LSU baseball made its return to the field after a disappointing weekend series against Mississippi State over the weekend. But on Tuesday night, the Tigers came away victorious with a 7-4 win over McNeese State.
With this win, Jay Johnson is now the ninth head coach in the Power 5 with 40 wins in his first two seasons.
It wasn’t a flashy win, but it was a win. McNeese took the lead in the top of the sixth inning, but the Tigers recaptured the lead quickly with back-to-back home runs from Cade Beloso and Hayden Travinski.
Travinski got the start at first base Tuesday night, a position he hasn’t played since high school.
“He played phenomenal and that’s why he’s in there,” Jay Johnson said. “We wanted to catch Alex [Milazzo] tonight, for a very specific reason…we wanted to see what that kind of looked like.”
Beloso went two for three at the plate with a home run and a single. Tommy White went two for three with a double, a single and an RBI. Gavin Dugas, Dylan Crews, Brayden Jobert, Alex Milazzo and Hayden Travinski each had a hit in the game The team finished with seven runs on nine hits.
But McNeese wasn’t afraid to swing the bat and make some noise. The Cowboys totaled 12 hits on the night, including a three-run, third inning to tie the game.
As the postseason gets closer and closer, the Tigers need to flatten out any wrinkles the team may have. After the weekend series against Mississippi State, where the team used nine pitchers in Sunday’s matchup and gave up a 13-4 lead, it became clear that the bullpen is a major concern.
“People are going to overreact from the outside,” Travinski said. “We have confidence in every guy who steps on the bump. Regardless of the outcome or the result, I think it’s just about getting those guys more innings, and letting the fluidity happen instead of trying to force results.”
The Tigers used five pitchers Tuesday night in which Blake Money got the start. Money finished giving up six hits, three earned runs, a walk and totaling four strikeouts in three innings pitched. Griffin Herring went for three innings in relief, Sam Dutton went for two innings, and Gavin Guidry and Thatcher Hurd both finished the final inning. Herring earned the win for the game, and Thatcher Hurd earned the save.
LSU will now head to Athens, Georgia for its final SEC series of the regular season. It will take on Georgia in Game 1 of the series on Thursday at 5 p.m. C.T. The game will be televised on the SEC Network-plus.
“It’s a game,” Travinski said. “We have a lot of special guys, we only get this once chance together this year…we just have to be grateful for the opportunities we have and the games that we have left and make them count.”
