After a disappointing weekend with both defensive and offensive changes abound for No. 3 LSU, the Tigers will try to right the ship as they welcome McNeese into Alex Box Stadium tonight for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.
Sophomore southpaw Cody Glenn will start the game for the Tigers (39-6, 16-5 Southeastern Conference), two days after he was passed over for the Sunday start against South Carolina in favor of junior righty Kurt McCune.
McCune was rocked, allowing six hits and three runs through two and two-thirds innings, taking the loss as the Gamecocks shut out the Tigers in the rubber game, 4-0.
“I thought Kurt could do a much better job than he ended up doing,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Kurt didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, so [Tuesday] we’ll change our plan.”
Glenn’s last outing, a no-decision in an April 21 loss against Alabama, was perhaps his most effective performance of the season, allowing only four hits and one run in eight innings.
Mainieri added that Glenn would resume his role at the back end of the weekend rotation and would start the series finale against Florida on Saturday.
The weekend also showed vulnerabilities in the Tiger outfield as freshman center fielder Mark Laird and sophomore right fielder Jared Foster misjudged two triples over the weekend series and lost another ball in the twilight, according to Mainieri.
Mainieri said he’s conflicted over whether to put his best defensive lineup on the field, which would put freshman Andrew Stevenson in center field and Laird in right field, or stick with the lineup from the weekend with Foster in right field and Laird in center field, which Mainieri considers a better offensive threat.
“Quite frankly, my inkling right now is to go back to having our best defensive team out there,” Mainieri said. “I really felt that our defense the last couple of weekends has made a difference in a negative way.”
Adding to the problems, the reliable middle third of the Tiger batting order was uncharacteristically quiet over the weekend as freshman shortstop Alex Bregman and seniors Mason Katz and Raph Rhymes combined to go 9-for-37 in the series.
Mainieri brushed aside any worries for the middle of his lineup, pointing to a meeting he had with Bregman on Monday morning.
After numerous calls from Mainieri to Bregman’s cellphone went unanswered, his head coach knew right where to find him.
“He was in the batting cages,” Mainieri said, “at 10 o’clock this morning.”
