LSU baseball
By Hunt Palmer
Wednesday will offer a change of scenery for LSU.
That might be a good thing. It might not. The Tigers fought things offensively for the entire weekend before crumbling a little bit on Monday in the loss to Northeastern. The setting in Lafayette at 6:00 p.m. will be painted red and ready to pounce.
Louisiana-Lafayette dropped its first two games of the season to Missouri State and has ripped off nine of 10 since. That includes a three-game sweep of Maryland and a midweek sweep of Kansas State. The Ragin’ Cajuns are playing confidently while the Tigers come in looking for some answers.
Tigue Moore Field will be sold out and full as the defending national champions arrive. Like the scene in Hattiesburg on Tuesday night when Mississippi State showed up, it should be quite an atmosphere.
HOSTILE HABITAT
Jay Johnson spoke extensively about LSU’s mindset on Monday. He’s clearly looking for a bit of a change.
This midweek game won’t hold any more weight than the others 12 weeks from now, but it certainly feels different before a pitch has been thrown. LSU is clearly carrying some unwanted psychological weight for the first time this season. It’s a road game. ULL has a solid club.
This isn’t a May Tuesday against the SWAC.
The Tigers are traveling to the only ballpark in the state that truly feels like a road atmosphere. You can bet Cajun fans are fully aware of the weekend struggles for the Tiger offense.
Does LSU channel that in a positive way to break free, or does the negativity snowball? That may sound like a negative, but it’s actually a great opportunity. ULL’s home ballpark seats almost twice what Vanderbilt’s does, so this will have LSU prepped for its conference opener on the road.
PITCHING PLANS
I’m not sure who will start for LSU. Jaden Noot makes some sense considering he only threw six pitches to close out Sunday’s win in his only outing of the weekend.
I’m more concerned with who will pitch later in the game. To me, Wednesday night’s game is an important one. I know Johnson preaches a 56-game playoff, but I’m not sure he’d fire off his highest leverage bullets in a midweek game with an SEC series looming.
I would Wednesday night.
Gavin Guidry has had four days of rest since throwing 50 pitches, and Deven Sheerin has been down for three days since throwing 15 on Saturday. Both should be available. And I think both will be available for three to six outs Wednesday night. Mavrick Rizy threw 38 on Sunday. He’s had two days off and likely has three outs in him.
That gives LSU its best three bullpen options for the last four innings of the game. If Johnson really wants to go for this, he can. That would compromise the Tigers on Friday, but Casan Evans will be on full rest with a projected pitch count around 100 to hopefully eat some innings. No such option exists on the front end for LSU Wednesday night.
LEFTY LEVERAGE
LSU played four games over the weekend and never used Ethan Plog, Santiago Garcia or Danny Lachenmayer. Cooper Williams got four outs.
LSU is going to need these guys moving forward, even if it’s just to get a lefty out before the big guns in the back end are deployed. Of the eight near-every day starters for the Ragin Cajuns, four hit left-handed, and one is a switch hitter. The best hitters are right-handed, but LSU isn’t going to be able to realistically navigate Wednesday and Friday without some left-handed help.
Plog and Garcia were thought to be the top southpaws out of the bullpen, and they’ve combined to walk five and hit another in 3.2 innings. That has to improve.
DOWN AND HARD
Johnson preaches hard ground balls and low line drives, especially the other way. Good things happen with high exit velocities on low launch angles in college baseball. When you get a mistake, elevate it.
LSU was brilliant for two weeks hitting the ball hard through infields. They’ll play on a fast turf surface Wednesday night.
It’s important for the first time through the order to go well. That will allow the group to exhale and swing the bats the rest of the way. Every inning a zero is hung by the Cajuns, that tension can build in the visiting dugout.
Derek Curiel was 3-for-18 (.167) last weekend. Maybe he’ll be the guy to get the Tigers started on Wednesday.
CAJUN COMMOTION
Matt Deggs’s Cajuns play a scrappy brand of baseball. They have stolen 23 bases in 12 games and have 10 bunts and 16 hit by pitches. The want to put the ball in play and run.
Cade Arrambide‘s defense will be crucial in the game, both receiving and throwing. I don’t think this is a spot for Omar Serna.
Johnson likes to schedule ULL in the fall to get some exposure to this style of play. LSU played Southeastern instead this year.
Maddox Mandino and Blaze Rodriguez are the two top base stealers. They’ve combined for nine. LSU only has 10 as a team.
More Top Stories
