The last six games of LSU baseball have been difficult to watch. Not a lot of offense, inability to get clutch hits, big offensive innings from opposing teams, wild pitches and wild throws.
During this stretch LSU is 3-3, with losses coming against McNeese, Northeastern and UL Lafayette.
It has some LSU fans questioning if the Tigers are really a national championship contender.
But Coach Jay Johnson says lessons have been learned in these losses that can grab a team’s attention.
“We’ve had a little bit of a seed bump, and I’ll use that to make this team better,” Johnson said.
Getter better offensively is a top priority for Johnson. During the past six games, LSU is hitting .209.
The Tigers had seven hits in Wednesday night’s loss to the Ragin Cajuns, five of the hits were by Derek Curiel and Jake Brown.
No one else is really hitting. Shortstop Steven Milam has 2 hits in his last 17 at bats. Second baseman Seth Dardar has one hit over his last 16 at bats. Cade Arrambide has one hit in his last 13 at bats.
Johnson is eager to get these guys out of their slumps.
“I’m really going to go hands one with the hitting more than ever in my time at LSU. That’s my baby.”
Johnson said now that they will be playing four games a week, instead of five, it will give his coaching staff a better opportunity to prepare his team.
That includes in the field where the Tigers have a fielding percentage of .961 which ranks last in the SEC. Throwing errors have been a major culprit for the 18 errors committed in 14 games.
But it’s not all bad for LSU. The Tigers weekend rotation has the potential to be one of the best in the country with Casan Evans, Cooper Moore and William Schmidt.
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Johnson also said he knows the four relievers he can count on. He didn’t name them, but they are likely Gavin Guidry, Deven Sheerin, Ethan Plog and the fourth is probably Jaden Noot.
Mavrick Rizy could possibly join that group, if he can cut down on the walks, seven of them in 8.1 innings. And Zac Cowan could also join the trust circle if he can miss more bats.
And eventually LSU’s bats will come around.
“We need to get some sustained quality at-bats and it doesn’t have to mean, hit after hit after hit, we need to create more free bases and need to hit mistakes better,” Johnson said.
Johnson understands the issues and that’s why he sees this as just a speed bump.
Up next for the Tigers, it’s the final non-conference weekend series of the year as LSU hosts Sacramento State.
The Hornets are 3-9 and only hitting .211 as a team.