By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – In No. 7 LSU’s last two SEC baseball series against the state of Alabama, at Auburn a week ago and home this past weekend in Alex Box Stadium vs. Alabama, things haven’t gone as planned.
Like starting Game 1 pitcher Kade Anderson’s 20-to-1 strikeouts-to-walk ratio against AU and the U of A going unnoticed because he gave up a combined 12 hits and 11 runs in 10 innings.
Like first baseman Jared Jones’s bat being chilled by Auburn and Alabama, going a combined 3 for 24 (.125) with 12 strikeouts
Like Luis Hernandez and Cade Arrambide, LSU’s top two catchers, who did a fine job defensively, combining for no hits in 17 at-bats over the last two weeks.
Yet after being swept 3-0 at Auburn, LSU head coach Jay Johnson’s Tigers (34-7 overall, 12-6 SEC) found a way to win the series 2-1 over the Crimson Tide despite batting .189 (7 for 37) with runners in scoring position and .133 (4 for 30) with two outs.
Because Johnson has a deeper bench this season, he can keep pushing buttons until he finds something that works.
“You can’t get through the schedule that we play without a few bumps in the road offensively because the pitching talent, including on our team, is too good,” Johnson said. “You want to match up (in various situations) as best you can. It’s nice to have that ability this year because last year we did not.”
In Friday night’s game, the Tigers trailed 5-1 after leaving six runners on base in the first five innings. But when Alabama changed relievers, inserting righthander Austin Morris after left-hander Matthew Heiberger issued a one-out walk to LSU right fielder Jake Brown in the bottom of the sixth, Johnson had been waiting to use pinch-hitters Josh Pearson and Ashton Larson for a situational matchup vs. a righthanded pitcher.
“I was trying to hold Josh and Ashton for that time, and at the back of the order,” Johnson said. “And it worked out.
Pearson stroked a single on the first pitch. In just his second at-bat in an SEC game this year, Larson lined Morris’ second pitch over the right-field wall for a three-run homer to cut Alabama’s lead to 5-4.
It opened the floodgates for the Tigers, who had 10 runs on eight hits, including three homers in their last 21 batters in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
During the weekend, the lethal combination of 9-hole hitter center fielder Chris Stanfield (who hit .500, 5 of 10, three runs scored) followed by leadoff hitter left Derek Curiel (who hit .385, 5 for 13, three RBI, one run scored) compensated for Jones’ power outage and also a 1 for 13 batting weekend from shortstop Steven Milam (though his one hit was a three-run homer in Game 1 that gave LSU a 7-5 lead).
“It was no panic,” said Stanfield of he and his teammates’ mindset after being swept at Auburn. “Weekends like that happen unfortunately, but it’s about how we respond.”
The series against the 15th-ranked Crimson Tide opened the second half of LSU’s SEC schedule. It continues at home Friday with a showcase series vs. No. 2 and defending national champion Tennessee.
Here’s a recap of the Alabama series:
GAME 1: LSU 11, ALABAMA 6 — After LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson struck out 10 batters and also gave up three home runs, putting the home team in a 5-1 deficit after 5 ½ innings, the Tigers exploded for 10 runs in the next 2½ innings.
Then, Tigers’ head coach Jay Johnson tapped an almost-forgotten power source to ignite LSU’s comeback in Thursday’s series opener.
Ashton Larson, a 2024 All-SEC Freshman honoree yet to crack the lineup this season, slammed a three-run pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut Alabama’s lead to one run.
“I use visualization and try to keep my body as warm as possible,” said Larson of his pinch-hitting role. “The coaches in the dugout make sure I’m ready for a situation.”
With an Alabama base runner at first base and no outs in the top of the seventh, Johnson called on freshman reliever Casen Evans and his 0.73 ERA.
Evans got two outs in the next three hitters. Then, he struck out Tide shortstop Justin Lebron on a 3-2 pitch for the third out that plate Brandon Cooper generously called a strikeout on the outside corner.
Lebron stared in disbelief, and Alabama assistant coach Mike Morrison loudly protested, earning an ejection by Cooper.
Evans understood Alabama’s argument.
“I didn’t think that was the best call by the umpire,” Evans said. “That was a makeup call from a pitch earlier on. They miss a call, and they’re like, `Okay, I gotta make up for it on a close one.’”
Dodging that bullet, LSU unloaded in the seventh and eighth innings. The four and three-run rallies included a three-run homer by shortstop Steven Milam and a solo homer by designated hitter Ethan Frey.
GAME 2: LSU 4, ALABAMA 3 — The game began for LSU starting pitcher Anthony Eyanson like a cross-eyed tight wire walker.
He threw 16 balls and 17 strikes in a 33-pitch first inning, finally staggering to safety trailing 1-0 after the Crimson Tide left the bases loaded.
Somehow, Eyanson lasted six innings and 115 pitches, long enough for the Tigers to scratch out enough offense to record a victory Friday night to give LSU its fourth SEC series win.
The Crimson Tide left eight runners on base vs. Eyanson, who struck out 12 and walked five. He tap-
danced out of two bases-loaded jams twice in the first and ended four of his innings with strikeouts.
“Obviously, I didn’t start the way I wanted to,” Eyanson said. “I think just in between innings, really just regrouping and mentally clearing my mind helped.”
LSU’s Johnson was confident Eyanson would work through his shaky start.
“He (Eyanson) just gets better as he goes,” Johnson said. “he’s got so much confidence and so much poise. He just does a great job of keeping things on the rails, and he can really bear down and make a pitch.”
Alabama starter Riley Quick didn’t pitch terribly in his 3.1 innings. He exited after LSU left fielder Derek Curiel’s two-run single gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead.
“We made him (Quick) pitch for sure, got his pitch count up and ultimately got him out of the game,” said LSU’s Chris Stanfield, who had four of the Tigers’ 12 hits and scored twice.
GAME 3: ALABAMA 7, LSU 4 — Alabama starting pitcher Zane Adams limited the Tigers to one run and four hits in the first five innings as the Crimson Tide jumped to a 5-1 lead in Saturday’s series finale.
LSU pinch-hitter Jake Brown’s two-run homer in the sixth inning cut Alabama’s advantage to 5-3. The Tigers managed just one hit and one run in the last three innings off Tide relievers Matthew Heiberger and Carson Ozmer, while Alabama scored two insurance runs in the ninth.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com