Freshmen propel LSU to midweek W over UNO

By Hunt Palmer

LSU’s freshman got their shot Tuesday. They delivered.

Four freshmen came through in a seven-run fifth that flipped the lead and paced LSU’s, 10-7, win over UNO on Tuesday.

Jack Ruckert collected a pair of hits in the frame. His first got it going, and his second, a bouncer through the right side, scored a pair. Omar Serna laced a two-run single to center. After Zach Yorke walked, Mason Braun dumped a pinch-hit single into left that scored a run. William Patrick was hit by a pitch to keep the inning moving.

None of the scoring happens if Steven Milam doesn’t chop a two-run, two-out double inside the bag at first. It wasn’t just the youngsters.

Not only did the freshmen come through at the dish. They made some plays on defense. Ruckert turned one double play and converted another by taking the ball to second base himself to start a twin killing. Braun made a diving catch in left field with a runner on in the seventh.

Jay Johnson’s inclusion of Ruckert and Patrick in the lineup signals something of a youth movement afoot after Jake Brown’s hand surgery cost him the rest of the season.

The seven-run outburst followed one of LSU’s patented midweek meltdowns.

Santiago Garcia entered a 2-1 UNO game and promptly hit a batter with a 3-0 pitch and walked another on five pitches. With two outs, he uncorked a wild pitch. That opened a base for Dylan Biddick, UNO’s best hitter, but Johnson elected to pitch to him left-on-left with two in scoring position. I didn’t love it.

Biddick swatted a two-run single up the middle to give the Privateers a 4-1 advantage.

Outside of that inning, LSU pitched very well until the ninth.

UNO produced another two-spot came in third when Kruise Newman drilled a pretty good Grant Fontenot slider the other way for a two-run shot that gave UNO the lead. No big deal.

Gavin Guidry allowed a three-run shot to Biddick in the ninth to make it fairly interesting, but he slammed the door with a pair of strikeouts.

Patrick had started the scoring with a backside chopping double inside the bag at first in the third. Cade Arrambide’s line shot homer in the fourth tied things at two before Garcia’s struggles.

LSU needed a little bit of a palate cleanser after an awful weekend and the injury news on Brown and Cooper Moore, neither of whom will be back this season.

It remains to be seen whether or not Ruckert and Patrick start Friday in one of the toughest environments in the country, but they made good on an opportunity Tuesday night.

THE SCORECARD

LSU: 9-for-30 (.300)

LSU with Runners On: 6-for-16 (.375)

LSU with RISP: 5-for-12 (.417)

Eight Tigers had a hit.

Grant Fontenot: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 48 pitches, 31 strikes

Danny Lachenmayer: 1.2 IP, 5 K, 7 batters faced.

Tiger pitching struck out 17.

Dylan Biddick: 3-for-5, 5 RBI, HR

WHAT’S NEXT

LSU travels to Starkville to take on Mississippi State in a three-game series. The Bulldogs swept South Carolina last weekend and enter the series 10-8 in league play and in the hunt for hosting opportunities in the NCAA Tournament.