By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – If LSU’s baseball team has an Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise old head who has experienced almost every situation possible, it’s senior Josh Pearson.
He’s started 155 games of the 206 he’s played as a Tiger, being used as a left fielder, right fielder, second baseman, and designated hitter.
But when he talks about being a pinch-hitter, his teammates are all ears.
“He (Pearson) has a little trick that he uses when he’s not playing,” said Dalton Beck, a senior transfer from Incarnate Word where he was the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year last season after hitting .377 with 20 doubles, 18 home runs, and 67 RBI in 57 games. “He’ll pick one left-handed batter to simulate that bat in his mind just to have a feel for what teams might throw him once he gets in there.”
In just his second at-bat in SEC play, Beck ripped a game-tying two-run single in LSU’s six-run ninth inning rally for a 6-3 comeback win over Tennessee last Friday in the first game of the three-game series won by the Tigers 2 games to 1.
But Beck is not the only LSU player to come up clutch as a pinch hitter in SEC play. Heading into tonight’s SEC series opener for the No. 2 Tigers (37-9 overall, 14-7 SEC) at Texas A&M (25-19, 8-13 SEC), LSU’s pinch-hitters are hitting .400 (10 of 25) in league play including three homers, one triple and 16 RBI
Six of the nine players that LSU head coach Jay Johnson has used as pinch-hitters have produced hits.
Sophomore right fielder Jake Brown, who has started 32 games of the 42 games he’s played this season, has been on fire as a pinch-hitter against SEC competition when he’s not in the starting lineup.
He’s batting .666 (4 of 6) with 5 RBI, thanks to a two-run homer, a one-run triple, and a pair of RBI singles.
“I took from Josh that he puts himself in another player’s shoes where he might be expected to play,” Brown said. “I’m ready when my name is called.
Most of the time, Johnson’s thorough scouting of opposing pitchers enables him to target certain pinch hitters for specific situations.
Like the opening game of the Alabama series two weeks ago as LSU 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 Brown in the bottom of the sixth, Johnson had targeted to use pinch-hitters 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 hit a single on the first pitch. Larson, in just his second at-bat in an SEC game this year, lined Morris’ second pitch over the right-field wall for a three-run homer to cut Alabama’s lead to 5-4.
It jumpstarted the dormant Tigers, who had 10 runs on eight hits, including three homers in their last 21 batters in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.
“There were a lot of different moments where I was ready to go throughout the game,” Larson said. “The (assistant) coaches have been really good in the dugout, making sure I stay engaged within the game.
”While we’re on defense, I go in the tunnel and training room, staying hot and ready to go. When we’re on offense, I’m tracking the pitches, watching the release, taking mental reps to be locked in and getting as ready to go as possible.”
In Beck’s first SEC at-bat, he struck out looking vs. Alabama. He remembered that when he stepped to the plate against Tennessee when Johnson suddenly called on him to pinch-hit.
“What I learned from my Alabama at-bat is I had to be the one against Tennessee who threw the first punch,” Beck said. “I couldn’t wait for them to come at me.
“You can read into the scouting reports as much as you want to, and go in there thinking, ‘Oh yeah, he’s (the opposing pitcher) going to be throwing this right here.’
“Or for that Tennessee at bat I just kind of said, ‘Screw it. It’s now or never. Let’s do this thing.'”
No. 2 LSU (37-9 overall, 14-7 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (25-19, 8-13 SEC, Blue Bell Park, College Station, Texas
SCHEDULE/PITCHING MATCHUP
Game 1: Today, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
LSU – So. LH Kade Anderson (6-1, 3.76 ERA, 64.2 IP, 102 SO, 16 BB)
TEXAS A&M – R-Jr. LH Ryan Prager (2-3, 4.04 ERA, 62.1 IP, 54 SO, 15 BB)
Game 2: Saturday, 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
LSU – Jr. RH Anthony Eyanson (6-2, 3.49 ERA, 59.1 IP, 91 SO, 25 BB)
TEXAS A&M – Jr. RH Justin Lamkin (3-5, 3.92 ERA, 62 IP, 69 SO, 14 BB)
Game 3: Sunday, 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
LSU – TBA
TEXAS A&M – Jr. LH Myles Patton (3-3, 4.84 ERA, 57.2 IP, 64 KO, 12 BB).
LSU IN SEC THIS YEAR
Series wins: 3-0 vs. Missouri, 3-0 vs. Mississippi State, 3-0 at Oklahoma, 2-1 vs. Alabama, 2-1 vs. Tennessee. Series losses: 1-2 at Texas, 0-3 at Auburn.
TEXAS A&M IN SEC THIS YEAR
Series wins: 2-1 at Tennessee, 3-0 vs. South Carolina, 2-1 at Arkansas. Series losses: 0-3 vs. Alabama, 0-3 at Vanderbilt, 1-2 vs. Kentucky, 0-3 at Texas.
LSU-TEXAS A&M SERIES
Texas A&M leads the all-time series (which began in 1907) 32-30-1. The series is tied 17-17 (9-9 in College Station) in the 34 games played between the schools since Texas A&M began playing baseball in the SEC in 2013. LSU has posted 2-1 series victories over the Aggies in each of the last two seasons.
A LOOK AT LSU
LSU is No. 1 in the SEC in on-base percentage (.427), No. 2 in team batting average (.312), hits (475), and doubles (101). The Tigers’ pitching staff is No. 3 in ERA (3.75), No. 4 in opponent batting average (.222), and No. 2 in strikeouts (512). LSU junior first baseman Jared Jones is tied for No. 2 in the SEC in RBI (59), tied for No. 4 in hits (65), No. 2 in total bases (123), tied for No. 6 in home runs (15), tied for No. 9 in runs (50) and No. 10 in batting average (.357). Freshman leftfielder Derek Curiel is No. 1 in batting average (.380) and .505 on-base percentage (.495). No. 5 in walks (39), tied for No. 4 in doubles (15) and hits (65). Sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson is No. 2 in strikeouts (102), tied for No. 2 in innings pitched (64.2), and No. 12 in ERA (3.76). Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson is No. 4 in strikeouts (91), No. 9 in innings pitched (59.1), and No. 11 in ERA (3.49).
A LOOK AT TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M is No. 12 in the SEC in batting average (.276), tied for No. 8 in home runs (71), and No. 9 in RBI (308). The Aggies’ pitching staff is No. 7 in the league in ERA (4.26), No. 15 in strikeouts (376), and No. 13 in opposing batting average (.247). Junior centerfielder Jace LaViolette is hitting 291 with 15 homers, nine doubles, and 52 RBI. Junior shortstop is hitting .287 with nine homers, 10 doubles, and 41 RBI. Freshman shortstop Terrance Kiel III is batting a team-leading .329.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com