The LSU baseball team committed two errors during an 11-2 beatdown of Lamar on Wednesday, one of which came from the infield.
Junior shortstop Alex Bregman said that was one too many.
“We have a lot of veterans in this group,” Bregman said. “We always have to be dialed in.”
The Tigers’ infield has been “dialed in” for the past month.
During the first four weeks of the season, LSU coach Paul Mainieri jostled with his starting infield seemingly every other game, searching for the unit that would best complement his young pitching staff. The nine-year coach finally settled on a group in the middle of March, and he said the move has paid off.
“Getting those guys to play together on a consistent basis along with [LSU senior catcher Kade] Scivicque in the infield has given our team a lot of confidence,” Mainieri said.
Senior third baseman Conner Hale, senior second baseman Jared Foster, junior first baseman Chris Chinea and Bregman have formed the Tigers’ starting infield for 15 of the last 19 games.
Before that, there was uncertainty.
Sophomore infielder Kramer Robertson started at second base in 11 of the first 15 games this season, while sophomore Danny Zardon manned third base in 10 of the first 13. Neither provided steady play, particularly Zardon at third.
Zardon committed four of a team-high tying five errors in the first three weeks of the season before Mainieri plugged Hale in the corner for good against then-No. 8 Houston on March 6.
Unlike Zardon, Robertson committed only one error in the first month of the season, but was batting a team-low .243, which forced Mainieri to move Foster from the outfield to second base against McNeese State on March 11, giving the Tigers a power bat in the lineup.
Chinea, who mostly started as the designated hitter in the season’s first 18 games, was the last piece of the puzzle to join the infield. He lined up at first base on March 15 against Ole Miss, which was the first time the grouping of Hale, Bregman, Foster and Chinea started together this season.
They haven’t looked back since.
“It feels good to know who you’re throwing to and not look up and see a different face,” Foster said. “It’s good to know that we’re all going to be there every day. It’s a good chemistry out there.”
Foster and Bregman have started 21 games next to each other, and they both said their chemistry together is growing every day.
It showed Wednesday against Lamar. After a throwing error by Foster — his first in 16 games — negated a potential double play in the first inning, he came back and teamed with Bregman for a pair of double plays in the third and sixth innings.
They’ve gone through the drills countless times.
“We do it every day,” Bregman said. “Coach Mainieri is big on fundamental defense. He takes pride in it. We probably turn 50 double plays before every game in batting practice. Who knows how many we do in practice.”
Hale has started 22 of his last 23 games at third and provided reliable play, committing just three errors while bagging 39 assists. Chinea has been steady in his last 17 games as a starter with just one fielding error.
Bregman may have played shortstop like a veteran during his first two seasons, but he’s taken his game to new heights as a junior. Bregman is on pace for a career-low in errors with only three through 38 games this season. He leads the SEC in assists with 133 and is the backbone of the conference’s fourth-best fielding team (.977).
As consistent as the group has been, Chinea said they’ll have to play even better as the Tigers enter the final stretch of the regular season.
“Right now, it’s time to kick it in another gear for the second half of the year,” Chinea said.
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR