It was a chilly night in Baton Rouge. Forty-five degree temperatures and a frigid wind-chill. Yet it was still the perfect evening for Opening Day at Alex Box Stadium. LSU started its season off with the first game of three this weekend against Maine.
The weekend was kicked off with the first pitch thrown by Paul Mainieri, a symbolic handoff of his team of 14 years to newly tenured Jay Johnson, who received his pitch. The night started off perfectly, and it ended just the same. LSU took the game with 13 runs, to Maine’s one.
Blake Money single handedly shut down the Black Bears’ offense. He was the infamous Friday night opener and played for seven innings before Bryce Collins took his place. Money threw 79 pitches during his time on the mound, 56 of which were strikes. He struck out 10 of the 24 batters he faced, allowing two hits. This new player on the mound was polarizing to the Money we saw last season. Changing speeds and painting the box allowed him to stay consistently ahead of the count.
In the box, the Tigers were slow to make solid contact. The wind cut pop flies quite short, making the first three innings filled with strikeouts and shallow fly outs. The LSU offense picked up quite a bit of speed when designated hitter Brayden Jobert stepped up to the plate and sent one over, giving the Tigers one run to Maine’s nothing. Due to a possible injury, Jobert was placed in Cade Beloso’s spot as designated hitter not long before the number five spot in the lineup was due to bat.
“Brayden was able to step up and that was amazing,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of him for how he handled adversity. He’s a good kid, and he’s a good player. He displayed that tonight.”
Multiple errors in the fifth inning from Maine’s defense allowed first baseman Tre’ Morgan to advance around the diamond, leaving the Tigers with two runs. Morgan’s run was followed by a ground out and two fly outs to close up the inning.
In the sixth inning, LSU gradually picked up an even bigger lead, somewhat credited to the multiple errors from Maine’s defense. Fieldable grounders got a few batters on the bases, but errors are what sent them home. By the end of the sixth inning, the Tigers were left with five runs to Maine’s still nothing.
A hard grounder that slipped through to left field was how centerfielder Dylan Crews led off LSU in the seventh inning. Infielder Cade Doughty reached first with a single through the left side, allowing Crews to reach third. On a fly out from Jobert, Crews was able to cross the plate. Doughty stole second before shortstop Jordan Thompson sent the ball to right center for an RBI, allowing Doughty to score. LSU ended the seventh inning with eight runs and Maine had yet to get on the board.
That scoring fire didn’t give any signs of dying out in the eighth inning when Doughty doubled down on the infield line, a two run RBI after infielder Josh Pearson was hit by a pitch, Morgan singled to right field and Crews was also hit by a pitch. Crews stood on third when Jobert was walked and Josh Stevenson, pinch hitter for Thompson, grounded out to first base, sending Jobert to second, Doughty to third, and Crews home. Left fielder Giovanni DiGiacomo rounded out the inning with a double to right field, a two-run RBI sending in Jobert and Doughty. Five runs were sent in this inning, giving the Tigers a 13 on the scoreboard with Maine still unable to rope in any runs at all.
The Black Bears were finally able to get their name on the map when designated hitter Scout Knotts was able to connect with the baseball, sending it over the left center wall. After a routine play on a grounder and first baseman Joe Bramanti striking out swinging, the game had come to an end. The Tigers had the game 13-1.
The LSU Tigers can imagine Omaha at the end of this season, and hopefully the success to get them there will continue tomorrow as once again, they will face off against Maine in Alex Box Stadium at 1:30 p.m. CT. Fans at home can catch the game on ESPN.
