When he got to his cell phone after LSU’s 7-4 victory against UNO on Saturday, freshman infielder Kramer Robertson had a text message.
It was the one he’d been waiting for — that he’d be in the starting lineup Sunday when LSU battled Grambling in Alex Box Stadium.
Except the message wasn’t from LSU coach Paul Mainieri, an assistant or a teammate. It was from his mom, Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, who heard the news from the television announcers during Saturday’s game.
“All right, I better prepare then,” Robertson thought.
And prepared he was.
Robertson dazzled defensively and scored three runs while fellow freshman Jared Poche’ scattered four hits through six scoreless innings on the bump as LSU (3-0) defeated Grambling, 6-0, in Alex Box Stadium.
Robertson — a three-sport athlete at Midway High School in Texas — tracked Grambling left fielder Dion Holbrook’s foul pop-up in the bottom of the third all the way to the bullpen, making a spectacular sliding catch on his back with one arm outstretched.
“I think I slid to avoid a collision with the wall,” Robertson said. “As I was sliding, I saw the ball … reached my glove out and it fell in there.”
He one-upped himself in the seventh as he ranged to backhand a sharp grounder destined for center field, complete with a strong throw to nab Grambling first baseman Brandon Kiser by a step.
Add in another leaping catch of a line drive in the sixth and a heads-up play on applying a tag to catch Kris Minter stealing and Robertson’s performance had Mainieri seeing shadows of a former second baseman.
“I thought Kramer Robertson put on a clinic that [former LSU second baseman] JaCoby Jones would have been proud of,” Mainieri said. “I think he played phenomenal, his defense really impacted the game.”
Displaying the velocity on his fastball that many raved about in the fall, Poche’ was clocked at 93 miles per hour in the first inning, all the while wiggling out of a late-inning jam in his first collegiate start.
Poche’ surrendered a double and a single to start the sixth, but was aided by Robertson’s snare of the line drive before a strikeout and grounder got the Tigers out of the inning unscathed.
“[Pitching coach Alan Dunn] came to the mound and said, ‘Look, find a way to get out of this,’” Poche’ said. “’Let’s see what you’re made of.’ I was fortunate enough to get out of it.”
Sophomore outfielder Andrew Stevenson paced the LSU offense with three hits in the lead off spot, including an RBI single in the second to get the Tigers on the board.
Stevenson, who struggled to adjust to collegiate pitching in his freshman campaign, benefited from a mechanical change in his swing, according to Mainieri, which has Stevenson feeling like a new player.
“If I have confidence, I usually do pretty good,” Stevenson said. “I feel like a different player when I’m up to bat this year. I’m relaxed and know what’s going on and it’s going to be a different year this year.”
Junior left fielder Chris Sciambra and sophomore shortstop Alex Bregman had a sacrifice fly apiece while sophomore first baseman Chris Chinea belted LSU’s first home run of the season in the seventh to close a weekend that left Mainieri pleased overall.
“We worked 13 pitchers and all 17 position players got their feet wet,” Mainieri said. “I was actually glad all the games were somewhat tight because it tested our players a little bit.”
Mulkey wasn’t able to watch Robertson’s debut, as he was quick to point out to reporters that she teamed with his sister to defeat Texas by 16 points earlier in the day
Mulkey did, however, give Robertson some encouragement.
“She told me, ‘Regardless of the outcome, she’s proud of me and the person I’ve become.’”

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Angela Major

LSU freshman infielder Kramer Robertson (3) strikes out Grambling senior outfielder Kris Minter (25) Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014 during the Tigers' 6-0 victory against Grambling State University in Alex Box Stadium.