OMAHA, Neb. — With the extended use of senior Jared Poché and junior Alex Lange last week, coach Paul Mainieri decided to rest his two starters in Game 1 of the College World Series finals with hopes that the Tiger bullpen would be able to hold the Florida offense.
The Tigers’ bullpen did just that, and held Florida to four runs in the game.
Senior Russell Reynolds opened the game as the starter for LSU, and threw a season-high 3⅓ innings. Reynolds, who has struggled with a shoulder injury, was extremely solid for LSU. The senior gave up two hits before running into trouble and walking three straight batters in the fourth inning.
“The first three innings I just tried to pound the zone, and let the defense make plays,” Reynolds said. “[In the fourth inning] I just lost it. I didn’t feel as comfortable as I did the first couple of innings.”
The senior was replaced by freshman lefty Nick Bush who came into the game with the bases loaded and one out. Florida would take advantage of Reynolds’ walks, and scored all three runners throughout the inning.
The freshman settled down for LSU, and threw 3⅓ innings in relief. Bush gave up two hits, one run, and struck out two on 51 pitches.
With little help from batters early on, Bush’s ability to hold the Florida bats down was key for LSU. By the seventh inning, LSU had put runs up on the board and started to cut Florida’s lead.
Mainieri then switched to senior Hunter Newman once Bush started running out of gas with two outs in the seventh inning. Newman, who was rocked in the first matchup with Oregon State, found himself in trouble with two outs and runners on the corners after a wild pitch and a walk, but was able to get the final out of the inning on a strikeout.
“I just had to remind myself what I have done the past four years,” Newman said “I shouldn’t lose confidence over one bad outing. That’s baseball. I just had to overcome that, and fill the strike zone and let the defense work.”
Newman pitched the final two innings for LSU, and allowed no more runners to cross the plate.
“Coming out the bullpen, everybody did fine,” Newman said. “Russell did great, he had that one bad inning, but we battled back and we fought until the end. We got Poché going tomorrow, a veteran guy, and we have all the confidence in that.”
While the loss for the Tigers is tough to swallow, the ability of Reynolds, Bush and Newman to not lose control of the game bodes well for the rest of series. LSU was able to keep freshman Zack Hess and sophomore Caleb Gilbert’s arms fresh in the bullpen; whereas Florida was forced to use its best option —sophomore Brady Singer on the mound.
“That was their best bullet,” senior second baseman Cole Freeman said. “As long as we can come out here and play our game tomorrow, I like our chances.”
Mainieri said he thought that his pitchers did a good job overall, and his decision to rely on bullpen arms in the first game lets LSU pitch Poche and Lange back-to-back against Florida’s rotational pitchers.
“It’s comforting to know that we still have Jared Poché going tomorrow fully rested,” Mainieri said. “If we’re fortunate enough to win tomorrow night, we’ve got Alex Lange waiting. We don’t think the series is over by a long stretch. We’re excited about playing tomorrow and hopefully we can have a little bit more luck on our side tomorrow.”
