AROUND THE HORN: Tigers take two from Omaha

By Hunt Palmer

Early season losses can be jarring.

They happen every year. LSU hasn’t run the table in preconference games since 1997. But the inclination is to overreact when the Tigers lose to a team that couldn’t keep Tulane out of double digits last weekend.

LSU’s offense wasn’t great over the weekend. Hitting conditions weren’t ideal, but Omaha didn’t feature a single truly quality arm, and the Tiger bats went in the deep freeze from the sixth inning on Friday to the ninth of game 1 on Saturday.

Over that span of 10 innings, LSU failed to score a run and only produced two hits, one an infield single. In total, LSU only scored four runs on Friday and four runs in the first game Saturday. The Tigers went the weekend without a home run.

That wasn’t for a lack of balls in the air. LSU popped up 17 times in the second game.

Lineup Shakeup

Jay Johnson looked at a number of different things this weekend in terms of the lineup.

Michael Braswell and Chris Stanfield each sat a game. Ashton Larson, Derek Curiel, and Jake Brown played the outfield in the second game. Daniel Dickinson led off. Tanner Reaves played third base and led off in the third game.

Dickinson did reach base three times in the leadoff spot. He walked twice and produced a huge double in LSU’s comeback push in the ninth. Reaves walked twice and scored twice from the top spot in the order.

I think it’s possible that both of those shakeups can continue.

That’s not to say Braswell and Stanfield are going to lose jobs. I do think the Larson-Curiel-Brown outfield is a real option against some right-handed pitching. Same can be said for Reaves at third base.

Braswell did a good job for LSU both offensively and defensively in 2024. He’s off to a rough start in 2025, just 3-for-17. His track record shows that he can handle SEC pitching but that he won’t be some kind of offensive force. Perhaps a platoon with Reaves makes the LSU lineup stronger day-to-day by putting both guys in position to succeed.

Freshman Phenom

Speaking of succeeding, Curiel continues to rake. The precocious freshman got four hits and walked three times in the three games and that wasn’t the highlight for me. His baserunning play in the ninth inning of the loss on Saturday was sensational.

LSU trailed by one with one out in the ninth, he was at second representing the tying run. The pitch was low and outside and just evaded the catcher’s mitt but stayed close. Curiel got an aggressive secondary lead and took off for third base immediately. He slid headfirst to the outfield side of the third base bag and beat the tag by inches. The review confirmed it.

Credit the Omaha left hander Matt Dreher for making the pitch to strike Larson out, but Curiel gave LSU the best chance to win the game by getting to third base. That’s a winning play in a loss.

Curiel has bunted for two hits now. That’s something opposing teams are going to have to respect. As the third basemen creeps in, the holes on the left side of the infield grow. He’s a really dynamic offensive player.

Answer at Catcher?

The only other offensive bright spot for LSU was Luis Hernandez who doubled three times in two starts. Much was made of Hernandez’s pop coming from Indiana State. He hit 23 home runs for the Sycamores last season. I do not expect that type of power from him this year for two reasons. First, the level of pitching is significantly better in the SEC. That’s obvious. The second part is kind of the reverse of Paul Skenes. In 2023, Skenes stopped catching and devoted everything to pitching. You saw remarkable strides. Hernandez is now adding catching to his plate as opposed to just being a designated hitter who spends some time at first. That saps energy and will limit at bats as Cade Arrambide gets his chances to start.

Still, Hernandez can hit and he did this weekend.

It’s fair to call LSU’s offense a bit of a question mark at this point, but I still believe in the pieces. It’s not nearly as dynamic as the 2023 group, but it can be good enough to win a lot of games.

That’s because the pitching is absolutely legitimate.

Arms race

LSU was three pitches away from a brilliant pitching weekend.

Grant Fontenot hit the two guys he faced in the seventh of the first game on Saturday. Then Connor Benge’s 94 mph fastball got ambushed by Jackson Trout for a three-run homer later in the inning.

The Tigers hung zeros in eight innings of all three games. Omaha scored in one inning per game.

All three starters were great.

Kade Anderson stuck with the fastball and slider on Opening Day. He mixed in the changeup Friday afternoon and it was excellent. He can use that pitch to right-handed hitters to keep them guessing. It will also make that 94 mph fastball play up.

Anderson hit the leadoff man and then retired 15 of 16 from that point. He lost command in the sixth and he issued a pair of walks and allowed two singles. That ended his day. Anderson’s biggest issue through two starts has been stamina, not stuff. He lost some fastball velocity in the season opener. He lost his command on Friday. That problem is easily fixable. It just takes innings. He’ll continue to get those.

The media has gotten to speak with Anderson after both of his starts, and you can tell he’s made of the right stuff. He demands excellence and has a great head on his shoulders. Just a little hunch for this weekend. He’s going to dominate Kansas State in Frisco.

Anthony Eyanson dealt six scoreless frames on Saturday. He set down 12 of 14 from the third through the sixth. Omaha never reached third base. One aspect of Eyanson’s start was that he got two called strikeouts with the fastball. That shows the hitter is guessing and isn’t sure what is coming next. That’s how Eyanson has to get outs. It’s not going to be physically overpowering hitters with fastball-slider like Chase Shores can. He’s got to get some cheap strikes with the breaking ball and pitch backwards at times. He did that very well on Saturday.

Shores really took a positive step on Saturday night. The goal was to see him extend the pitch count, and he increased it from 67 to 84. Like everyone else on the weekend, his fastball was down a couple of ticks. That’s due to the cold. But it was a steady 95-96 mph and he threw some good sliders.

Right now, Shores should be anchored in that Sunday spot. He’s such a matchup advantage for LSU in those third games. LSU has felt so “TBA-heavy” in third games over the last few years. It would be so nice to have him ready to go in that spot.

How about the freshmen relievers?

Mavrick Rizy and Casan Evans absolutely blew Omaha away on Friday in a two-run game. Rizy allowed a bloop single to lead off the seventh and then got three straight outs. Evans struck out five in two shutout innings. That’s now nine strikeouts in four hitless innings for Evans.

If three outs were needed right now, Evans might be the top choice over anyone on the staff. That could be hyperbole based on two outings against Purdue Fort Wayne and Omaha, but Evans throws 99 mph and has two offspeed pitches he can throw for strikes. If this team establishes a closer, Evans feels like a favorite.

Meanwhile, Cooper Williams worked two perfect innings in the loss on Saturday. He’s yet to give up a baserunner. His big breaking ball was impressive, as he consistently landed it for strikes on multiple occasions.

Defensively, LSU’s position group has now played two weeks without an error. The pitchers have thrown the ball away twice and Hernandez got a catcher’s interference on Opening Day. But LSU has been very solid in the field.

This is a big week for LSU. The Tigers will take on Nicholls on Monday before flying to Dallas. They’ll face DBU on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field before the weekend in Frisco, where they’ll oppose Kansas State, Nebraska, and Sam Houston.

That’s a lot of innings against reasonable competition. A lot should be learned about where this team stands. Hopefully that means a little more consistent offense.