Photo by LSU Athletics
By Hunt Palmer
After LSU beat Grambling State last week, Jay Johnson called it a “must win game.”
He didn’t elaborate, but Grambling’s RPI of 267 probably had a lot to do with it. It’s far too early to crunch RPI numbers, but Grambling is unlikely to climb much higher. In fact, those Tigers will probably dip lower. At the rate LSU is dropping weekends, dinging the RPI too much is concerning.
Simply put, LSU needs to start winning more games.
Louisiana Tech is next up. The Bulldogs are 15-10 on the season. They’ve had their fair share of midweek problems, too. McNeese and Lamar dealt Tech midweek losses. Arkansas State swept a two-game midweek series, as well. The lone wins on Tech’s ledger are Northwestern State and Central Arkansas.
LSU has won 17 of 19 against Louisiana Tech including a 12-3 win last season at Alex Box Stadium.
BULLPEN BULLETS
LSU most trusted relievers are Gavin Guidry and Deven Sheerin. Guidry is almost certainly unavailable on Tuesday night after throwing 70 pitches on Saturday. With only two days of rest and coming off a back injury, Guidry’s next time to the mound is likely this weekend against Kentucky.
Sheerin fired 40 pitches on Saturday. He’s probably available for an inning of work in a high leverage spot.
That means some of the other bullpen options may need to step forward if Tuesday’s game is tight in the middle and late innings. Zac Cowan has been great his last two times out and should be ready to extend tonight if necessary.
BEST BULLDOGS
It’s been a sluggish season for the Tech offense so far. They scored five runs total at Southern Miss over three games, only four in two losses to Arkansas State and were shut out by Lamar two weeks ago.
There was a resurgence over the weekend against New Mexico State, but only four regulars are hitting .260 or better.
The top two are Trey Hawsey and Colby Lunsford.
Hawsey leads the team with a .320 batting average and nine home runs. He’s got three multi-homer games and an OPS over 1.000. Lunsford has eight homers and a team-best nine doubles. He also leads the team in on base percentage.
Hawsey hits from the left side, and Lunsford swings it from the right. They’re the two impact bats LSU has to be aware of on Tuesday night.
LET’S TALK LINEUP
The first nine players on the field for LSU almost never finish the game. Johnson is always subbing a player for defense here or in a pinch-hitting spot there.
That started as an opportunity to get a ton of guys reps to see who rose to the top. Instead, it was just a lot of guys producing middling results at the plate and lackluster defensive play.
Omar Serna has stepped up and he’ll play on Tuesday night. John Pearson will probably play, too. Add those two to Steven Milam, Chris Stanfield, Derek Curiel and Jake Brown, and you’ve got six starters. Three remain.
I would play Zach Yorke in this spot against Sun Belt midweek pitching. He crushed lower-level arms for three years at Grand Canyon. That is very much a large sample size. Just this season, he was 3-for-5 with a homer against Kent State on a Monday, 2-for-4 against Creighton and 1-for-1 against Grambling. He also homered against McNeese.
I’m not completely giving up on Yorke as an SEC hitter, but I know he can hit this type of pitching. He’d be my seventh bat.
I’d catch Cade Arrambide. He was 0-for-7 over the weekend which looks bad, but he also drew four walks. His weekend at Vanderbilt was a good one. That would mean Eddie Yamin does start. He’s produced some good swings over the last two weeks. That’s eight starters and leaves second base open.
LSU doesn’t have a great answer there at the moment. Trent Caraway is the best defender. He’s hitting just .254. Seth Dardar‘s average is 34 points below that. Tanner Reaves is hitting .216. Jack Ruckert has made three errors.
Brayden Simpson has also made three errors. At the very least, he has provided a little bit of offense. He’s 7-for-24 (.292) for the season. Since Stanfield came back, Simpson has been nudged aside. This guy hit .389 with 22 homers last year at High Point. He was top 10 nationally in slugging and doubles. That may not translate to Friday night in the SEC, but I have to think it gives you a chance on a Tuesday against Tech.
I’d give him a shot.
All that said, it’s likely that multiple players get a try at second base in a nine-inning game. Perhaps Ethan Clauss gets to play some defense.
First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
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