By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – When it came time to determine his pitching lineup for LSU’s final SEC series of the regular season vs. Florida, Tigers’ head baseball coach Jay Johnson decided to put all his eggs in one basket.
Even if they have been cracked for a majority of one of LSU’s worst seasons since the 1970s.
Having already clinched the school record for most SEC losses for a season, Johnson decided to save his best pitchers (if there is such a thing) for this week’s SEC Tournament.
He’s hoping for a miracle, which would be winning the tourney and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Otherwise, LSU (29-27 overall, 9-21 SEC) is cooked after losing 15 of its last 18 SEC games.
Florida’s sweep of the Tigers this past week, wins of 11-8 in Game 1, 11-1 (by run rule) in Game 2 and 15-11 in Game 3, were a byproduct of Johnson’s unconditional surrender to using mostly inexperienced hurlers from the SEC’s worst pitching staff.
The No. 19 Gators (37-18, 18-12) launched 10 home runs in the series, including four in game two and three in game three. A week ago, Georgia hit nine homers in its home sweep over LSU.
The Tigers’ seventh and final SEC series loss – the last five by sweeps – didn’t look any different than the others.
In Florida’s first inning of Thursday’s opener, it scored six runs on five hits, three walks and an LSU error.
Johnson described the opening loss as “a microcosm” of the Tigers’ season. Eight LSU pitchers combined for 13 walks, two wild pitches and two hit by pitches.
“They (Florida) had 20 free bases, and we had five, like it’s almost statistically impossible that we had the tying run on deck when it’s that lopsided,” Johnson said. “Good baseball and clean baseball start on the mound.
“That (pitching) is your offensive line. “If your offensive line sucks, you suck. You’ve got to control the strike zone. That’s where the game is played. Not that it’s been good all year, but we’ve really just lost it these last couple of weeks.
“There are too many walks, too many hit batters, too many wild pitches and we can’t get off the field when we need to. When we score, we give up runs immediately.”
LSU finished the regular season with its pitching staff ranked first in the SEC in strikeouts (644) walks issued (355) and wild pitches (89), second in batters hit by pitch (78) and last in earned run average (5.86).
In its last three SEC series losses to Florida, Georgia and Mississippi State, the Tigers’ opponents have scored double digits in eight of nine games including a current streak of seven straight.
LSU’s offense improved considerably in the back half of SEC play when Johnson finally benched four non-productive transfer portal veterans and started freshmen such as first baseman Mason Braun and catcher/designated hitter Omar Serna Jr.
In SEC games only, Braun ranks sixth in the league in batting average (.355) and second in on-base percentage (.490). Serna is hitting .320 in conference play.
Sophomore catcher/designated hitter Cade Arrambide is second in the SEC (league games only) in batting average (343), tied for second in home runs and second in slugging percentage (.747).
With three juniors — shortstop Steven Milam, center fielder Derek Curiel and right fielder Jake Brown — all expected to be picked in the early rounds of the major league baseball draft on June 2, Arrambide, Serna Jr. and Braun are expected to be Johnson’s building blocks to instantly revive an eight-time national championship program.
“Those guys are very talented, and they are very coachable,” Johnson said. “That is a good starting point,” Johnson said.
LSU opens SEC Tournament play on Tuesday in Hoover, Ala., as the last game on day 1. The No. 14 seed Tigers play 11th-seeded Oklahoma, with the winner advancing to face No. 6 seed Auburn on Wednesday.
The Sooners won two of three games over LSU in the second conference series weekend of the season.
“Our focus turns now to a good Oklahoma team,” Johnson said. “We’ll put our best foot forward, we’re not going to save any pitchers. Guys are going to have to be ready to pitch on back-to-back days if we feel like they can help us win.”
Here’s a recap of the LSU-Florida series:
GAME 1: FLORIDA 11, LSU 8 – The Gators led 6-0 in the first inning of Thursday’s opener.
The Tigers scored eight runs on 12 hits, led by shortstop Steven Milam. He was 3-for-3 with a homer, a double and three RBI.
GAME 2: FLORIDA 11, LSU 1 – The Gators scored a seven-inning rule win in Friday’s game, sparked by starting pitcher Liam Peterson’s masterful performance. Peterson (2-5) allowed one run on three hits in seven innings with one walk and 11 strikeouts.
Florida launched four homers, including a three-run bomb by right fielder Cash Strayer for a 10-1 Gators’ lead in the top of the seventh inning.
GAME 3: FLORIDA 15, LSU 11 – Florida centerfielder Hayden Yost hit three homers and drove in five runs in Saturday’s series finale. Yost was 4-for-5 at the plate on Saturday with three homers and five RBI. Florida second baseman Cade Kurland hit two solo homers, as the Gators had 18 hits. LSU produced 16 hits, including a 3-for-6 performance by catcher Cade Arrambide. He homered twice and had four RBI.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com