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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LSU baseball eliminated from SEC tournament with loss to Texas A&M

Texas A&M eliminated LSU from the SEC Tournament with a 5-3 loss.

After losing to Arkansas on Thursday, LSU faced Texas A&M in an elimination game. If the Tigers were going to remain in the tournament, it would be up to [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag].

Unfortunately for the Tigers, their run in Hoover, Alabama, came to an end on Friday evening with a 5-3 loss to the Aggies.

[autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] put the Tigers on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the second inning to score [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag]. The Aggies tied the game in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double and we headed to the third inning tied 1-1.

In the top of the fourth inning, Jobert struck again as he hit an RBI double to score [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] and give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. In the top of the fifth, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit an RBI double to score Tre Morgan and give LSU a 3-1 lead after five innings.

Floyd’s day was finished after pitching five innings and allowing one run on three hits, seven strikeouts, and a walk. [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] was called on out of the bullpen in relief to start the bottom of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, things fell apart for the LSU bullpen. The Aggies scored a run on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-2 and then they hit a three-run homer off of [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] to give them a 5-3 lead. [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] came in and got the Tigers out of the inning, but the damage was already done. Travinski scored in the ninth inning but that is all LSU could manage as they lost 5-4.

With the loss, LSU is eliminated from the SEC tournament and will now await to see who they will face in the Baton Rouge Regional.

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PHOTOS: LSU baseball dominates South Carolina in SEC tournament-opening win

The Tigers began their run in Hoover with a 10-3 win.

The Tigers started their week in Hoover, Alabama, at the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament on a high note.

After splitting the season series against South Carolina, LSU took what amounted to a delayed rubber match against the Gamecocks with a dominating 10-3 win.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound and was fantastic to start, retiring the first 12 batters of the game as LSU jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Hurd would ultimately leave the bases loaded with the Gamecocks threatening when he was pulled in the sixth, and he was charged an earned run after [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] walked one of those batters home.

Still, it was an overall great game as he was credited with the win. LSU managed to get some insurance runs and close things out. Now, they’ll face the winner of the game between No. 2-seeded Arkansas and No. 10-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Here were the best photos from the win.

LSU beats No. 6 seed South Carolina to start SEC tournament run

Thatcher Hurd got the win on the mound as the Tigers advance to the winners’ bracket in the double-elimination tournament.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound as LSU played its first game of the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament against South Carolina. These two teams faced off in Columbia earlier this season and split the series 1-1, but the Tigers took the de facto rubber match with a 10-3 win to advance into the winners’ bracket.

[autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning when he hit a two-run homer into the trees in right field.

South Carolina got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth inning via a solo homer to cut the lead to 2-1. LSU got that run back plus a few more in the bottom of the fifth with two bases-loaded walks and two sacrifice flys extending the lead to 6-1.

Hurd ran into some issues in the top of the sixth inning as he loaded the bases and then walked a run in. [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] then came into pitch.

Hurd had a good day, overall. He pitched 5.1 innings and gave up three runs on four hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. Dutton walked in the first batter he faced and that scored another run for Carolina as they cut the lead to 6-3. Dutton was then pulled for [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag].

Ackenhausen retired the next two batters to get LSU out of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] both hit RBI singles to increase the lead to 8-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Crews and [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag], both hit RBI singles to give LSU a 10-3 lead heading into the eighth inning.

Ackenhausen stayed in to pitch the ninth inning as he closed out the Gamecocks, and LSU won its first game in the conference tournament 10-3. LSU advances to play the winner of the Arkansas/Texas A&M game on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT.

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LSU drops series finale against Georgia, will be No. 3 seed at SEC tournament in Hoover

The Tigers still took the series, but they missed a chance to win the regular season SEC title.

LSU entered Game 3 with a chance to be the regular season SEC champions, but Georgia was having none of that as the Dawgs took Game 3 with a 9-5 win. The Tigers still took the series and will now be the No. 3 seed at the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, next week.

[autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] got the Tigers on the board first with a two-run bomb in the top of the first inning to put LSU up 2-0.

Georgia made a comeback in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game after a [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] error. In the bottom of the third, the Dawgs took their first lead of the game on a solo homer off of [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] to take a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] entered the game to pitch for Coleman and Georgia greeted him by scoring three runs to extend their lead to 6-2 after four innings. In the top of the sixth inning, LSU cut the Georgia lead to two after a solo homer by [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and a double steal that resulted in [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] stealing home to make it 6-4 Dawgs.

