LSU pitcher [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] was one of the team’s most anticipated offseason additions after coming in from UCLA.
He’s had a bit of an up-and-down campaign that featured some struggles, especially early on. But he’s been pitching better recently, and he delivered one of his best outings of the entire season on Wednesday as he led LSU to an SEC tournament-opening win over South Carolina.
Hurd earned the win as he pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts and two walks. He struggled a bit toward the end of his performance after retiring the first 12 batters, giving up a pair of singles and walks early in the sixth inning, ending his day.
Still, it was an encouraging sign for a player who will certainly be relied upon to win games in the postseason. Perhaps Hurd is just continuing to develop, but for the more superstitious among you, there may be a different reason.
He was wearing star pitcher [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag]’ glove during Wednesday’s game. Former LSU pitcher [autotag]Ben McDonald[/autotag] dropped that tidbit during the SEC Network broadcast, and a zoom-in seemed to back it up.
Definitely not a coincidence that Thatcher Hurd has found his mojo and wearing Paul Skenes' glove 🔥 pic.twitter.com/smEfsuNX8S
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) May 24, 2023
During a postgame interview with the SEC Network, Hurd confirmed that he was using Skenes’ glove and has been for the past few games after breaking his. Per Hurd, it’s one of several gloves Skenes uses, and he called it a “hand-me-down.”
Certainly, using a different glove doesn’t explain the leap Hurd seemed to take on Wednesday. But with that being said, he should probably keep using it moving forward.
You know, just to be safe.
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