It had been more than one month since freshman closer Jesse Stallings last picked up a save before heading into LSU’s three-game series against Mississippi State.
But even though the fiery Stallings had cooled down after a pair of blown saves in recent weeks, he said the hitters weren’t responsible for his mistakes — he was.
“As long as I can put my pitches where I want to put them, I’m going to have success,” Stallings said. “I haven’t been doing that much lately.”
In the No. 1 Tigers’ series-opener against the Bulldogs on April 30, the wild Stallings was back in control, retiring three straight Mississippi State batters on 10 pitches to help LSU overcome a 14-inning marathon for a 5-3 victory.
It was the first save for Stallings, the Southeastern Conference leader in saves, since March 31 against the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri pointed to a single reason for Stallings’ recent struggles — pitch location.
“He’s had three blown saves in conference play, and if you look at the reasons why, it’s been because of the location of his pitches,” Mainieri said. “It hasn’t been because he doesn’t have the stuff.”
After racking up 11 saves in the first month and a half of the season, Stallings struggled to reach No. 12.
Since collecting a save against ULL, the Colfax, Louisiana, native surrendered hits in four of his next six appearances, including three games with at least two. Opponents scored in three of those six outings, and Stallings was credited with a blown save against Alabama on April 2 and then-No. 2 Texas A&M on April 23.
Stallings can still recall every pitch of his one-out outing against the Aggies, when he surrendered a leadoff triple in the ninth inning of a game the Tigers ultimately won in walk-off fashion.
“The first pitch I threw against Texas A&M was a strike on the low outside corner,” Stallings said. “If I had hit that spot three times in a row, if he would have hit it at all, it would have been a dribble or a pop-up. He wouldn’t have done anything with it because of the location.”
But Stallings’ location was off, and Texas A&M junior outfielder J.B. Moss hit the ball off the wall in deep centerfield.
Without quality pitch location, Mainieri said there isn’t much Stallings can do on the mound.
“It’s no secret that he doesn’t have the best secondary pitches, so that puts more pressure on him to put the fastball where he wants it,” Mainieri said.
But Stallings hit his spots in the Tigers’ 5-3 win against Mississippi State in extra innings April 30.
Filling in for freshman pitcher Jake Godfrey, Stallings forced a one-pitch pop out, struck out freshman infielder Ryan Gridley swinging and got sophomore outfielder Cody Brown to fly out to right field to end the game and pick up his SEC-leading 12th save.
Location was once again the difference for Stallings.
“It’s not that I’ve lost my sharpness or edge — I just have to make my pitches,” Stallings said. “As long as I hit my spots, I’m going to do well and have success.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.