By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
After a dismal showing last week against Northwestern State, LSU got back to its midweek ways on Tuesday night.
Derek Curiel and Jared Jones clubbed back-to-back homers to lead off the bottom of the first, and Ethan Frey walked it off with a grand slam in the seventh. The in between was pretty good, as well.
LSU scored four in the first, one in the second, five in the fourth, one in the fifth and four in the seventh en route to a 15-2 win.
The offense ripped the ball all over the ballpark—gappers, two-run singles, even hard-hit outs. Steven Milam’s double play ground ball in the first left the bat at better than 100 mph.
For an offense that may have found something on Sunday against the end of the Tennessee staff, it was a continuation of quality at bats and offensive execution.
LSU even bunted well. Chris Stanfield got a sacrifice down, and Jake Brown’s squeeze bunt plated a run in the fourth.
Southeastern is leading the Southland Conference, so the Lions have bigger things to accomplish than a Tuesday night in Baton Rouge. LSU used that opportunity to feast on the end of their staff.
From a pitching perspective, William Schmidt did some really good things. He retired the leadoff man on a foul pop to first and then struck out the next five hitters consecutively. He used the well-located fastball, his sharp breaking ball and even featured a good changeup.
Dane Watts ambushed the first pitch of the third inning for a leadoff home run, but a fastball that catches some plate with a 5-0 lead is hardly a big mistake from Schmidt.
He got into some trouble in the third and fourth, and a run-scoring double in the fourth chased him, but the seven strikeouts were very encouraging.
Eventually that stuff will translate to the SEC weekends. It’s just a matter of whether or not that’s in the next few weeks or next spring. But his outings really do resemble Kade Anderson’s from last year.
Jaden Noot and DJ Primeaux each threw 1.1 innings of shutout ball with three strikeouts. Conner Ware tossed a shutout inning with a strikeout. Those three combined for zero walks which is huge for that group.
THE SCORECARD
William Schmidt’s line: 3.1IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 7K, 69 pitches, 43 strikes
Primeaux/Noot/Ware: 3.2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 7K
Derek Curiel: 2-for-2, HR, 2BB, 3R
Jared Jones: 1-for-3, HR, moved him to 5th all time, passing Blake Dean
Daniel Dickinson: 2-for-4, 2B, 2RBI, 2R
Josh Pearson: 2-for-3, 2RBI, R
Southeastern was 1-for-9 with runners on
LSU was 11-for-30 (.367) for the game.
Southeastern made three errors. LSU did not commit an error.
The win was LSU’s 10th by run rule.
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU travels to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies at Blue Bell Park Friday. The preseason No. 1 completely flopped out of the gate in league play and was 1-9 before winning two in Knoxville and two in Fayetteville to get back on track. Last weekend, Texas swept the Aggies in Austin, but all three games were hotly contested and decided by one run.
The Aggies have their backs against the wall trying to reach the NCAA Tournament. LSU is very much in the thick of things for a Top 8 seed.
The series is crucial for both clubs.
