Curiel, Ware lead Tigers past Patriots

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY: LSU controlled the action for seven and a half innings on Wednesday night.

It took a little bit of good baseball fortune to put Dallas Baptist away in a 7-3 win.

After LSU squandered a pair of bases loaded opportunities in the seventh and the eighth, failing to score in the seventh with one out and the eighth with none out, Dallas Baptist loaded the bases themselves down 7-3 in the bottom of the eighth.

Tom Poole hit a laser off of Casen Evans, but it was right at Jared Jones who snared it out of the air and stepped on the bag for an inning-ending double play.

That essentially ended what should have been decided innings earlier.

Josh Pearson popped up a suicide squeeze bunt for LSU with the sacks packed in the seventh. That easy double play extinguished a threat. An inning later LSU loaded them again only for Mic Paul to strike out, Ryan Costello to pop up to first and Chris Stanfield to strike out.

Those innings accounted for five of the 15 runners LSU left on base in the ballgame.

The Tigers went down in order just once in the game, constantly putting pressure on Patriot pitching.

Dallas Baptist only managed three hits and three walks, but two of their swings resulted in long home runs that accounted for all their scoring.

The first homer chased Tiger starter Conner Ware from the game in the fifth, but he was brilliant. Ware worked four perfect innings to begin the game, striking out six on 60 pitches. Ware used his command of four pitches to keep the pesky Patriots offense at bay.

Zac Cowan took over and worked three innings of his own. He got off to a rocky start as Jared Jones’s error preceded a mammoth blast off the bat of Jake Bennett. After that, Cowen settled in and finished three innings without allowing another run. He struck out five to earn the win.

Cooper Williams pitched LSU into some trouble in the eight by issuing the two walks. His fellow freshman Evans picked him up by using that good fortune to escape the jam in the eighth before retiring the Patriots in order to preserve the win in the ninth.

LSU’s depth was on full display in the game, mostly for the good.

At this point Ware represents LSU’s fourth starter, maybe fifth. He was dominant.

Ethan Frey came off the bench for a pinch hit RBI double in the fifth. John Pearson looks like an option against lefties. He grabbed a bat in that four-run fifth and scolded an RBI single up the middle.

While those were real positives in the middle of the game, the result was Paul and Costello digging in late in the game while bats like Jake Brown and Ashton Larson had been burned.

I think Jay Johnson intends to play a lot of guys. I’m not sure being that aggressive with the bench in the middle innings is the recipe.

Derek Curiel is a star. It’s been obvious since he showed up in the fall. The freshman went 2-for-3 with a double, two walks and a hit by pitch. He was on base five times out of the leadoff spot and scored three runs including coming around from first on Jones’s RBI double to start the scoring in the first. Plenty of players will come in and out of the lineup. Curiel is not one of them.

THE SCORECARD: LSU out hit DBU 12-to-3.

LSU was just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position. LSU is going to strand runners because of how often the Tigers reach base. Still, tonight was a poor job of execution with men in scoring position.

LSU had 26 at bats with runners on. DBU had six. The Patriots only left three men on base.

DU made three errors to LSU’s one.

LSU issued three walks. DBU pitching issued nine. LSU dominated the free base war.

Daniel Dickinson went 2-for-5 with a homer and walk. His home run was on a breaking ball down and in that he sent screaming over the left field wall on a line. He’s had a hot start to the year. He also made his defensive play of the year on a dandy of a backhanded stab up the middle and a strong throw to first.

Jones was 2-for-4 with a pair of walks. an RBI and a run scored.

Stanfield left seven men on base.

Poole and Grant Jay struck out six times in eight at bats. Those two are the lifeblood of the DBU offense. Jay did hit the long home run.

WHAT’S NEXT: LSU will take the day off Thursday and resume play Friday in the Frisco College Classic against Kansas State at 2:00. The Wildcats are 4-4 on the year but have won three straight against Arkansas, Michigan and TCU.

(Photo credit: @LSUbaseball on X)