It is a craft that goes unnoticed by the casual fan, but it has proven to separate the good hitters from the elite batters at the plate.
Hitting a baseball to the opposite field is a fundamental technique taught at every level of the game. The concept has numerous benefits for a hitter in virtually any pitching match-up.
Over the past few seasons in Alex Box Stadium, fans have seen their share of hitters who mastered the art of driving pitches in the opposite direction.
Just in the past two years, former Tiger Raph Rhymes made his presence felt throughout the Southeastern Conference after posting .431 and .331 batting averages his junior and senior seasons, respectively.
LSU hitting coach Javi Sanchez has carried the lessons he taught Rhymes on to the current roster, and junior third baseman Conner Hale appears to be carrying the trend into 2014.
“Conner has been a pleasant surprise in our lineup,” Sanchez said. “He doesn’t strike out much, and he’s going to give you a quality at-bat every time. He’s been barreling up the baseball with a very simple approach. We like what he’s brought to the table thus far, and hopefully, he can maintain it.”
Hale has sprayed his 24 hits all over the diamond, stroking 25 percent of his hits to left and right field, respectively, while hitting 50 percent of his base hits to center.
Sophomore center fielder Andrew Stevenson has had a similar spray chart, knocking 42 percent of his base hits to center field.
It’s all a part of Sanchez’s philosophy.
“When you’re thinking backside and opposite field approach, it’s just going to give them more margin for error,” Sanchez said. “You’re not going to be out in front of off-speed pitches, and you’re going to be able to react to the fastball, as most of our kids do.”
Sanchez said an opposite field approach allows for better pitch recognition at the plate. He encourages his hitters to get into offensive counts, meaning they can better expect what pitch they will see toward the tail-end of an at-bat.
Senior outfielder Sean McMullen said he has developed his own routine during batting practice to help improve his ability to hit to the opposite field.
“My approach every time I take batting practice is to just hit hard ground balls to shortstop,” McMullen said. “I try to stay up the middle and to the shortstop every single time I take a cut in my batting practice. I think that helps just stay inside the baseball and hit it hard the opposite way.”
The Tigers’ lineup looks different than it has in the past. There is no Mason Katz or Blake Dean to continue the “Gorilla Ball” power-hitting mentality established by former LSU coach Skip Bertman during his reign in Baton Rouge.
Therefore, LSU hitters have taken an extra initiative to stay on top of the baseball and hit line drives for extra base hits.
Junior Kade Scivicque, who leads the team in home runs with two and pulls 66 percent of his hits to left field, said he works in the cage on driving the ball to the opposite field.
Though he is still looking to improve in that category, he stays with one idea when he approaches the batter’s box.
“Just see the ball down and hit the ball hard,” Scivicque said. “We try to work on driving the ball through the infield and hitting low line drives. With these bats these days, the ball doesn’t travel as far as it used to, so we just try to hit hard line drives.”
“When you’re thinking backside and opposite field approach, it’s just going to give them more margin for error. You’re not going to be out in front of off-speed pitches, and you’re going to be able to react that fastball, as most of our kids do.”

Gallery • 1 Photos

Charles Champagne

LSU senior outfielder Sean McMullen (7) takes a lead off second base Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 during the Tigers 9-0 victory against Virginia Tech at Alex Box Stadium.