Georgia got one of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk by [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] to extend the lead to 7-4. In the top of the seventh, White hit a solo shot to cut the lead to 7-5.

Georgia scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to increase their lead to 9-5 as we headed to the eighth inning. LSU loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning with only one out. Jobert struck out for out No. 2 which left everything in the hands of [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag]. Thompson hit a flyball for an out and LSU lost 9-5.

With the loss, LSU drops to 42-13 overall and 19-10 in conference play. LSU fails to win the regular season conference title. We will see what the SEC tournament pairings will be soon as the Tigers will try to make a deep run in the conference tournament.

LSU will be the No. 3 seed. That means they will play the winner of the game between the No. 6 seed and the No. 11 seed. That game will be at 9:30 a.m. CT on Wednesday.

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LSU baseball gets back in the win column against McNeese

LSU rebounded after a series loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday night.

LSU was looking to rebound after losing a series to Mississippi State last weekend while McNeese wanted to keep the Tigers’ losing streak going. Ultimately, coach Jay Johnson’s team prevailed to get back in the win column with a 7-4 win.

LSU scored three runs in the first two innings as [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit an RBI double, a run scored on a wild pitch, and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] hit an RBI groundout to make it 3-0 LSU after two innings.

In the top of the third, the Cowboys roped their way back into the game with three runs of their own to tie the game. In the top of the sixth, McNeese took its first lead of the ballgame when a run scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-3 Cowboys headed to the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers took the lead back with back-to-back solo homers from [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] to make it 5-4 LSU.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Milazzo scored on a single from [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] and White hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4 LSU after eight innings.

[autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] stayed in the game to pitch the ninth inning to try to close out the win. The first two hitters in the inning reached on back-to-back singles so [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] came in. He retired the first two batters he faced before walking the third guy to load the bases.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] was then called on to close it out. Hurd got the first hitter to ground out and the Tigers won 7-4.

LSU’s final series of the regular season starts on Thursday as the Tigers travel to Athens to play the Georgia Bulldogs. The first pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.

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LSU coach Jay Johnson not ruling out changes to pitching rotation after series loss at Auburn

With inconsistency behind Paul Skenes in the rotation, Johnson said changes could potentially be made.

LSU has been nearly unbeatable in series openers this season, and there’s one simple reason for that: [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag].

Skenes has been the most dominant pitcher in college baseball this season. He’s one of the top prospects in the country alongside [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag], and both could be the first two players off the board in this summer’s MLB draft.

But beyond Skenes, the Tigers have had some troubles on the mound. Pitching inconsistency in Games 2 and 3 have cost this team recently, most notably this past weekend.

LSU dropped its first series of the season on the road against a red-hot Auburn team. After Skenes tossed a 3-0 shutout in Game 1 on Friday night, the Tigers were defeated 8-6 in Game 2 and were embarrassed in a series-clinching 12-2 run-rule loss on Sunday.

The starting pitching situation outside of Skenes is becoming a concern as the Tigers gear up for a potential College World Series run. After the loss to Auburn, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said changes to the rotation were a possibility moving forward, according to The Advocate’s Leah Vann.

Ty Floyd has held down the Saturday job for most of the year, while Vanderbilt transfer [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] has been the Sunday starter of late. However, UCLA transfer [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] held that title before struggles relegated him to the bullpen.

If LSU wanted to bring in a different weekend starter, Hurd is an option. Other options include [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag], who recently returned from injury, and other bullpen arms such as [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag], [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag], [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] or [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag].

Unfortunately, the top bullpen arm in [autotag]Garrett Edwards[/autotag], who many thought could develop into a starting option, was lost for the season last month after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Exactly how Johnson will address the pitching rotation (or if he will at all) remains to be seen. But with only two SEC series remaining, LSU only has so much time to experiment with things before the games really start to count.

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Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

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LSU baseball takes care of business on the road against Southeastern Louisiana

There was no midweek meltdown this time around for the Tigers.

LSU entered Tuesday night’s game against Southeastern Louisiana after losing two midweek games in a row, both to in-state opponents. That was not the case this time as the Tigers breezed to a 10-0 win.

