PALMER PREGAME: Monday Night Baseball, Nicholls at LSU

 By Hunt Palmer

A busy week for the LSU baseball team cranks up Monday night with Nicholls.

The two teams were scheduled to meet last week, but cold, rainy conditions shuffled the schedule a bit. LSU will now travel to Thibodaux in April, and the matchup between the Colonels and Tigers in Baton Rouge was moved to Monday.

LSU will travel to Dallas on Tuesday and face Dallas Baptist at Globe Life Field on Wednesday. Then LSU will play three games in Frisco over the weekend.

The Colonels played good baseball over the weekend sweeping Little Rock in a three-game set. The Tigers took two of three from Omaha at Alex Box Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:00 and will be streamed on ESPN+.

GUIDRY’S GAME

Head coach Jay Johnson said Thursday that Gavin Guidry was scheduled to start the Wednesday night game at Nicholls before the postponement. Through seven games, the junior has not thrown a single pitch.

Over two seasons, Guidry has made 45 apperences with a cumulative earned run average of 3.23.

In preseason scrimmages, Guidry was stretched out for multiple innings as a potential starting candidate. He’s picked up a couple of mph on his fastball and worked on a changeup. He just hasn’t seen any game action.

It’s possible Guidry makes his 2025 debut on Monday.

LEADOFF LIMBO

Chris Stanfield led off the first five games of the season. On Saturday Daniel Dickinson led off the first game of the double header. Tanner Reaves hit at the top of the order in the second game.

Stanfield’s on base percentage is a healthy .478 in six games. He’s scored seven runs.

Johnson is continuously looking for his best lineup. The spot in front of Derek Curiel and Jared Jones is crucial for LSU. We’ll see who mans that spot Monday.

PURPLE AND GOLD GLOVES

I continue to write about LSU’s defense because it’s huge part of the game.

College defenders make a lot of mistakes. LSU has not thus far. As well as the Tigers figure to pitch, especially against lower-level competition, good defense is going to make it really difficult for the opposition to score.

Ryan Costello’s foul pop error is the only one charged to the Tiger defense on a batted ball.

Steven Milam has been rock solid at shortstop. All of the outfielders have handled their positions well. Even the catching has been steady.

Major League organizations talk about pitching and defense in terms of “run prevention”. That’s really the name of the game. Early in the season, LSU is doing a great job of that. The Tigers have only given up 11 runs in seven games and currently sport a 1.33 team ERA.

Tonight is another chance to play an error free game. If the Tigers don’t give Nicholls extra outs, the game shouldn’t be in doubt. Nicholls is only hitting .248 as a team with two total home runs.