The Tigers appeared set for victory against South Alabama after taking a 5-1 lead in the second inning.
Then South Alabama turned to their bullpen and called upon freshman pitcher Andy Arguelles. Arguelles suffocated the Tigers offense, allowing only four hits and no runs in a little over six innings of work.
The story for Tigers’ pitching staff was not as bright. Coach Paul Mainieri decided to rest key relievers in freshman Zack Hess and senior Hunter Newman, and instead chose to rely on inexperienced arms.
Mainieri decided to start sophomore Caleb Gilbert, who lasted two innings for the Tigers, in place of Hess.
“We were shorthanded tonight, we had a couple of our regulars who were unavailable due to minor injuries,” Mainieri said. “It’s not making excuses, but we had to hold them out to make sure they would be ready for the weekend series against Auburn.”
After freshman Will Reese struck-out two in the third inning, Mainieri replaced him with junior Hunter Kiel to start the fourth inning. Kiel, who took mound for the first time since April 4, proceeded to walk two batters and recorded no outs on 12 pitches.
The fourth inning marked one of three straight in which South Alabama would score one run, and at end of the sixth inning LSU’s lead was trimmed to 5-4.
Freshmen pitchers Matthew Beck and Nick Bush combined to hold South Alabama at bay for the seventh and eighth innings. However, Bush fell apart in the ninth inning, giving up two walks and three earned runs.
Bush’s three walks contributed to a total of ten walks by the LSU pitching staff.
“South Alabama has a good ball club,” Mainieri said. “They lead the nation in bases on balls. We knew that, but we didn’t throw the ball over the plate consistently enough.”
The Tigers attempted a late comeback in the bottom of the ninth, but after Kramer Robertson scored on a Cole Freeman single to cut South Alabama’s lead to 7-6, sophomore Antoine Duplantis popped out to the shortstop to end the game.
“It’s a disappointing loss,” Mainieri said, “But there were a lot of good things out there tonight and now we have to get ready for Auburn.”
LSU will start a three game series against Auburn on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Alex Box Stadium.
