Tag: Michael Braswell III

LSU baseball wins 1st conference series against Missouri

Jay Johnson and the LSU Tigers finally got the monkey off of their backs this season.

[autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers finally got the monkey off of their backs this season. LSU won Game 3 against Missouri 6-2 to secure their first conference series win of the year.

Missouri drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning when an error led to two runs for them. The score remained that way until the top of the fifth inning when [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] hit a two-RBI double to score [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] and [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] and tie the game 2-2.

In the top of the sixth inning, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] walked with the bases loaded to extend the LSU lead to 3-2. In the top of the seventh inning, [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit a solo homer to extend the lead to 4-2.

 

In the top of the eighth inning, Braswell hit an RBI double to extend the lead to 5-2, and in the top of the ninth inning, Milazzo scored on a throwing error to give LSU a 6-2 lead.

LSU will be back in action on Tuesday night against Nicholls.

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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 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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LSU baseball drops series to Arkansas after extra-innings loss in Game 2

The Tigers didn’t get the job done in exras as Arkansas walked it off to win 4-3.

LSU entered game two against the Arkansas Razorbacks looking to even the series at one apiece. They didn’t get the job done as Arkansas walked it off in extra innings to win 4-3.

LSU scored the first runs of the game in the top of the third inning when [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to give LSU a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Razorbacks scored three runs on [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] to take their first lead at 3-2. Holman got the start on the Tigers’ mound but was pulled from the game after 4.1 innings. He gave up three runs on five hits, five strikeouts, and five walks. Griffin Herring entered the game to get the Tigers out of a jam in the fifth inning.

In the top of the sixth inning, Ashton Larson hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to tie the game up at 3-3. Unfortunately, a double play happened right after that to prevent LSU from scoring any more runs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Hogs had runners on the corner with only one out. [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] made a play reminiscent of what Tre Morgan did against Wake Forest in Omaha. He charged a bunt attempt and threw the runner out at home to keep the game tied at 3-3.

The game remained tied as we headed to the bottom of the ninth inning. Herring remained on the mound for LSU. The first batter of the inning led off with a double. The Hogs had the winning run in scoring position with nobody out but Herring retired three in a row to send us to extra innings.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] entered the game in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Tigers. After Hurd struck out the first hitter of the inning, the second hitter reached on an error by [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag]. The third hitter of the inning hit a walk-off RBI double to win the game for Arkansas 4-3.

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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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Stellar pitching leads LSU baseball to a win in Game 1 over Florida

LSU took Game 1 against Florida with a 6-1 victory.

LSU took Game 1 against Florida with a 6-1 victory.

[autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the Tigers and unlike last week, he was phenomenal. He finished the night with six innings pitched. He allowed one run on one hit, 13 strikeouts, and three walks.

The Tigers got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning as LSU took a two-run lead thanks to a [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] RBI single and an [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] RBI single.

The game went quiet until the top of the fourth inning when the Gators got on the board with a solo homer. That was Florida’s only hit and only run against Holman all night.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, LSU got some insurance runs as [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] walked with the bases loaded, [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly, and [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] hit an RBI single to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Bingham hit an RBI double to extend the lead to 6-1 as we headed into the ninth inning.

In the top of the ninth inning, Griffin Herring remained on the mound and got the Tigers through the inning unscathed. Herring entered to pitch after Holman and he finished the game after pitching three full innings and allowing zero runs on three hits and three strikeouts.

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

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Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Instant Analysis: LSU baseball takes care of business against Louisiana Tech

The LSU bats were on fire as the Tigers run-ruled the Bulldogs 11-1 in eight innings.

The LSU bats were on fire as the Tigers run-ruled the Louisiana tech Bulldogs 11-1 in eight innings.

The LSU bats wasted no time getting a strong lead against Louisiana Tech. The Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning as [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit an RBI single, [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit an RBI single, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single, and Pearson stole home to give LSU a 5-0 lead.

The Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the second inning but LSU got that run back plus one more in the bottom of the second [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a two-RBI homer to increase the lead to 7-1.

LSU then scored one run in the bottom of the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh inning to give the Tigers an 11-1 run-rule victory over Louisiana Tech.

LSU welcomes the Florida Gators into Baton Rouge for a weekend national championship rematch. The Gators will enter the weekend series as a top-10 team.

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Instant Analysis: LSU baseball drops series, run-ruled by Mississippi State in Game 3

Mississippi State run-ruled LSU 15-5 in Game 3.

Mississippi State run-ruled LSU 15-5 in Game 3 on Sunday to take the opening series of SEC play.

Game 3 started badly for LSU and it only got worse as the game went on. [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound and the Bulldogs scored three runs against him in the first inning before it mercifully came to an end.

In the top of the fifth inning, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 3-1 State. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks followed that to tie the game 3-3.

It looked as if the Tigers had hope and were right back in the game, but in the bottom of the inning, Hurd gave up a three-run bomb and a solo shot to give Mississippi State a 7-3 lead.

In the top of the sixth, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] got half of those runs back with a two-run shot of his own to cut the lead to 7-5.

That is when the wheels fell off for LSU. The Bulldogs scored five more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 12-5. All of those runs were charged to [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag]. Little was pulled from the game after giving up five runs on three hits, two strikeouts and two walks in 0.2 innings.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mississippi State scored three more runs to take a 15-5 lead and end the game via run-rule victory.

LSU suffered their first conference series loss since last May when the Tigers dropped two out of three games to Mississippi State. LSU will be back in action on Tuesday as the Tigers host Louisiana Tech at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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