LSU coach Paul Mainieri made a decision Tuesday to save sophomore southpaw Cody Glenn for Thursday’s game against No. 21 Florida, and the gamble paid off in a 3-2 victory.
The No. 3 Tigers (41-6, 17-5 Southeastern Conference) looked to Glenn to provide stability in the rotation in the opening game, as Mainieri wanted to pitch both sophomore starter Aaron Nola and junior right-hander Ryan Eades on normal rest today and Saturday.
Glenn responded in grand fashion, tossing six-and-two-thirds innings of two-run baseball, allowing five hits and recording a season-high six strikeouts.
“For the first time all season, I relied big time on my curveball,” Glenn said. “It was there for me. It’s been like a get-me-over pitch [in the past], but tonight it was a strikeout pitch for me. That and my two-seamer allowed me to get a lot of good outs and let me go deeper in the game.”
Mainieri knew the chance he was taking by tossing his No. 3 starter against Florida’s (25-21, 12-10 SEC) top starter, and said he couldn’t be more pleased with his young southpaw’s performance.
“Nobody would have probably anticipated that Cody Glenn would have gone deeper in the game than [Florida junior starter Jonathon] Crawford,” Mainieri said. “Crawford’s a first-round pick, and Cody’s our third starter. He just did a masterful job tonight. Obviously he was the key to the game, and he gave us a chance to win. I was just so proud of him.”
Offensively, both teams struggled to maintain possession of a lead.
Florida got the scoring started in the top of the third, as Glenn loaded the bases with one out. He would get a grounder back to the mound, though, forcing out a runner at home, but an error by Mason Katz would allow a run to score.
A Katz RBI single in the bottom of the third and a JaCoby Jones solo home run in the fourth would give LSU a 2-1 lead. It wasn’t until the top of the seventh inning that Florida re-tied the game, as freshman left fielder Harrison Bader roped an RBI double to left field.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth, LSU junior catcher Ty Ross delivered in the clutch, hitting a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
“[The pitch I hit] was something moving away from my barrel,” Ross said. “I was just trying to put something in the air and hit something hard and make them make a play or hit a pop fly.”
LSU senior closer Chris Cotton would seal the deal in the ninth, giving LSU win No. 41 of the year.
The Tigers will send Nola to the mound tonight against the Gators.
“We’re going to think about [Thursday’s] win until 12, then look at [Friday’s] game,” Ross said. “We’ve got Nola on the mound, and he’s been our guy all year. We definitely feel good.”
