LSU baseball shuts out Auburn to take Game 1 Friday night

Gage Jump started on the mound for LSU, and he shut out Auburn 5-0 in Game 1.

LSU welcomed the Auburn Tigers to the Bayou for a weekend series as both teams tried to win their way into the conference tournament. [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] started on the mound for LSU and he shut out Auburn 5-0 in Game 1.

LSU got the scoring started in the bottom of the fourth inning via the long ball. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a solo shot to give LSU a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, that trend continued as [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a solo shot of his own to give LSU a 2-0 lead.

The score remained 2-0 LSU until the bottom of the seventh inning when LSU tacked on three more runs. [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] hit a two-RBI double and [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI single to extend the LSU lead to 5-0.

 

Jump finished the game after seven full innings of work after allowing zero runs and only allowing two hits on six strikeouts and zero walks. [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] finished the final two innings of the game as he struck out four of the six hitters he faced.

Game 2 of the series will start Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.

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Jay Johnson gives an update on Brady Neal’s injury status for LSU baseball

Jay Johnson said Brady Neal has been playing through a shoulder injury that he aggravated over the weekend.

[autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] has seen a lot of playing time for LSU this season from behind the dish.

The sophomore catcher from Tallahassee, Florida, has played in 33 games so far for the Tigers, and after starting out hitting pretty well at the plate, his production has fallen off.

Starting with the Vanderbilt series, Neal is 3-for-19 (.158) from the plate. That has led to a lot of people wondering what is going on with Neal. Today, LSU head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said that Neal has been dealing with a shoulder injury and he re-aggravated it against Missouri last weekend.

LSU is blessed with a plethora of talented catchers as the Tigers have three guys who could be the No. 1 guy at most other schools. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag], [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] and Neal all have the talent to be starting catchers at any school in the country.

We have entered the back half of the season and LSU is fighting for a spot in the SEC tournament so it’s all hands on deck for the Tigers right now. Hopefully, Neal will heal sooner rather than later.

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Late LSU baseball rally falls short as Tigers drop Game 2 to Missouri

LSU’s first conference series win will have to wait at least one more day.

LSU’s first conference series win will have to wait at least one more day.

After run-ruling Missouri on Friday, the LSU Tigers were not so fortunate Saturday as Missouri won Game 2 by an 8-7 margin despite a ninth-inning rally from LSU, which fell to 4-13 in SEC play.

Missouri scored first in the bottom of the first inning with a ground-rule double for an RBI and an error that led to another run to make it 2-0 Missouri early. In the top of the second inning, LSU got one of those runs back when [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1.

Missouri answered that run in the bottom of the second as they extended their lead to 3-1. Both teams settled in and the game got quiet until the bottom of the fifth inning. Missouri scored four runs to extend their lead to 7-1 and chased [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] from the mound.

Holman was pulled from the game after 4.2 innings of work. He gave up six runs on six hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. [autotag]Aiden Moffett[/autotag] entered the game for LSU and Missouri scored one of those four runs against him that inning.

LSU started trying to claw their way back in the top of the sixth inning with a solo homer from [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag]. Then [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-run shot in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to 7-4.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Missouri scored another run to increase their lead to 8-4. In the top of the ninth, [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 8-5. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] then hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 8-7 with only one out.

That is as close as LSU would get to making a comeback as they lost Game 2 8-7. The rubber match of the series will be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

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LSU baseball run-rules Missouri in Game 1

Gage Jump finished the game with seven innings pitched, and he allowed only one run on three hits, 14 strikeouts and one walk.

This is the LSU team we have all been waiting on this season. The offense was smashing the ball and the pitching was on point as LSU opened its road series against Missouri with a 12-1 run-rule win in Game 1.

[autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the matchup and was great. Jump finished the game with seven innings pitched and he allowed only one run on three hits, 14 strikeouts and one walk.

LSU started the scoring in the top of the first when [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI double to score [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and make it 1-0 Tigers.

In the top of the second inning, [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a solo homer to increase the lead to 2-0. The Tigers then broke the game wide open in the top of the third when they scored six runs. [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit a solo homer, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a three-run homer, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI double, and [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] hit an RBI double to extend the lead to 8-0.

In the bottom of the third, Missouri scored a run to cut the lead to 8-1. In the top of the fourth inning, LSU scored three more runs. [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and Travinski scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 11-1.

