With three freshman in the LSU baseball team’s starting lineup on Sunday, there were bound to be some growing pains.
However, it wasn’t just the rookies committing errors during a muggy day at Alex Box Stadium — there were plenty to go around. But the No. 2 Tigers overcame their miscues with some timely hitting to wrap up a season-opening sweep against Kansas.
LSU (3-0) committed three errors and a wild pitch through the game’s first four innings, but the Tigers racked up 12 hits to rally past Kansas (0-3) for a 7-4 win to sweep their opening-weekend series.
Trailing 4-3 to start the bottom of the sixth, LSU senior designated hitter Chris Sciambra tied the game with an RBI single. Junior outfielder Mark Laird then gave the Tigers the lead on the next at-bat with another RBI single to center field.

“After my first at-bat, I just tried to keep the ball on the ground and kind of got it through somewhere to get our team the lead,” said Laird, who batted 3-for-5, scored three runs and stole two bases against Kansas.
Both Sciambra and Laird crossed home plate later during the inning to give LSU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Tigers’ bats may have been responsible for the late rally, but their defense was responsible for the early deficit. Three of the Jayhawks’ four runs were unearned, with the exception being a solo home run from Kansas senior first baseman Blair Beck.
But LSU coach Paul Mainieri wasn’t discouraged by his team’s costly mistakes — he’d prefer the learning experiences to come early in the season rather than later.

“We’re not winning the national championship the first weekend of the season,” Mainieri said. “If there was no room for improvement, there’d only be one way to go. I don’t want that to happen. I want us to be a better team in April and May and June than we are right now.”
Mainieri plugged three freshmen into his starting lineup — right-handed pitcher Jake Godfrey, catcher Michael Papierski and infielder Bryce Jordan at third — and all three had a hand in the Jayhawks’ two-run second inning.
Jordan threw a ball too high for LSU junior infielder Chris Chinea at first, and the throwing error led to a run for the Jayhawks. Godfrey then threw a wild pitch with two runners on, and Papierski couldn’t tag Kansas outfielder Dakota Smith in time on the play at the plate.
Godfrey’s afternoon went from bad to worse after Beck’s homer to start the fourth. The right-hander gave up two hits and finished with three walks against three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.
Despite giving up three runs, Mainieri said he was actually impressed with Godfrey’s debut.
“I don’t think Godfrey threw that poorly, really,” Mainieri said. “We didn’t give him much help defensively.”
It wasn’t just Mainieri’s freshmen making mistakes. After playing at first base in the first two games of the series, Hale switched to second and made two errors on routine plays. Junior shortstop Alex Bregman also botched a play in the top of the sixth.
But Bregman drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field in the fifth, and Hale made up for his spotty defense by batting 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

“I never take my defensive game into my at-bats,” Hale said. “It’s a totally different aspect of the game. I was just trying to go up there and get a base hit.”
LSU junior southpaw Hunter Devall (1-0) picked up the win after replacing sophomore Russell Reynolds in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Junior centerfielder Andrew Stevenson made a diving play to get the Tigers out of the jam.
LSU freshman pitcher Jesse Stallings recorded his second save in three games by retiring the side in the ninth inning. After the game, Mainieri said the Jayhawks gave the Tigers everything they could handle over the weekend.
“Kansas is a very scrappy team,” Mainieri said. “I thought their defense was borderline ridiculous. They didn’t really give us anything. We had to earn everything we got offensively.”