By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
NASHVILLE – LSU freshman relief pitcher Zion Theophilus has the name of a fictional character and a heart of gold.
His on-the-field contributions so far on the Tigers’ 21-man pitching staff have been minimal yet effective (3.1 innings in 3 appearances, 2.71 ERA).
But what he did off the field before Tuesday’s 8-4 win over Creighton – with slumping No. 13 LSU (14-5) just days away from the opening of SEC play here tonight vs. Vanderbilt (11-7) – was huge.
He wrote notes of positivity to members on the Tigers’ roster and placed them in their lockers.
His message to shortstop Steven Milam was “You’re the best shortstop in the country, keep hitting balls hard.”
His words to left fielder Jake Brown were, “This is what you’re good at, this is what people like about you. Believe it.”
“That kind of started a message throughout the locker room and throughout the (pregame) meeting,” said Brown, who’s hitting .413. “It was like `Let’s go out there and believe it.’ And so that’s what we did.”
Since starting this season 8-0, the defending national champions are 5-5. In this stretch, they’ve mostly lost their mojo at the plate (hitting .225), in relief pitching 5.16 ERA), and in the field (committing 15 errors).
“In games three to eight, we played as good as I think this team could play at that time,” LSU fifth-year head coach Jay Johnson said. “We lost a little bit of a sense of that. It took us too long to get to the point that we did on Tuesday. We’re going to need more of that, because that’s the only way these games that we’re about to play are going to be played.”
Johnson’s national title teams in 2023 and 2025 started the season 16-1 both times. The ’23 squad went 19-10 (one rainout) in the SEC and was 7-2-1 in league series. Last season’s squad was 19-11 in conference play, winning seven of 10 league series.
Currently, 10 other SEC teams are ranked in the top 25, and LSU will play nine of them in the 30-game league schedule.
The SEC slate isn’t as vicious as two seasons ago, when the rebuilding Tigers went 3-12 in the first half of league play, facing four teams in the first five series ranked nationally in the top 8.
But it’s still the usual daunting challenge in a conference in which five teams have won the last six national titles.
“There’s not one of the 10 (SEC teams) that we play that can’t advance to a Super Regional,” Johnson said. “It (the SEC) is like (pro) wrestling when they had the Royal Rumble with Hulk Logan, Junkyard Dog and Andre the Giant. They just threw them all in the ring at one time, and they just beat the crap out of each other and throw each other out of the ring.”
While LSU hasn’t been the only team this season to face non-conference adversity – Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas lost series to High Point, Kent State and Stetson respectively – no team has had an uncharacteristically worse start than Vanderbilt.
The two-time national champion Commodores started the season 7-2 but are 3-5 since, including a stretch of four straight losses. It’s a downer for Tim Corbin, starting his 23rd season as Vandy’s head coach, someone Johnson calls “the best coach in college baseball since (former five-time national champion LSU head coach) Skip (Bertman).”
Vanderbilt has had an early-season run of pitching staff injuries, and its offense has been anemic.
“I’ve managed it the best we can,” Corbin said of his dwindling pitching options.
LSU hopes to get a boost this weekend from senior leftfielder Chris Stanfield. He returned to action in a reserve role against Creighton after missing 16 games with a hand injury he suffered in the season-opener vs. Milwaukee.
Last season after he transferred from Auburn, he hit .298 with 15 doubles, two triples, one homer, 31 RBI and 53 runs as the Tigers’ starting centerfielder. He was LSU’s leading hitter in SEC regular-season games, batting .326 (31-for-95) with a league-leading 14 doubles.
“He just brings a different level of energy to the game, and that’s why he’s been so successful,” Brown said of Stanfield. “He brings a lot of life to the game, to the team, and he’s something that can make anything happen within a split second.”
LSU (13-5 overall, 0-0 SEC) vs. VANDERBILT (11-7, 0-0 SEC), Charles Hawkins Field, Nashville
Game 1: Today, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
LSU – So. RH Casan Evans (1-0, 4.66 ERA, 19.1 IP, 7 BB, 7 30 SO)
VANDERBILT – Jr. RH Conner Fennell (2-0, 3.80 ERA, 21.1 IP, 3 BB, 30 SO)
Game 2: Saturday, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
LSU – Jr. RH Cooper Moore (3-1, 2.25 ERA, 24 IP, 5 BB, 31 SO)
VANDERBILT – Fr. RH Wyatt Nadeau (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 IP, 6 BB, 15 SO)
Game 3: Sunday, 3 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
LSU – So. RH William Schmidt (3-1, 2.45 ERA, 22 IP, 4 BB, 33 SO)
VANDERBILT – So. RH Nate Taylor (0-3, 4.91 ERA, 28.1 IP, 12 BB, 24 SO)
LSU SERIES VS. VANDERBILT
Vanderbilt has won nine of the past 11 SEC regular-season series between the schools, but LSU leads the all-time series 62-49 with Vanderbilt. LSU swept three games from the Commodores when the teams last met in Nashville on May 19-21, 2022.
A LOOK AT LSU
LSU is 13th in the 16-team SEC in batting average (.291) and last in earned run average. Brown has been the Tigers’ most consistent standout. He leads the league in hits (31) and is No. 3 in RBI (28), tied for No. 4 in homers (9), No. 2 in at-bats (75), 10th in batting average (.413) and No. 7 in slugging percentage.
A LOOK AT VANDERBILT
Vandy is batting .318 with 36 doubles, four triples, 44 homers and 20 steals in 25 attempts. Eight Vanderbilt hitters are batting .300 or better, led by infielder Ryker Waite leads the bats with a .396 average and five doubles, one triple, two homers, 14 RBI and five stolen bases. Utility player Braden Holcomb is hitting .353 and leads Vanderbilt in homers (10) and RBI (31).
The Commodores’ pitching staff has a 3.94 cumulative ERA with 180 strikeouts in 146.1 innings while allowing just a .217 opponent batting average.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com