Here’s a fun fact as the 2nd ranked LSU baseball team begins SEC play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville. The Tigers’ pitching staff leads the nation in strikeouts with 234.
Coach Jay Johnson expects his deep pitching staff to keep throwing strikes.
“I don’t think there’s a drop off the from the guy who throws in game one on Friday, who I think is one of the best guys in the country, to pitcher 12 and 13, and I think that’s awesome,” said Johnson.
Luke Holman will start the series opener on Friday. He’s tied for fifth in the nation in strikeouts with 40. The junior right-hander has not allowed an earned run in 24 innings. He’s also only walked four.
LSU has already named sophomore left-hander Gage Jump as the game two starter. Jump has also not given up an earned run on the season. He’s thrown 13.1 innings, and he has struck out 21. He’s only walked two.
Thatcher Hurd will start the series finale. Hurd has struck out 27 in 17 innings, and he has a 1-1 record with a 4.76 ERA.
The Tigers have yet to hit their stride at the plate. They are sixth in the SEC hitting with a team average of .304. Johnson knew there would be a drop-off after losing Golden Spikes Award winner Dylan Crews.
“It’s good to be struggling and hitting over .300 as a team, the bar is super high, we lost a player that was worth four runs a game, it’s the best player in the history of college baseball, we were just not going to ten run everybody, literally nothing that has happened has not been a surprise to me,” said Johnson.
There are a few players scuffling, like Paxton Kling and Josh Pearson, but there are others who are off to a good start like Steven Milam, Hayden Travinski, and Jared Jones.
Also, Brady Neal is hitting .348 and expect Johnson to figure out a way he’s in the lineup. In Wednesday’s win over North Dakota State, Johnson inserted Mac Bingham at the top of the order and he reached base three times, including a home run, raising his average to .300.
Mississippi State as a team is hitting .293, which is 10th best in the SEC. They’ve only hit 15 home runs and Dakota Jordan has hit nine of them. Jordan just went on a stretch where he homered in five straight games.
“Dakota Jordan right now is as hot as anybody in the country, it looks like every time I look up, he hits a homer. They have some very good players, and I really like the top of their order. They’re playing hard and they’re playing with purpose. It’s going to be a good series. I think Mississippi State is one of the most talented teams in the country.”
Johnson went on to say they are a sleeper pick for Omaha.
The Bulldogs have fallen on hard times since winning the College World Series in 2021. They’ve gone 9-21 in the SEC the last two years.
It does not look like they’ll have their ace for this series. Nate Dohm, who has a 1.50 ERA in 24 innings, left last Friday’s start with arm discomfort.
Coach Chris Lemonis doesn’t think it’s serious, but he’ll have to pitch sophomore Evan Siary in the SEC opener.
The right hander has pitched in six innings this year and given up three earned runs. Last year, he had an ERA of 7.07 in 14 games, while making three starts.
The Sunday starter is Jurrangelo Cijintje. He’s from the Netherlands and can pitch with his right and left arm during the game. He’s putting up good numbers so far this season, as he’s 3-0, 2.08 ERA and he’s struck out 35 in 21.2 innings.
