“Don’t count the LSU Tigers out, because we’re hanging in there.”
That was the feeling LSU coach Paul Mainieri expressed to the media following an extra-inning and series-clinching win against South Carolina on May 7. A week and a half prior to the series against South Carolina, LSU lost to Tulane for the second time this season, and stood at 27-15.
Following the second loss to Tulane, the Tigers were not even projected to host a regional. The team that started the season ranked No. 4 overall, appeared to have collapsed under great expectations.
Then the proverbial switch was flipped.
Prior to boarding the bus for LSU’s road series against Alabama, senior shortstop Kramer Robertson gave an impassioned speech where he called out his own play and said that he needed to be a better leader for LSU to have success.
Since that speech LSU is 16-2 and is currently on an 11-game win streak. Robertson has led the Tigers to an SEC regular season championship and a SEC Tournament Championship. He is hitting .402 (31-for-77) and has scored 27 runs in that stretch.
In the same period, junior pitcher Alex Lange has struck out 42 batters in 39 ⅓ innings while only allowing 30 hits and six runs. He’s posted a record of 4-1, and thrown two complete game shutouts.
However, Robertson and Lange are not alone. Whether it has been junior catcher Michael Papierski drawing a walk, junior right fielder Greg Deichmann hitting a home run or sophomore left fielder Antoine Duplantis driving in runs with a double, LSU’s late season success can only be described as a complete team effort.
The Tigers have also been helped by excellent defensive play from both its infield and outfield. The defense holds the seventh-best fielding percentage in the country, and is the No.1 defense in the SEC.
“We are all getting hot down the stretch,” Deichmann said. “It’s going to make for a good postseason run.”
LSU (43-17) hopes for its late season surge to carry over into the NCAA tournament. The Tigers enter as the No. 4 seed.
Mainieri announced on Thursday that he plans to open the regional with senior pitcher Jared Poche, who is chasing after the school’s all-time win record for a pitcher.
“I am going into the game assuming it is going to be a low-scoring, tight ball game,” Mainieri said. “Jared Poche is the best guy for us to be pitching under those conditions.”
Poche is set to take the mound against Texas Southern on Friday at 2:30 in Alex Box Stadium.
The left-handed pitcher said every game is now biggest game of the season, but that the team has to play their game.