LSU struck first in the top of the second inning when [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch and [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Dugas scored on a fielder’s choice, [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch, and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to increase the lead to 7-0.

Dugas scored again in the top of the fifth inning due to a fielding error. That increased the Tigers’ lead to 8-0.

In the top of the seventh inning, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give LSU a 10-0 lead. All the Tigers had to do was get three outs in the bottom of the inning and they would head home with another run-rule victory.

[autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag], [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag], [autotag]Micah Bucknam[/autotag], [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag], and [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] combined for the shutout.

With the win, LSU moves to 36-8 overall this season. LSU will travel to the Plains to take on the Auburn Tigers this weekend. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Friday night.

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LSU baseball loses first midweek matchup of the year to Ragin’ Cajuns

Pitching woes doomed the Tigers in their 8-3 midweek loss to Louisiana.

Pitching woes doomed the Tigers in their 8-3 midweek loss to the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. It was the first time LSU has lost a midweek contest this season.

It was great to see [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] make his first appearance on the mound for LSU since having Tommy John surgery. That was about the only bright spot on the night for LSU.

In the bottom of the first inning, [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] hit an RBI Triple to right field to score [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and give LSU an early 1-0 lead.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] came into pitch in the top of the second inning and the Ragin Cajuns greeted him by scoring two runs and taking a 2-1 lead. LSU tied it up in the bottom of the second when [autotag]Whit Merrifield[/autotag] grounded out but [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] scored to make it 2-2.

[autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] came into pitch in the top of the third inning and Louisiana-Lafayette hit a two-run blast off of him to give them a 4-2 lead. LSU cut into that lead in the bottom of the inning when [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] scored on a [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.

Then the wheels fell off in the top of the fourth inning when LSU misplayed two flyballs (one by [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] and one by Crews) that ended up scoring two more runs for ULL and increasing their lead to 6-3 after four innings.

[autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] came into pitch in the top of the seventh after [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] allowed a runner to reach on a walk. The first batter he faced hit a two-run bomb to increase the lead to 8-3 for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

In the bottom of the ninth, Morgan hit a two-run blast to cut the lead to 8-5 with no outs but that is as close as LSU would get to coming back in this one.

With the loss, LSU moves to 29-7 for the season. The Tigers will hit the road to Oxford, Mississippi, for a weekend series against the Ole Miss Rebels. Game 1 is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

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LSU baseball opens the weekend on a high note with decisive win over Butler

The Tigers began their four-game weekend with a 12-2 win over the Bulldogs.

After escaping Austin, Texas, with a 3-0 win over the Longhorns, the LSU Tigers looked to get back in the swing of things on offense against Butler to start the weekend. The Tigers did just that with a 12-2 win over the Bulldogs on Friday.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] got the start for the Tigers and showed that he is in a league of his own. He pitched 6 innings allowing just one hit with 13 strikeouts and no walks.

The LSU offense started off very slow, but that is to be expected when you are used to pitchers throwing almost 100 mph and you face a guy that tops out in the high 80s.

In the bottom of the third inning, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] got the Tigers on the board with an RBI double to right field to score [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] and make it 1-0 LSU after three innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, the floodgates opened as LSU plated six runs thanks to a 3-run Crews missile to right field, White scoring on a throwing error, and [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] and [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] scoring on an [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] bunt single. That made the score 7-0 after five innings.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, LSU plated two more runs due to a fielding error and a Pearson flyout to right. [autotag]Micah Bucknam[/autotag] came in to pitch for Skenes and struck out one of the two batters he faced before he was pulled for [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag]. Herring retired the last batter of the inning in one pitch to maintain the 9-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] hit an RBI single to center field to score [autotag]Mic Paul[/autotag]. [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] followed that with a 2-RBI double to right field to make it 12-0 Tigers.

[autotag]Aiden Moffett[/autotag] got his first action of the year in the top of the eighth inning and he struggled with location as he walked three and allowed one run before [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] came in to get the final out of the eighth inning as LSU held a 12-1 lead.

Guidry stayed in to pitch the ninth inning. He struck out three straight batters but the last hitter reached as Travinski lost the ball. Butler then scored on an RBI double and [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] came in for Guidry. Dutton retired the first batter he faced and LSU won 12-2.

LSU has a long weekend of games ahead of them as they face Central Connecticut State on Saturday and Sunday before playing Butler again on Monday.

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