Going to Baton Rouge to kick off league play is probably the toughest assignment this team could have drawn. Florida isn't as imposing of an atmosphere and they're about the only team that is equal or better to LSU on paper.
LSU comes in at 13-5 overall, including 12-1 at Alex Box Stadium. They lost last night in extra innings to New Orleans. On the year, they've outscored their opponents 135-57. They began the season by sweeping a double header against The United States Army, then beat The United States Air Force on Sunday afternoon. They traveled to New Orleans and lost a mid-weeker, then came back the next night and beat Hofstra. LSU then carded an easy sweep against a Maryland team that had some pre-season buzz. Following a close win over Nicholls (which we know about), LSU played in what used to be the Minute Maid Classic in Houston (I think it's called The Shriner's Classic now). In a gold star matchup, LSU lost 9-6 to top ranked TCU. They bounced back the next day and beat our friends from Baylor, before dropping the Sunday game to a good Texas Tech team. LSU then had a disappointing mid week loss to McNeese state before coming home to sweep Wichita State.
Tomorrow night, we'll square off with Alex Lange, the lanky right handed junior from Lees Summit Missouri. Lange was LSU's Friday night guy for a large chunk of his freshman year, which is uncommon down there. On the year, he's 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA in 4 appearances, all starts. He's recorded 27 K's and allowed 5 BBs in 20 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .224 against him. I think I remember reading that TCU hit him pretty well. He'll throw in the low to mid 90s and has a good slider, as I recall.
Saturday, we'll see Jared Poche', a stocky southpaw from Lutcher Louisiana. To say Poche' has been good this year is an understatement. He's 4-0 in 4 starts with 1 CG, and a 0.00 ERA. He's thrown 29 innings to lead their team and has an 18/2 K/BB. He hasn't even allowed an unearned run this year. Of the 8 hits he's allowed in his 4 starts, 7 have gone for singles. Opponents are hitting only .086 against him. He threw a 7 inning no-hitter against Army on Opening Weekend. He's high 80s to low 90s on his fastball and has a really good curveball and changeup. I remember seeing him and Robert Tyler square off on Saturday night in 2014 in Baton Rouge... you knew both of those guys were going to be stars in this SEC.... It's safe to say that Poche' has had the better college career, though. Here's a guy who was selected in the 14th round of the draft last year and chose to go back to LSU. We just haven't benefited from that the last couple of years, and it's one of the reasons LSU is where they are and why we are where we are.
On Sunday, we'll face off with Eric Walker, a freshman righty from Arlington Texas (Walker Texas Ranger?) Walker's numbers are good on his young career. He's 2-0 in 4 appearances, all starts, and has a 2.14 ERA. He's thrown 21 innings and posted a 22/5 K/BB. Opponents are hitting .228 against him. He's allowed 3 HRs.
Offensively, LSU looks pretty scary. We should see Kramer Robertson at SS and hitting leadoff. He's a small senior from McGregor Texas, and he can really play. Robertson is hitting .348/.446/.507 with 1 HR and 10 RBI. He's 4/4 in steals.
We should see Cole Freeman hitting 2nd and playing 2nd. The senior from Mandeville Louisiana is off to a great start, hitting .444/.550./.524 and he has started every game. He's only K'd 5 times and has drawn 10 walks. He's 8/11 in steals.
Their power guy is Greg Deichmann, the left handed hitting junior RF from Metarie. Diechmann is hitting .338/.407/.706 with 7 HRs and 24 RBI. He's only K'd 14 times in 68 ABs. We should see him in the cleanup spot.
Antonie Duplantis should hit 3rd for them. The sophomore left handed stick is hitting .333/.367/.427. He hasn't homered yet, but he has only K'd 3 times (and only drawn 3 walks) in 18 games this year. Hard to miss this guy's bat.
As an offense, LSU is hitting .315/.400/.458 and are already 25/33 in stolen bases.
These guys are really good, especially at home, and especially on the weekend... but we know that. I remember listening to Coach Perno back in 2010 before the Florida State series.... we'd gone over to Hoover and played Alabama in a non-conference game during the midweek and had been beaten badly on a freezing night. I remember Perno saying "if we don't really clean some things up, those scores are going to look the same this weekend." He was right. This feels a little bit like that... LSU is simply at a different place as a program than we are right now. It's going to take our best baseball of the year to come back home anything other than 0-3, I'm afraid.