In the top of the sixth inning, Jones scored on a fielder’s choice to increase the lead to 12-1 as the Tigers looked to win via the run rule. Game 2 of the series will be Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.

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LSU baseball gets back in the win column against Vanderbilt in Game 1

LSU entered this week needing to bounce back in a big way. It did just that with a 10-6 win over No. 6 Vanderbilt on Thursday night.

LSU entered this week needing to bounce back in a big way. LSU did just that with a 10-6 win over No. 6 Vanderbilt on Thursday night.

The Tigers were dominated by Southern on Monday and were swept by Arkansas in their latest SEC series. No. 6 Vanderbilt strolled into Baton Rouge looking to add insult to injury.

LSU got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning as [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a solo homer, [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] scored on a fielder’s choice, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit an RBI single, [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single, and Neal scored on an RBI groundout to give LSU a 6-0 lead early in the game.

In the bottom of the fourth inning [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] hit a solo homer and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-RBI double to give LSU a 9-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, Vandy finally got on the board as they plated four runs against [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] to cut the lead to 9-4. In the top of the sixth inning, the Commodores scored two more runs to cut the lead to 9-6.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] singled to center and Bingham scored due to a throwing error to increase the lead to 10-6. [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] remained in the game to pitch the top of the ninth inning, he retired the Commodores to secure the 10-6 victory.

Game 2 of the series will be Friday night at 7 p.m. CT.

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LSU baseball dominated by Southern in midweek loss Monday night

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The Southern Jaguars dominated the LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium on Monday night.

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The Southern Jaguars dominated the LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium on Monday night.

Southern won the game 12-7 and LSU did not lead at any point. LSU cut the lead to 3-2 entering the fifth inning but that was as close as they could get.

[autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] started on the mound as the Tigers looked to bounce back against Southern after being swept by Arkansas.

In the top of the second inning, Southern got on the board first with a three-run homer against Anderson to give them a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] had a sacrifice bunt to cut the lead to 3-2.

In the top of the fifth inning, Southern did some damage against [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] as they scored five more runs to increase their lead to 8-2. In the bottom of the fifth, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] had an RBI groundout and [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 8-5.

In the top of the sixth, an LSU error led to another run for Southern as they increased their lead to 9-5. In the bottom of the sixth, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 9-6.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jared Jones hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 9-7. In the top of the ninth, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] committed his second error of the evening leading to another run for Southern. A fielder’s choice and another error led to more runs for Southern as they increased their lead to 12-7.

LSU will host No. 6 Vanderbilt this weekend. Game 1 of the series is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. CT.

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What is wrong with LSU baseball?

The 2024 season has not gotten off to the best start for the Tigers.

The 2024 season has not gotten off to the best start for the LSU baseball team. After three conference series, the Tigers are 20-9 overall and 2-7 in conference play and have lost all three series. The Tigers dropped series to Mississippi State and Florida 2-1 and then got swept by Arkansas last weekend.

So, what is going on with this team? For one, let’s rewind to the 2023 season. [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers had the two best players in college baseball on their team, [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag]. The No. 1 and No. 2 overall draft picks in the 2023 MLB draft.

Along with that, the team had [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag], [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag], [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag]. That equates to two out of three starting pitchers, first and second base, shortstop, designated hitter, and two of the three outfield spots. One outfield spot ([autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag]), one starting pitcher ([autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag]), and two catchers ([autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag]) were all that remained from last year’s starting lineup.

Replacing six hitters in your starting lineup and two of your starting pitchers is not an easy task. Johnson had to hit the recruiting trail hard for high school kids and players in the transfer portal. He did a great job of rebuilding the team, but some players you just can’t replace. There is no replacement for those guys.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some stats so far. LSU is in the middle of the road for most hitting statistics in the conference. The Tigers are seventh in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage, and hits, eighth in slugging percentage, doubles, and triples. The biggest issue for LSU on the offensive side is that we are ranked 11th out of 14 in RBI and runs scored. LSU is not hitting the long ball as well either as the Tigers rank ninth in that stat.

Three more interesting offensive stats, LSU ranks first in the conference in double plays and caught stealing. First in those areas is not a good thing. That means you have hit the most double plays and been caught stealing the most. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] leads the conference in double plays. He has hit into eight of them. That’s three more than the next closest player.

