The level of concern for the LSU baseball team is rising as the Tigers dropped their final nonconference weekend series of the season. The Tigers hit six home runs in a 15-4 mercy rule victory on Friday, only to lose 5-4 on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday.
LSU had just three hits on Saturday and did not have an extra-base hit on Sunday.
Give credit to Sac State; they made some plays on defense on Sunday, starting in the first inning, when Erick Dessens made a nice catch at the wall on Steven Milam’s deep fly ball.
But LSU Coach Jay Johnson said the real problem with LSU’s offense is not stringing together consistent at-bats.
The Tigers’ defense was also lacking again. Freshman left fielder Mason Braun failed to make a catch on a hard-hit ball that went over his head. That led to one run in the third inning.
The second run of the inning came across on a throwing error by Cade Arrambide, trying to throw out a runner at first on a dropped third strike. Arrambide's throw hit the runner going up the first base line.
While LSU hit into several lineouts, Sacramento State added a couple of runs in the sixth inning on a ground ball through the left side of the infield that beat the shift.
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It was that kind of night for LSU, which fell to 12-5.
It’s the first time the Tigers have had five losses before the start of SEC play since 2020. And according to college baseball analyst Ronnie Rantz, it’s the first time LSU suffered five losses against non-Power 4 teams before the start of SEC play since 2007, Paul Mainieri’s first year, and they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.
So how does LSU get out of this slump?
Johnson says work. The Tigers will take Monday off and practice at 1:00 on Tuesday before they play Creighton on Tuesday night. He says the game is secondary; the goal is to improve the team during that practice.
LSU starts SEC play on Friday night against Vanderbilt.