Guilbeau: LSU gets some of what it needs at SEC tourney
BATON ROUGE – Three games in four days with two wins, and the only loss was 2-1 to top-10 Florida on Saturday.
The Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, was a good workout for the No. 1 LSU baseball team last week. The Tigers (48-10) extended themselves, worked up a good sweat, came from five runs down twice in the same game to beat Auburn, 9-8, on Wednesday, and totaled 20 runs on 31 hits in their three games. They lost a one-run game and won a one-run game around a 10-5 victory over No. 24 Arkansas on Thursday.
LSU learned Sunday night that it will host one of 16 NCAA Regional tournaments this weekend. And if the Tigers win that, they will host the Super Regional the next weekend for the right to go to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series. At 11 a.m. Monday on ESPNU, the 64-team field will be announced for the NCAA postseason.
There are surely chinks in the armor that show up here and there, disappear, come back, and so on, but this LSU team clearly has the look of advancement in Omaha.
The best number LSU showcased in the SEC Tournaments was not above. It was 17. That was the number of pitchers Tigers coach Paul Mainieri and pitching guru Alan Dunn used in just three games. Excellent coaching — by accident or design or both.
Get the arms out there against great competition in pressure situations in front of either large crowds or in a large stadium. Of the 17 pitchers, nine were used more than once. That's even better.
One might be worried — legitimately so — about LSU's starting pitching once past freshman ace Alex Lange, who shut out Florida over seven innings Saturday with seven strikeouts, though he did walk six and allow five hits. Sophomore starter Jared Poche managed just one inning on Wednesday against Auburn as he allowed three hits and two runs with a pair of walks. And freshman starter Austin Bain gave up four hits and four runs in one inning and two-thirds on Thursday.
But both of those blown starts blew open doors and windows for critical extended pitching practice for the Tigers. LSU's final four relievers in the 9-8 win over Auburn — Doug Norman, Hunter Devall, Zac Person and Parker Bugg — allowed just one run on two hits over the last five innings with seven strikeouts. Norman (5-1, 2.23 ERA) picked up the win, and Bugg (0-2, 1.91 ERA, 2 saves) got the save with two strikeouts. Person, the lefty from Eunice High and LSU-Eunice, fanned three in an inning and a third.
After Bain exited on Thursday against Arkansas in the second inning, sophomore right-hander Russell Reynolds shut out the Hogs for three and a third innings while striking out two and allowing two hits and zero walks. Reynolds (6-0, 3.06 ERA) picked up the win. Relievers Jesse Stallings, Hunter Newman and Person threw three of the last four innings, allowing no hits, no runs, one walk and two strikeouts.
In the 2-1 loss to Florida, Newman and Devall allowed no runs in relief. Through the three games, LSU's bullpen pitched 17 and one third innings.
These are the pitching numbers LSU needs to go with its awesome offense.
"They can flat hit. They're the No. 1 team in the country for a reason," Auburn coach Sunny Golloway said. LSU has eight players batting .300 or better. So the pitching does not have to be great — just decent. It showed well in the SEC Tournament.
"We've shown the bullpen is not a weakness of our team," Reynolds said. "We don't know if we have a weakness."
Well, that's a bit of a stretch. Closing has been an issue here and there, and LSU at times has not had a second or a third dominant starter.
But there are obviously a number of arms with which to play for Mainieri and Dunn. How those two hide their weaknesses and choose the right pitcher at the right time — regardless of that pitcher's perceived role or role during the regular season — may well be the difference between reaching Omaha and another underachieving season.