. Freshman Cole Henry responded in game two of the series. Henry was touched for four runs, but struck out 9 hitters in 5 full innings of work. The offense showed up in support of Henry. Devin Fontenot came out of the bullpen going 3.2 innings of work giving up just 1 run. Fontenot is the Tigers “best” guy out of the bullpen at this point in the season. Tod Peterson recorded one out in the 9th inning to end the game, a 10-5 win for the Tigers. With the series tied at 1-1, sophomore right hander Erik Walker looked like the Erik Walker we saw as a freshman. Coming off Tommy John Surgery, Walker’s progress has been slow, but man did he turn in a beauty. Walker was pinpoint with control, dazzling MSU hitters all the while not throwing harder than 89 MPH. “Just to see him pitch like that was such a huge lift for our team,” LSU coach Paul Mainieiri told me. Walker logged 7 innings of scoreless baseball on the mound. Todd Peterson pitched 2 innings giving up a 2 run HR allowing MSU to avoid a shutout. Peterson has been a little shaky in his last couple of outings. Skipper Paul Mainieiri isn’t worried about Peterson as his closer, “He’s missing with location a bit. His stuff is still good. Todd seems to pitch better when the game is on the line,” Mainieri said. To his point Peterson entered the game in the 8th inning with a 10 run lead. All and all the Tigers got a series win with an 11-2 win in game three over Mississippi State.
Pitching Grade: A-
LSU defense: The Tigers continue to play perfect baseball on defense. Josh Smith continues to show why he could be the best fielding short stop in country. Smith turned in a handful of tough plays he made look easy. Zach Watson stole a couple of would be hits with his glove in center field.
Defense Grade: A+
LSU coaching: Coach Paul Mainieri is famous for tinkering with the lineup in order to find the right one. He moved Antoine Duplantis up in the order, and the offense really took off scoring 21 runs in the final two games of the series. Give Mainieri some credit for believing in freshman C.J Willis, giving him a chance to pinch hit in game one. Them, after coming through with a hit, Willis started the final two games at first base. “C.J’s last three days in batting practice had been good, and it seemed like his confidence was growing,” said a confident Mainieri.
Coaching Grade: A+
Overall Grade: A
Lagniappe: Outfielder Daniel Cabrera is battling a sore wrist; he missed the series finale against Mississippi State. Coach Paul Mainieri hopes it’s nothing long term, “It’s been bothering him since Christmas break. He’s getting special treatment over the weekend. A few days of rest and treatment and I hope he’s going to be okay,” Mainieri explained.
The Tigers are now 6 and 3 in the SEC and 19 and 9 overall. LSU will play five games over the next seven days with two mid-week games against Grambling on Tuesday and South Alabama on Wednesday at the Box in Baton Rouge. Then, the LSU baseball Tigers will step back into conference play to face another top 10 opponent for three games at home…Texas A&M.
