LSU Baseball
By Hunt Palmer
The last three weekends have derailed LSU’s season.
Midweek wins over Northwestern State and UNO can’t atone for sweeps at the hands of conference foes. Jay Johnson’s team is only three games above .500 on the season and has sunk to 15th in the SEC standings at 6-15.
The resume talk is over. The RPI doesn’t matter. For LSU, it’s about playing better, developing young players and finding wins wherever possible. Tuesday night, Southeastern Louisiana makes the trip over from Hammond. The Lions have won four straight games and allowed a total of five runs over that span against Alcorn State and Houston Christian.
Earlier this season, Southeastern beat Southern Miss and Oklahoma in midweek matchups. With two weekends remaining, the Lions are tied atop the Southland standings with Lamar who hosts them this coming weekend in Beamont.
AVAILABLE ARMS
LSU taxed its pitching in a major way over the weekend. With Casan Evans being scratched and Cooper Moore done for the year, William Schmidt was the only starting option available. He only got 12 outs.
Zac Cowan might make the most sense for LSU as a starting option on Tuesday. He only appeared in Friday’s game when he threw 41 pitches in extra innings. Cowan did warm up on Sunday but never entered the game.
Marcos Paz threw 63 pitches on Sunday, so he’s likely unavailable. Reagan Ricken and Jaden Noot have been starting options, and they were lightly used on Sunday. Neither threw 10 pitches.
It was another heavy usage weekend for Deven Sheerin who threw 43 pitches on Friday and 15 more on Sunday. Grant Fontenot was asked to get one out on Friday and came back for 40 pitches on Saturday.
LSU figures to use another full-staff approach on a Tuesday.
LION LUMBER
Southeastern can swing the bats a little bit. They’ll have four players in the lineup on Tuesday with double digit homers. Another has nine, and former Tiger Blaise Priester has eight. Their 74 longballs equal LSU’s season-long total.
The Lions bashed eight homers over the weekend against Houston Christian.
Alex Perry leads the way with 13 homers, and they’ve all come in the last 32 games. He didn’t have a big fly in SLU’s first 13 games.
MONSTER MASHING
It was a slow offensive start for Steven Milam, but he’s found another late-season groove. Milam has an 11-game hitting streak entering Tuesday. He had four hits over the weekend and drove in five runs for the Tigers at Mississippi State.
Milam’s season-long batting average is up to .281, and he’s got seven homers. His on base percentage is now .406 for the year. Add in his stellar defense, and Milam has rebounded from a brutal start to post what is shaping up to be a nice all-around season.
This summer will be an interesting one for Milam when it comes to his future. He could sign professionally or decide to return to LSU for a fourth season.
First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:30 p.m., and Baton Rouge listeners can find the action on Eagle 98.1, the Flagship Station of LSU Athletics.
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