The bats came to play once again as LSU capped off another series win with dominant offensive outings against Towson and Southern this past weekend.
The Tigers started game one of the doubleheader a bit slow on Sunday, trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning before the bats finally came alive starting with a two-run home run off the bat of Brayden Jobert.
Jobert has been on fire to start the season, tallying his fourth home run as his bat stays hot through the first two weekends.
“Brayden’s had a great start to the year,” Head Coach Jay Johnson said after the game. “[He] got some things ironed out and was really productive.”
Jobert’s home run seemed to ignite the rest of LSU’s offense as it went on to score multiple runs in each of the next three innings, eventually breaking the game open. The power was on full display from LSU in this game as Jacob Berry and Dylan Crews also added home runs. The Tigers finished with 11 runs on the day, another impressive tally, but one that is becoming the norm for this potent offense.
“Offensively, I thought we took good at-bats all the way through, again got a little lucky the first time through the order. It was crazy we were 10-11 quality at-bats at one point and only had two runs on the board, so really pleased with the hitters and their approach.”
Pitching wise, LSU put together a collectively impressive performance on the mound led by Ty Floyd and Devin Fontenot. Floyd got the start for the Tigers on the mound pitching five innings and allowing just one earned run on one hit and added five strikeouts. Sam Dutton came on to replace Fontenot for the ninth inning and retired the side in order tallying two strikeouts.
“I thought Ty was really good, only threw one bad pitch, I think we only gave up one hit the entire day, so great job by him and Devin and Sammy, really good job by the pitching staff,” Johnson said after the game about the pitching performance.
Game two was more of the same from LSU, but the Tigers were able to get going early and put the game away pretty quickly. LSU scored in each of the first three innings, but a seven-run third inning blew the game wide open and it was all but decided from there. The big inning started with an RBI single by Alex Milazo and continued with runs scored through two more RBI singles, two errors and a wild pitch. Southern’s struggles on the mound were a big reason for LSU’s onslaught of runs with the Jaguars walking 14 LSU batters, hitting two LSU batters and adding six wild pitches.
On the mound for LSU, Will Hellmers started the game, pitching four shutout innings and striking out four Southern batters. Bryce Collins and Trey Shaffer also pitched for LSU in this game, going a combined three innings pitched, giving up no runs and just one hit while also combining for nine strikeouts. This capped off an impressive weekend for the LSU pitching staff giving up just three runs across four games. Getting consistency from the entire staff was a point of emphasis going into the season and this weekend was a major step in the right direction.
“The depth of the pitching staff is really really good,” Johnson said, describing his team’s performance on the mound.
LSU outscored its opponents 41-3 on the weekend in another dominant weekend performance. A weekend like this is always good for momentum especially with LSU having a major step up in competition next week, traveling to Houston to play against Oklahoma, Texas and Baylor in The Shriners Classic in Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
