LSU Baseball
By Hunt Palmer
I’m stunned.
Losses happen in baseball. It’s part of the sport. LSU dropped 15 games last year including a sweep at the hands of Auburn, still won a title. I’m not stunned that LSU is losing, I’m stunned at how often this team looks completely outclassed.
Texas A&M and Georgia swatted LSU aside like a gnat for three days.
The Tigers scrapped with Ole Miss and Mississippi State but were swept in those series, too. That’s four sweeps, and it puts LSU’s record against SEC teams with a winning conference record at 0-12. That’s just stunning.
The 2006 and 2007 Tigers failed to make postseason. The first season got Smoke Laval fired, and the second was Paul Mainieiri’s initial year in Baton Rouge. LSU was swept a total of three times in those two years. This team has topped that in nine weeks.
Injuries have been an issue. Jake Brown is a huge loss, and Cooper Moore was supposed to be a key piece to the puzzle. Chris Stanfield and Casan Evans were able to return this weekend. It didn’t help.
LSU’s fall from a national title isn’t unprecedented. Mississippi State and Ole Miss played this role in 2022 and 2023. It was just really hard to see this coming.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
Georgia’s offensive numbers from the weekend are staggering.
The Bulldogs hit .422 (39/92) over three games. They hit .377 with runners on and .341 with RISP. The Bulldogs scored 36 runs and left 31 more runners on. There was plenty of traffic. LSU pitching recorded one three-up, three-down inning. It was Evans’s first.
LSU’s arms did their part to help. The Tigers walked 26 and hit five. Thirty-one free bases pair quite poorly with a .422 batting average allowed. Throw in Georgia’s 18 extra-base hits (nine homers), and you’ve got a recipe for a nightmare.
TOP TWO
This team was likely to follow the paths of William Schmidt and Evans. While Moore was the second starter, Schmidt and Evans were the talented sophomore’s likely to spearhead the staff in the post-
Anderson/Eyanson world.
Schimdt and Evans’s have not dominated in SEC play. They’ve combined to allow 50 earned runs in 77 SEC innings. Schmidt’s league ERA is 5.14, and Evans sports a 6.69 league mark. Schmidt lasted four innings on Friday. He walked five and allowed four earned runs. Evans returned on Sunday but couldn’t find the strike zone in the second. He walked two and hit a man. When he was in the zone, he was hit.
DOWN AND OUT
LSU absolutely showed up for the fight on Friday. The Tigers scored seven runs in the first four innings. Omar Serna, Cade Arrambide and John Pearson homered. The Tigers led 7-3. From that point, the offense cratered.
LSU scored 10 runs in the final 21 innings, and half of that came late Saturday after LSU fell behind 12-3. Georgia pitching hung 12 zeros over the final two days. LSU pitching produced eight over three. This had very little to do with the ballpark dimensions. I only considered two of Georgia’s homers “cheap.” For the overwhelming majority of the action, Georgia took pitches, hammered strikes and completely overmatched LSU’s staff.
ALL OVER
This sweep essentially ended LSU’s season.
If the Tigers sweep Florida and make it to the SEC Tournament final, I’ll write about it and assess the situation. First, I don’t see either happening. Second, I’m not sure it’s enough to get an at large bid. LSU will be at home for NCAA play, and that’s tough to swallow.
Mason Braun and Serna have earned playing time and developed wonderfully from it. Marcos Paz has pitched in some really tough environments against excellent teams. Arrambide looks like a star. Those experiences will help the program.
For me, this year is a good reminder how difficult it is to win the in the SEC. The league is absolutely loaded annually, and you get exposed if your team isn’t great. LSU won the title last year, and Vanderbilt was the No. 1 national seed in the tournament. Those two are 20-34 in league games this year.
I can keep digging up stats and lamenting performance, but that feels repetitive.
It’s still stunning.
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