By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – There’s a scene in the 1988 baseball movie “Bull Durham” in which the Kevin Costner character Crash Davis turns on the sprinkler system late at night in an opposing stadium to create an artificial rainout.
The cancellation of the next day’s game gave Davis’ team the mental and physical reset it needed to start a winning streak.
Here on Friday, Mother Nature provided an honest-to-goodness gully washer that postponed Friday’s SEC series opener between LSU and South Carolina.
Apparently, it was exactly what the struggling Tigers (along with playing a less-than-formidable opponent) needed.
Mired in a school-record nine-game SEC losing streak after being swept by Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Mississippi State, LSU (28-21 overall, 9-15 SEC) won more league games in 29 hours than it did in April by sweeping South Carolina (22-27, 7-17 SEC).
There was no magic in how the Tigers won Saturday’s doubleheader 6-1 in Game 1 and 7-3 in Game 2, as well as Sunday’s 7-0 shutout.
They did everything well that they hadn’t done all season. They had the best starting pitching, relief pitching, two-out hitting and fielding.
The complementary baseball that had eluded fifth-year LSU head coach Jay Johnson’s defending national champions finally showed up in the same place at the same time.
“It (complementary baseball) changes the course of your ability to win games that we had lost,” Johnson said. “We haven’t played great defense or pitched well at times. Our offense has really come along.
“I wish we could hit the reset button as they do on the video games that they (his players) play. You can’t do that, but you can learn and get better. They have permission to get better in this thing, and that’s happening.”
For the first time in SEC play, with just two weekends left in the regular season, Johnson started almost all of the same position players, including four freshmen (first baseman Mason Braun, catcher/designated hitter Oscar Serna Jr., second baseman Jack Ruckert, rightfielder William Patrick) and a sophomore (designated hitter/catcher Cade Arrambide) – in every game of the South Carolina series.
There were few, if any, substitutions.
The continuity seemed to help. The Tigers batted .316 vs. the Gamecocks, including .324 (11 for 34) with two outs and .542 (13 for 24) in leadoff hitting.
Also, a week after 16 LSU pitchers (three starters lasting just 9.2 innings, 13 relievers handling 19.2 innings) had an 8.94 ERA in blowing leads in all three losses of the Mississippi State series, the Tigers needed just seven pitchers against South Carolina (three starters lasting 17 innings, four relievers for 10 innings) to combine for a minuscule 1.00 ERA.
Finally, ranked as the SEC’s worst fielding team, averaging 1.2 errors per game entering the weekend, LSU limited the bumble, and had just three errors in the series.
Arrambide, who’s forming a lethal duo with Serna Jr. as both players alternate starting at catcher and designated hitter, said the play of LSU’s four freshmen starters has been huge.
“All of those guys are ultra-talented, and it was only a matter of time before each of them got their opportunity to shine,” said Arrambide, who has combined with Serna Jr. in the last two SEC series to hit .451 (23 for 51) with 18 runs, 20 RBI, five doubles, and eight homers.
“They’ve really just owned their role, knowing there’s no pressure for them. No one is expecting them to hit two home runs a game and get four hits. They’re just going out there having fun and just trying to play winning baseball. And they’ve done a really good job of that.”
Here’s an LSU-South Carolina series recap:
GAME 1 LSU 6, SOUTH CAROLINA 1 – Sophomore right-hander William Schmidt gave up one run in six innings in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Right-hander reliever Grant Fontenot recorded his third save of the season by shutting out South Carolina in the final three innings. Designated hitter Cade Arrambide, centerfielder Derek Curiel and shortstop Steven Milam each had two RBI to lead the Tigers’ offense.
GAME 2: LSU 7, SOUTH CAROLINA 3 – The Tigers had 13 hits in Saturday’s nightcap, including a two-run homer by first baseman Mason Braun and a solo shot by catcher Arrambide, who also singled twice and scored three runs. Designated hitter Omar Serna Jr. was 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI. Freshman starting pitcher Marco Paz earned his first career collegiate victory, allowing one run on just one hit in five innings with three walks and eight strikeouts. Reliever Deven Sheerin gave up two unearned runs in the final four innings to earn his fourth save of the season.
GAME 3: LSU 7, SOUTH CAROLINA 0 – Senior starting pitcher Zac Cowan hurled six shutout innings in Sunday’s win. LSU opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when designated hitter Serna Jr. hit a two-run homer, his seventh dinger of the season. The Tigers extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth on catcher Arrambide’s sacrifice fly and pinch hitter Tanner Reaves’ RBI single. LSU added two more runs in the sixth, as the Tigers capitalized on a South Carolina error. Second baseman Jack Ruckert’s RBI single in the seventh increased the lead to 7-0.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com