The time has arrived.
The No. 2 LSU baseball team heads to Foley Field in Athens, Georgia, for the first time since 2011 for a weekend series against Georgia with a new pitching rotation.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri announced freshman pitcher Alex Lange will make his Friday night debut after sitting out last weekend’s scheduled start against Auburn because of tightness in his throwing arm.
The change likely shifts sophomore pitcher Jared Poche’ to the Saturday slot with freshman Austin Bain finishing the series on Sunday.
Mainieri said it was a decision the coaches have been considering because of Lange’s abilities as a pure power pitcher.
“It was a big decision we made,” Mainieri said. “It’s something we’ve been contemplating for some time. I really wanted to make the move last week … Alex Lange is the most dominating power pitcher on our staff in terms of strikeouts and the ability to hold the other team to a low-run game. Lange has the potential to just go out there and dominate the game with a lot of strikeouts.
“Eventually, I felt he would become the Friday night starter. After eight starts I don’t really see him as a freshman anymore. He’s very ready for this type of challenge. He’s inordinately poised, composed and confident. It’s the right time to do it.”
Lange is 6-0 on the year with a Southeastern Conference leading 1.39 ERA to go with 61 strikeouts.
Lange’s long-anticipated move to Friday night doesn’t frighten the 6-foot-3, 198-pound freshman. Lange said he’s ready to get back out on the mound and will treat his start like any other this season.
“I’m confident going in,” Lange said. “I’m excited to get back out there after taking the week off last week. Whenever we get a chance to go out there it’s a good time, so we’re not really worried about who’s Friday, who’s Saturday, who’s Sunday. We just go out there and try to give our team a chance to win, really in any situation.”
With Lange’s move to Friday, Poche’ is available to come out of the bullpen Friday night to relieve Lange, who will be limited to around 80 pitches or six innings, per Mainieri’s liking. If Poche’ pitches Friday night, his scheduled start would be moved to Sunday with Bain taking over the Saturday role.
Mainieri said the move is an effort to deepen the bullpen to potentially save freshman pitcher Jesse Stallings for a save effort later in the weekend.
“I wanted to strengthen our bullpen a little bit by having Poche’ available for Friday night,” Mainieri said. “Even if it’s just for one inning or the close, you could save Stallings for a potential save later in the weekend. It just adds one more quality arm — literally one of your top couple of pitchers — to be available for you to try and close the game.”
While the move may appear a demotion for Poche’, pitching coach Alan Dunn said Poche’ moving to Saturday isn’t indicative of the way the staff views his abilities.
Poche’ is 6-1 on the season with a 3.11 ERA and 37 strikeouts, and he is a vital part of the Tigers’ rotation moving forward.
“Jared Poche’ has been our guy and will continue to be our guy,” Dunn said. “You look at the outings he has had this season, he has done exactly what we have wanted him to do. He has kept us in every single game that he has pitched. Jared Poche’ is a huge part of our rotation and this is just something that gives us a different look.”
The Tigers’ (32-6, 10-5 SEC) pitching staff faces a Bulldogs (20-18, 6-9 SEC) team ranked 10th in the SEC with a .273 batting average. LSU leads the all-time series with Georgia, 62-22-3. The Tigers have won eight of their last 10 SEC series against Georgia, including the series in Baton Rouge last season.
While the two teams may be heading in separate directions on the diamond, junior shortstop Alex Bregman said the series is an important one heading into the second half of SEC play with the individual talent the Bulldogs possess.
“They’re good,” Bregman said. “They battled us last year very hard. They’re a well-coached team. They’re going to pitch really well, and they’re going to swing it as well. They’re going to be scrappy. Georgia has some of the best baseball players in the country, it’s a gold mine for baseball players. It’s going to be fun to go down there.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.