Now, let’s look at the Tigers’ performance on the mound. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] is the silver lining of this pitching staff. Without him, you would not want to see any of these numbers. Holman has the second-lowest ERA (1.38), second-highest strikeouts (61), and fourth-lowest opponent batting average (.173). Why am I singling him out? Because if you take him out of the equation, LSU does not have another pitcher in the top 15 of the conference.

LSU has the MOST walks in the SEC (131) and the second most wild pitches in the SEC (28). [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] is tied for the most losses in the conference with four and three LSU pitchers are tied for sixth in the conference in wild pitches with four. ([autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag], [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] and Hurd)

LSU is sixth in the conference in fielding percentage but [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] is tied for first for the most errors in the conference with seven. Those numbers will not get the job done, especially in conference play.

LSU will play Southern at home on Monday before hosting Vanderbilt this weekend.

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Instant analysis from LSU baseball’s Game 1 loss at Arkansas on Thursday night

A late homer gave the Hogs all the insurance they would need to beat LSU 7-4.

A late homer for the Arkansas Razorbacks gave them all the insurance they would need to take Game 1 and beat LSU 7-4 on Thursday night.

The Tigers had lost back-to-back SEC series losses to start the year and the schedule did not get any easier as the Tigers traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the No. 1 team in the country.

[autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the Tigers as he tried to provide some stability for a struggling pitching staff. The Razorbacks scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning due to an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Arkansas.

In the top of the fourth inning, LSU took their first lead of the game as [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit back-to-back homers to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Arkansas scored two runs to take a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSU walked in a run with the bases loaded to extend the Razorbacks lead to 4-2. In the top of the eighth, White scored on an RBI single by [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] to cut the lead to 4-3.

[autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. After walking two of the first three hitters he faced, he gave up a three-run homer to give Arkansas a 7-3 lead.

LSU added a run in the top of the ninth after a wild pitch with runners at second and third, but that was all it was able to manage as the Razorbacks put the game away.

Game 2 is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. CT.

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Instant Analysis: LSU baseball gets back in the win column against Southeastern Louisiana

After losing two out of three games to Florida last weekend, the LSU Tigers needed a pick-me-up.

After losing two out of three games to Florida last weekend, the LSU Tigers needed a pick-me-up. They got that with an 8-4 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night.

LSU scored first in the bottom of the first inning when [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] scored on an RBI single by [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] to make it 1-0 Tigers.

In the top of the second inning, SLU took the lead by scoring two runs against [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] to chase him from the game. In the bottom of the inning, LSU took the lead back as the Tigers put up four runs. [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] hit a solo homer, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] scored on an RBI groundout, and White hit a two-run homer to give LSU a 6-2 lead.

 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSU scored three more runs as [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] scored on a fielder’s choice to make the score 8-2 LSU.

In the top of the eighth inning, Southeastern hit a solo shot in the eighth and ninth innings to cut the lead to 8-4 but that was as close as they could get. LSU will now prepare to travel to Fayetteville to take on the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend.

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Instant Analysis: Gators run-rule LSU baseball in Game 3 to take the series

This game got out of hand late, and Jay Johnson was thrown out as Florida took Game 3 12-2 to win the series.

After a heartbreaking loss last night against the Gators, LSU looked to bounce back in the Sunday Gold uniforms. This game got out of hand late and [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] was thrown out as Florida took Game 3 12-2 in eight innings to win the series.

LSU scored first in the bottom of the fourth inning when [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] scored due to an error made by the left fielder to make it 1-0 LSU.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Gators onslaught began. Two two-run homers and a two-RBI double led to a 6-1 Florida lead as [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] was pulled from the game.

In the bottom of the inning, LSU got one of those runes back via a Jared Jones solo shot to cut the lead to 6-2.

After the homer by Jones, some words were exchanged between the Gators’ first baseman and Jones which led to warnings for both teams. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] struck out to end the inning and apparently, he heard something else he didn’t like. He came out of the dugout and proceeded to get tossed from the game.

Florida would go on to score two more runs in the top of the sixth and four runs in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 12-2. LSU failed to score in the bottom of the eighth and the Tigers lost via run rule.

That’s two straight SEC series losses for LSU as their record drops to 19-5. The next game will be against Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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