(Photo credit: Nate Bell)
By Hunt Palmer
In golf course architecture, the phrase “hand-shake opener” refers to a benign opening hole.
Designers will lay out the first hole as a manageable par four without an island green, a cliffside fairway, or cavernous bunkers. Those come later.
Metaphorically, the SEC gave LSU a hand shake opener this year in Missouri. And the Tigers birdied the hole.
Jay Johnson’s Tigers weren’t perfect over the weekend. The pitching staff had its issues here and there. But ultimately, LSU was plenty good enough to sweep the visiting Tigers to start league play 3-0. When that “3” was accompanied by a “12” last year at the halfway point, you take it after one weekend.
Things ramp up from here.
PITCHING POSITIVES?
LSU did not pitch at a championship level over the weekend. LSU pitched at a “sweep Missouri” level over the weekend.
In positive news, LSU played Missouri over the weekend, not for a championship.
There were more positives. Kade Anderson pitched into the seventh inning for the first time. He struck 11 and only walked two. He was removed with one out in the seventh, but he never faltered. The two base runners he yielded in the inning were a tight 3-2 pitch for a walk and a flare single into center on an 0-2 pitch.
Anderson looked the part of an ace against the worst team in the league. He’ll have an opportunity to build on that this week.
LSU’s bullpen had its issues. We’ll get to that. But it’s also worth mentioning that the Tiger relievers faced 56 hitters over the weekend and gave up eight hits. That shows the stuff in LSU’s bullpen.
Connor Benge did a really good job in a dirty inning on Friday relieving Anderson. Casan Evans was brilliant slamming the door on Saturday. He worked a season-high 2.1 innings and 44 pitches. He struck out four and didn’t allow a run in a 7-6 win. In the eighth, he allowed the first two men to reach, and a sacrifice bunt put them both in scoring position. Then Evans walked the next hitter to load the bases in a 7-6 game. He struck out the next two hitters on six pitches. That’s big time.
And Zac Cowan is carving out a vital role in the bullpen with that devastating straight change up. His linescore from the weekend: 2 appearances, 3.2IP, 2H, 1R, 1BB, 7K, 54 pitches, 38 strikes.
Johnson knows Cowan is going to throw the ball over the plate. That’s objective No. 1. More than that, Cowan is going to miss some bats with that Buggs Bunny changeup and tight slider. He doesn’t even come close to throwing 50 percent fastballs, and when he does throw a heater, it catches hitters off balance.
Mavrick Rizy was also very good in his Sunday outing. He entered in the fifth and immediately got a double play ball to end that inning. He retired Missouri in order in the sixth, got the leadoff man in the seventh and gave up a walk on the seventh pitch of the next at bat which was the last man he faced.
All of that was very, very good.
PITCHING PROBLEMS?
Some of the rest was not.
Anthony Eyanson and Chase Shores failed to get through the fourth inning in their starts. Both went 3.2 innings against what is probably the weakest lineup in the SEC.
Shores gave up four hits and three walks. Eyanson didn’t struggle with walks. He allowed seven hits.
As SEC auditions go, neither of these were great.
Eyanson’s was close. He needed to make one more pitch to get through the fourth. Instead, he yielded a ringing double off the wall and a three-run home run. If he gets either of those outs, it’s a four-inning, one-run outing that continues.
We know the chief issue for LSU’s pitching staff over the weekend was walks. That’s not a concern with Eyanson. He’s walked just six in 27.2 innings this season. If you’re one of the folks clamoring for Eyanson to come out of the rotation, you’ve got to fill his spot with someone. Who?
I’m not taking Cowan out of the bullpen. He pitched in two wins over the weekend. No one else on the staff can consistently find the strike zone as well as Eyanson. While the 15 strikeouts against North Alabama were great, that’s not going to be Eyanson’s game. He’s going to miss some bats, but weak contact needs to be his hallmark. He didn’t quite get enough of that Saturday.
Texas can hit. That will be a step up in class this coming weekend for the entire staff, Eyanson included.
The walks came far too frequently. LSU’s bullpen walked 10 of the 56 hitters it faced over the weekend. William Schmidt walked three of the six he faced. Shores hit a man and walked a man. Both scored.
In addition to the walks, it was the nature of some of the misses. Some just weren’t competitive. LSU’s staff has plenty of stuff to compete in the strike zone. That was the biggest issue of the weekend.
Right now, Anderson, Cowan, Benge, Rizy and Evans feels like a really good base for the staff. Eyanson and Shores need to be a touch better. Schmidt. Conner Ware and DJ Primeaux have shown flashes. Primeaux pitched in all three games over the weekend. Plus, Gavin Guidry is a proven arm that should be available by the end of the month.
LSU’s is not devoid of options. It’s just a matter of guys stepping up.
PLAYING CATCH
LSU’s defense was exceptional.
Steven Milam continues to make every routine play as well as the highlight reel effort. He’s phenomenal coming in on the ball. His footwork around the bag on double plays is excellent. Johnson called him the best shortstop in college baseball on Sunday, and I don’t have a great counter argument.
LSU’s only error over three games was an ill-advised throw home from Daniel Dickinson that sailed Luis Hernandez. Outside of that, LSU was rock solid. That makes the walks from the pitching staff all the more frustrating.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
LSU’s offense was just relentless for three games. The Tigers only went up and down in order four times in 24 innings of work. There was constant traffic for Missouri pitching.
Derek Curiel got on base seven times and scored four runs. Josh Pearson, Milam, Hernandez, and Jake Brown all homered. Michael Braswell executed two squeeze bunts on Saturday.
The Tigers were 20-for-60 (.333) with runners on base and 12-for-31 (.387) with runners in scoring position. The Tigers were also 8-for-9 getting runners home from third with less than two out.
Missouri’s staff is poor by SEC standards. There wasn’t a single truly power arm. The starters were soft-tossing lefties.
Still, LSU’s offense is showing a ton of balance and consistency.
MOVING THE MATH
This won’t be a weekly discussion until mid-April, but it’s worth mentioning on this St. Patrick’s Day. Those three wins are a big step in the right direction for LSU. The Tigers took advantage of the scheduling gift.
The 30-game SEC slate is for positioning purposes. You’re just trying to do enough to make sure The Road to Omaha goes through The Box. More years than not, 18 wins is enough. LSU has three.
That means a 15-12 mark the rest of the way is good enough. That’s just .556 baseball. Last year LSU had to play .667 ball the last 15 games to TO GET IN the tournament.
The day that SEC schedule was released, a sweep was always a possibility. LSU made it a reality over the weekend.
Were there issues? Sure. Would you rather diagnose those with a 3-0 record on the ledger in the middle of a 15-game winning streak? Yes.
On to Austin.
