By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY: Like thousands of Louisiana residents, LSU’s baseball team struggled to get back to work after an enjoyable weekend.
Call it a Mardi Gras hangover. Call it a poor performance. It was all LSU could do to come from behind and beat a now 1-10 North Dakota State team 11-9 at Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday.
The Bison sent a parade of hitters to the plate and scored three times in the first. Then a second line emerged in the third for four more. After two and a half innings, it was 7-1 Bison.
Tiger starter Conner Ware just didn’t have it. He started the game with a strikeout that resulted in a wild pitch that allowed the second batter of the game to reach. That would be a theme. He then fired a pick throw down the first base line that allowed the runner to move all the way to third. It was a bumpy start that never really settled down.
He walked three, hit two more and threw two wild pitches. Outside of a 10-pitch second inning that featured a pair of strikeouts, Ware struggled.
That was really the story for LSU on the mound. Tiger pitching delivered throws like a masked rider on his fifth cocktail.
LSU issued six walks and hit four more batters. Two of the walks forced in runs, and two more Bison runs came home on a wild pitch and a passed ball. There were four wild pitches and a passed ball in total.
Cade Arrambide struggled behind the plate blocking pitches. He was replaced for defense by Luis Hernandez in the fifth after North Dakota State plated runs eight and nine. The freshman backstop had a tough assignment. Some of the pitches were very difficult to block, but he failed to do so more than the LSU coaching staff wanted to see for the remainder of the game.
To Arrambide’s credit, he did not let that affect his hitting. The rookie got a fat Tuesday pitch and crushed it into the seats in left field for his first career home run to cap the four-run LSU third that cut the lead to 7-5.
After the fifth, LSU’s staff, led by Chandler Dorsey and Zac Cowan, settled in and hung five straight zeros.
Dorsey worked two scoreless innings in his LSU debut. Cowan then took over and fired 2.2 innings of shutout ball allowing just one hit. That hit was a leadoff double in the Bison eighth by Tommy Simon. He represented to go ahead run in a 9-9 game.
Simon moved to third on a flyout, and Dante Smith appeared to have put North Dakota State ahead with a laser beam that was snared by LSU second baseman Daniel Dickinson who was playing in.
LSU used that momentum to surge ahead for the first time in the bottom half.
For the second time in the game Milam came up in a huge spot and delivered. Two innings after his bloop double found the neutral ground in centerfield and tied the game in the sixth, Milam sent a screaming line drive down the right field line for a bases-loaded two-run double that gave LSU the final margin of 11-9.
Ultimately, the Tiger krewe got rolling and brought the crowd it its feet.
Freshman closer Casan Evans slammed the door with a solid ninth inning marred briefly by a slip from the rubber that resulted in a balk. Evans stayed in the game and made the pitch to get the final out with the tying run at the plate.
North Dakota State is a bad team with a really poor pitching staff. That allowed LSU to recover from an awful start. The free bases from walks, wild pitches and passed balls have to stop.
Arrambide is young, and he’s going to be much better over his time at LSU. And the only way to improve is to play. Soon enough these mistakes from the pitchers and catchers alike are going to cost LSU games.
Ware will be better than he was on Tuesday. Sometimes you just don’t have it. His fastball velocity was down a couple of miles per hour, and his command was shoddy. He’ll get back on the horse either this weekend or next week.
For now, burn this game to ashes.
THE SCORECARD;
Steven Milam: 2-for-4 with 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB
Daniel Dickinson: 3-for-4, HR, 3R, 2 RBI. The three hits included a drag bunt single.
Jared Jones 1-for-2, 3 BB, 3 R
Derek Curiel; 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R
LSU pitching only allowed six hits, and only two went for extra bases. It was just the free bases that hurt so badly.
Chandler Dorsey: 2 IP, 0H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 36 pitches, 22 strikes.
Casan Evans earned his third save.
Hernandez struck out all three times he came to the plate.
LSU had six two-out RBI. North Dakota State had one.
THE QUOTES: Jay Johnson on the effort of his team…
“We did not play well at all early in the game. First real, real clunker. So, to be able to have a clunker and be able to come back and win, super proud of the team. And we’ll address all of the mistakes from earlier in the game. That’s what we need to do. Really excited to get to practice on Thursday, to be honest with you. Just feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had a traditional practice with last week’s road trip. We need it.”
On Chandler Dorsey not pitching in a game until Tuesday…
“You’re seeing a really good offensive team, meaning our team. And that’s all that he’s faced. And he had a rough lead up to the season. So he was down the list a little bit. But we brought him here for a reason. I thought it was a significant get. And I haven’t lost faith in that. Sometimes you have to make some decisions as a coach, like, what are you going to prioritize? Luckily. you have a mature kid that’s a really good pitcher that just kind of kept hanging in there, continuing to work. And when they do that, they’re ready when their opportunity comes instead of worrying about it, complaining of things they cannot control. It was out of Chandler’s control. It was out of Chandler’s control once we started the season. That’s a really good example of ‘team above me.'”
On Arrambide’s defense in the game…
“Keep going. I couldn’t be happier he’s here. Huge homer tonight. It was a huge play. We won by two. Two out, two run home run. He’s got a lot of talent. And he’s caught great to this point. We’re trying to win every game we play. He’s gonna go back there again. I don’t know if there was something with the vision. I don’t know if Ware is the best pairing for him. But I think he’s going to be a major league catcher someday. I really believe that. We’ll move past it.”
WHAT’S NEXT: LSU and North Dakota State will conclude their two-game midweek series Wednesday at 6:30.
