Southeastern Conference
By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s early weaknesses have produced losses.
The Tigers lost more preconference games than in any season since 2007. Then Friday’s gut punch of a walk off loss began SEC play. Defense is a concern. The offense hasn’t consistently produced. Determining bullpen rolls has been a chore, and strikes have been scarce.
The back end of the starting rotation hasn’t been in question.
Cooper Moore and William Schmidt have pounded the strike zone and produced outs for four weeks. Now, LSU will look to that duo to dig out of a small hole in Nashville.
Moore and Schmidt have worked 46 combined innings and only walked nine with 64 punchouts. Schmidt hasn’t walked anyone in two weeks, and Moore only issued two free passes in his first 19.1 innings before last weeks three-walk outing.
LSU ran a charity drive from the mound on Friday night. It was reciprocated by Vanderbilt, but that’s none of Jay Johnson and Nate Yeskie’s concern. Without throwing strikes, nothing else matters, good or bad.
You can’t win baseball games walking hitters.
Moore and Schmidt can put LSU in position to win a lot of games this season as they’ve done so far. That’s especially true if LSU can collect 13 hits, score 12 runs and play errorless baseball like it did on Friday night.
Losses like that one can linger, but some of what LSU did Friday can be taken as a positive. Now, the Tigers will have to lean on one of the few consistent aspects of the team for the final two days in Music City– the starters.
Vanderbilt will counter on Saturday with freshman Wyatt Nadeau who has one collegiate start to his name. He’s walked six in his last eight innings. That hasn’t bothered him, as he’s yet to give up a run in his first 11 college innings, but it’s notable. Nate Taylor will toe the slab for the ‘Dores on Sunday, and he’s walked a team high 12 in 18.1 innings. Vanderbilt is 1-3 in his four starts this year.
LSU would figure to have the advantage on the mound in the last two games of the series. That would have felt important had the Tigers recorded one more out on Friday. It’s vital now.
Two challenging but homebound weekends are upcoming. Twenty-nine SEC games remain. The season is still its infancy.
All of that said, it’s difficult to find strengths of LSU’s team currently. The simplest answer is the starting staff.
After a disappointing opening act, it’s time for the next two to take stage in Nashville.
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