One mistake by sophomore pitcher Ryan Eades was all Appalachian State needed Saturday in a 1-0 victory at Alex Box Stadium.
Eades left a breaking ball too high in the strike zone, and Mountaineers designated hitter Daniel Kassouf lifted it into the left field bleachers to give Appalachian State (3-2) a lead it never surrendered. Mountaineers starting pitcher Ryan Arrowood struck out 10 batters and allowed only two hits in seven scoreless innings of work.
“I just hung a pitch and [Kassouf] put a good swing on it and got it out of the park,” Eades said. “That was all it took. Their pitcher was able to shut us down.”
After the first two batters reached base for No. 7 LSU (5-1), junior outfielder Raph Rhymes grounded into a double play that put senior third baseman Tyler Hanover on third base with two outs. Junior first baseman Mason Katz struck out looking to end what would be a rare scoring threat.
“I would put it as a pitiful performance by our offense,” Katz said. “I had a chance with a guy on third in the first inning and didn’t come through. Games like this are why you have to come through in situations like that. I didn’t get the job done and it was just bad. Not to take anything away from that kid, he did a great job, but we could have done better.”
Arrowood retired 16 consecutive batters at one point until Hanover singled with two outs in the sixth inning. Hanover, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, played on the same summer league as Arrowood and said the senior pitcher was in a rhythm.
“We were having trouble with him tonight,” Hanover said. “He was throwing all of his pitches in any count for strikes.”
After Hanover reached third base in the first inning, LSU failed to advance a runner past first base until sophomore center fielder JaCoby Jones made it to second on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth inning.
The lack of offense wasted another impressive performance by Eades, who went 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts. Eades only allowed four hits, but one – the home run in the fourth inning – proved to be the most costly.
The loss marks the first time LSU has been shut out by a non-Southeastern Conference opponent since the Tigers fell to Tulane in 2004. The Tigers will try to win the series in a rubber match Sunday at 11 a.m.
“Any loss is frustrating,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I hate all losses, but our pitcher was great. We’re going to have a lot of low scoring games this year, and we’re just going to have to figure out a way to win them. Unfortunately we didn’t win this one. Next time, hopefully, we will.”
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]