(Photo Credit: @LSUbaseball on X)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
After LSU controlled the action for the weekend’s first 13 innings, Texas dictated the terms the final 14 which included all nine on Sunday.
The Longhorns scored early and kept LSU in submission all afternoon to take the series finale and win two of three, 6-2.
LSU was poor in all phases on Sunday. Chase Shores got knocked around a little bit. The defense faltered. Offensively, a pair of season-long Longhorn relievers tied LSU in knots.
That recipe won’t win many SEC games, especially not against a solid team on the road.
Shores battled, but Texas worked him hard. The Longhorns scored in three of Shores’s four innings.
A leadoff walk to open the game came around on score on a two-out RBI single. That was a theme as Texas plated four runs with two out. It took Shores 30 pitches to escape the first frame.
Three Texas hits off of Shores pushed two more across in the second, and Max Belyeu launched a titanic two-run homer over the Texas bullpen in right field in the fourth. Shores had walked Ethan Mendoza in front of Belyeu. Both hitters Shores walked came home to score.
By the time Casen Evans could come out of the bullpen to fire his 3.2 excellent frames, the hole was too deep for LSU to dig out of. Evans allowed just one run and threw a season-high 60 pitches. He struck out five without issuing a walk.
Longhorn starter Ruger Riojas used a mix of four pitches to handcuff the Tigers through 5.2 innings. LSU singled once in the first, second, third and twice in the fifth, but they never made any of them count.
In the sixth, the swings were better. Steven Milam doubled into the right field corner to move Daniel Dickinson over to third with one out. Jake Brown followed with a sharp RBI single. Then Luis Hernadez hit one on the screws, but it was a lineout to the shortstop. Texas went to the bullpen at that point for freshman lefty Dylan Volantis.
Jay Johnson decided to steal a run with a first and third play that plated Milam from third as Brown was tagged out in a rundown.
That accounted for all of LSU’s scoring.
Texas added a run in the sixth with a little help from lady luck and LSU’s defense. A leadoff single hit the bag at third and trickled by Jared Jones. A double play ball that should have ended the inning was turned beautifully by Dickinson and Milam, but Brown just dropped the ball at first. Then Belyeu flared a ball into left field and caught Derek Curiel in no man’s land. Curiel tried to dive forward to snare it, but it bounced by him all the way to the wall for an RBI triple to make it 6-2.
Volantis dominated LSU over the final 3.1 innings. He didn’t allow a hit and struck out five.
Johnson had seen enough. He got thrown out of the game in the bottom of the eighth for arguing a bunt check swing.
Overall, the weekend was disappointing for LSU. After a brilliant Friday night performance all around, LSU cracked Saturday and Sunday. The bullpen had its issues, and the offense went cold against a Texas staff that isn’t exactly loaded.
Eight SEC weekends remain, and LSU will have to play better. However, Kade Anderson, Zac Cowan, Evans and this offense will give LSU a really good shot most every weekend. Texas was just better over these three days.
Now the Tigers return home for three games next weekend with Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 1-5 (barring a big, late rally at Oklahoma on Sunday) in league play. That’s a very, very winnable series.
THE SCORECARD
Ruger Riojas Line: 5.2IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 6K, 87 pitches, 62 strikes
Dylan Volantis Line: 3.1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 5K, 40 pitches, 24 strikes
Chase Shores Line: 4IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 3K, 96 pitches, 59 strikes
Casan Evans Line: 3.2IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 5H, 0BB, 60 pitches, 38 strikes
LSU was 7-for-32 (.219) in the game.
LSU was 2-for-11 (.182) with runners on.
LSU was 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
Texas drove in four runs with two out. LSU had zero.
Max Belyeu: 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 4RBI
Tommy Farmer: 3-for-4, 1R, 1RBI
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU returns to Baton Rouge for a Tuesday night contest with Louisiana-Lafayette. The Cajuns are 11-14 on the year and took two of three at South Alabama over the weekend. First pitch is set for 6:30 at Alex Box Stadium.
