Starters know they’re throwing the game’s first pitch. Closers know they’re coming in to get the last three outs.
The rest of the pitching staff? Any situation fits.
“You have to be mentally prepared every game to possibly go in the third inning, ninth inning or extra innings,” said LSU sophomore reliever Parker Bugg. “You never really know.”
No one ever does. But that hasn’t cost No. 2 LSU (31-6, 10-5 Southeastern Conference) much ground in the SEC race, where it currently sits at second behind top-ranked Texas A&M in the Western division standings.
In a three-game battle against Auburn this weekend, it was the bullpen that saved LSU coach Paul Mainieri’s club from a second series loss in three weeks.
“Our bullpen pitched great,” said junior outfielder Mark Laird. “All weekend they were great.”
The bullpen’s greatness has been building.
In recent seasons, Mainieri has mostly swapped relievers after an inning, giving every reliever a fresh start and not overburdening any of them.
Not anymore.
Eight members of LSU’s bullpen have at least one two-inning outing this season, and six have pitched for three innings at least once. Six relievers have thrown at least 20 innings this season while giving up 13 or less runs, and sophomore right-hander Hunter Newman hasn’t allowed a score in 18 and 2/3 shutout innings.
“Now, you go until you can’t throw anymore,” Bugg said. “It’s kind of a different confidence he has with us. He thinks we can go longer.”
The pen rewarded Mainieri for his trust in a weekend set against Auburn. Of the eight pitchers who took the mound this weekend, five were from the bullpen, not including senior pitcher Zac Person, a regular reliever who started Sunday’s rubber match.
Making his first start of the season, Person stuck to what he knew best.
“I just took a reliever’s mentality on the field,” Person said. “That’s what they wanted me to do, to treat each inning like a one-inning appearance out of the bullpen.”
Of the five relievers, only LSU sophomore pitcher Alden Cartwright pitched less than two innings, and Bugg led the way with four. The bullpen went up and down the order in a longer stay, surrendering only 12 hits in a combined 13 innings of work and ending with a 2.77 ERA.
Add in a three-inning shutout for Person, whose first start came on the heels of 19 appearances out of the pen this season, and that ERA drops to 2.25.
“I expect [the bullpen] to be great,” Mainieri said.
Despite the group’s collective dominance, each came to the mound in varying circumstances.
Newman replaced sophomore southpaw Jared Poche’ with two outs and a runner on second in the sixth inning Friday, Cartwright came in with runners on second and third with one away in the sixth Saturday and Bugg replaced Person between the third and fourth innings Sunday.
Any situation fits.
“Coming out of the bullpen, you have to be ready from warm-ups,” Newman, who pitched 3 1/3 innings without giving up a hit or a run to Auburn, said. “If you’re not, it could ruin your day.”
Little was ruined during LSU’s series-clinching, 6-2 victory against Auburn on Sunday, during which Mainieri relied on the arms of three everyday relievers — Person, Bugg and freshman closer Jesse Stallings.
The trio mowed through Auburn’s lineup, shutting out the visitors in seven of nine innings as Auburn left eight runners on base.
Auburn finished with nine hits, but none came off the bat of sophomore outfielder Anfernee Grier, who had torched LSU through the first two games of the series. Grier batted 5-for-9 with three RBIs in Games 1 and 2 but went hitless in five at-bats during Sunday’s rubber match.
Just another day out of the pen.
“I was able to give three innings, Parker was able to give a real good outing, and Jesse came in and finished it up,” Person said. “Just three relievers.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.