After a Southeastern Conference series against Vanderbilt featuring plenty of struggles at the plate, the Tigers toiled at the dish early, before exploding in the sixth for seven runs en route to a 9-0 win against South Alabama.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said the Tigers had turned the page from the weekend woes, and they were able to regain some confidence after the offensive barrage.
After a slow start from the Tigers that saw only one hit through three innings, LSU was able to string together runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth to power by South Alabama.
LSU junior catcher Kade Scivicque was the only constant early for the Tigers, going 3-3 from the plate and giving LSU its only two hits through four innings — including their first run on a solo home run to left field.
The Tigers put another run on the board in the fifth thanks to a sacrifice fly from freshman outfielder Jake Fraley, before the bats came alive in the sixth.
With runners on second and third, Scivicque ripped a grounder past the second baseman for an RBI single, Scivicque’s second RBI of the night.
His single awakened a cold LSU lineup, leading to a seven-run sixth inning capped by a bases-loaded pinch-hit double to left field by junior outfielder Jared Foster that cleared the bases.
“I know we’re facing a lot of left-handed pitchers this week,” Mainieri said. “We wanted to get Foster in there in that situation, and I was really happy that he came through in a big way. I think that’ll give him a lot of confidence going into the weekend.”
Scivicque’s bat Wednesday night sparked the Tigers’ lineup, but he said one bat can’t save an offense and the team came together to put on an offensive showcase.
Defensively it was a different story — as starting pitcher Cody Glenn had a shaky night at the mound. Glenn allowed three hits, including a stretch in the second inning that saw runners on second and third for the Jaguars with two outs. Glenn was able to escape the inning unscathed, but only after freshman Kramer Robertson was able to spear a sharply hit grounder to second for the out.
Glenn, who is battling for the third spot in the SEC rotation because of Kyle Bouman’s ankle injury, was less than impressive giving South Alabama a lot of pitches to hit.
Mainieri said Glenn’s struggles against lefties were alarming, giving Mainieri reason to be skeptical of Glenn’s place in the weekend rotation.
“He was in a little bit of a struggle,” Mainieri said. “He couldn’t get the left handers out, which was a little bit alarming.”
While the pitching question is still left unanswered after his outing, the reinvigorating bats of LSU are a sign of encouragement for the Tigers, as the team gets set to host its first SEC series of the season when they take on Georgia this weekend.
LSU sophomore outfielder Mark Laird (9) throws the ball back infield during the Tigers' 9-0 victory against Southern Alabama on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at Alex Box Stadium.