LSU comes in at 13-5 overall, including 12-1 at Alex Box Stadium. They lost last night in extra innings to New Orleans. On the year, they've outscored their opponents 135-57. They began the season by sweeping a double header against The United States Army, then beat The United States Air Force on Sunday afternoon. They traveled to New Orleans and lost a mid-weeker, then came back the next night and beat Hofstra. LSU then carded an easy sweep against a Maryland team that had some pre-season buzz. Following a close win over Nicholls (which we know about), LSU played in what used to be the Minute Maid Classic in Houston (I think it's called The Shriner's Classic now). In a gold star matchup, LSU lost 9-6 to top ranked TCU. They bounced back the next day and beat our friends from Baylor, before dropping the Sunday game to a good Texas Tech team. LSU then had a disappointing mid week loss to McNeese state before coming home to sweep Wichita State.
Tomorrow night, we'll square off with Alex Lange, the lanky right handed junior from Lees Summit Missouri. Lange was LSU's Friday night guy for a large chunk of his freshman year, which is uncommon down there. On the year, he's 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA in 4 appearances, all starts. He's recorded 27 K's and allowed 5 BBs in 20 2/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .224 against him. I think I remember reading that TCU hit him pretty well. He'll throw in the low to mid 90s and has a good slider, as I recall.
Saturday, we'll see Jared Poche', a stocky southpaw from Lutcher Louisiana. To say Poche' has been good this year is an understatement. He's 4-0 in 4 starts with 1 CG, and a 0.00 ERA. He's thrown 29 innings to lead their team and has an 18/2 K/BB. He hasn't even allowed an unearned run this year. Of the 8 hits he's allowed in his 4 starts, 7 have gone for singles. Opponents are hitting only .086 against him. He threw a 7 inning no-hitter against Army on Opening Weekend. He's high 80s to low 90s on his fastball and has a really good curveball and changeup. I remember seeing him and Robert Tyler square off on Saturday night in 2014 in Baton Rouge... you knew both of those guys were going to be stars in this SEC.... It's safe to say that Poche' has had the better college career, though. Here's a guy who was selected in the 14th round of the draft last year and chose to go back to LSU. We just haven't benefited from that the last couple of years, and it's one of the reasons LSU is where they are and why we are where we are.
On Sunday, we'll face off with Eric Walker, a freshman righty from Arlington Texas (Walker Texas Ranger?) Walker's numbers are good on his young career. He's 2-0 in 4 appearances, all starts, and has a 2.14 ERA. He's thrown 21 innings and posted a 22/5 K/BB. Opponents are hitting .228 against him. He's allowed 3 HRs.
Offensively, LSU looks pretty scary. We should see Kramer Robertson at SS and hitting leadoff. He's a small senior from McGregor Texas, and he can really play. Robertson is hitting .348/.446/.507 with 1 HR and 10 RBI. He's 4/4 in steals.
We should see Cole Freeman hitting 2nd and playing 2nd. The senior from Mandeville Louisiana is off to a great start, hitting .444/.550./.524 and he has started every game. He's only K'd 5 times and has drawn 10 walks. He's 8/11 in steals.
Their power guy is Greg Deichmann, the left handed hitting junior RF from Metarie. Diechmann is hitting .338/.407/.706 with 7 HRs and 24 RBI. He's only K'd 14 times in 68 ABs. We should see him in the cleanup spot.
Antonie Duplantis should hit 3rd for them. The sophomore left handed stick is hitting .333/.367/.427. He hasn't homered yet, but he has only K'd 3 times (and only drawn 3 walks) in 18 games this year. Hard to miss this guy's bat.
As an offense, LSU is hitting .315/.400/.458 and are already 25/33 in stolen bases.
These guys are really good, especially at home, and especially on the weekend... but we know that. I remember listening to Coach Perno back in 2010 before the Florida State series.... we'd gone over to Hoover and played Alabama in a non-conference game during the midweek and had been beaten badly on a freezing night. I remember Perno saying "if we don't really clean some things up, those scores are going to look the same this weekend." He was right. This feels a little bit like that... LSU is simply at a different place as a program than we are right now. It's going to take our best baseball of the year to come back home anything other than 0-3, I'm afraid.
