Going into the weekend opener against Bryant, it was a question as to how junior right-hander Zack Hess would respond to a rocky first outing.
He did just what Paul Mainieri raved about all offseason with a five inning, six strikeout game to propel LSU (5-0) to a win against Bryant (2-2).
In Hess’ first start he struggled with his offspeed pitches, changeup and slider, but he had both going in his second start. He started in the first inning with his fastball, consistently, before figuring out his offspeed. Twenty-two of his first 23 pitches were fastballs. He struck out two on the outside part of the plate, which set up his offspeed pitches for the second inning.
Hess allowed a single to start the inning but retired the next three on strikeouts — one on a slider and two on his changeup.
“They put some good swings on me, but it was just about mixing up my pitches with the rest of the night,” Hess said. “I feel like once we started doing that, we started finding some success with it.”
The Tigers followed up their ace’s success by scoring early.
The first two batters got on in the second inning. Mainieri called for a double steal with a right-hander at the plate. The Bulldog catcher attempted to throw junior outfielder Zach Watson out at third, but his throw went into the outfield allowing Watson to score on the play. Freshman first baseman Cade Beloso moved up to third and then scored on a Hal Hughes single.
Hess found himself in a little trouble during the third inning. He had a runner on third after leading off the inning with a walk. He pitched around the trouble to get out without allowing a run. The offense scored on a pair of Bryant infield errors. A chopping single from Beloso and a fielder’s choice from Hughes drove in two more runs for the Tigers.
The fourth and fifth were more of the same for the LSU offense. Base hits and capitalizing on Bryant mistakes with timely hitting gave LSU two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth inning.
Hess finished his night after throwing in the fifth inning. He recorded his sixth strikeout on the pitch that gave him trouble in his first start – his slider. Through five innings Hess had 91 pitches which was around his pitch count.
The start for Hess was important for the Tigers ace as he made a few mechanical tweaks – his leg kick – during the week with pitching coach Alan Dunn. The adjustments seemed to help the control of his offspeed pitches better. His fastball stayed consistent, mid 92 to 95 miles per hour.
“The first inning he relied on his fastball, and after that he started throwing his slider and his changeup,” Mainieri said. “I thought he did a really good job except his pitch count got up there, and we had to hook him after five innings.”
Sophomore right-hander Eric Walker came in relief of Hess were he breezed through his first inning, three-up-three-down. The seventh inning was different for Walker as he began the inning with a walk then hit a batter. Walker was able to get two outs after two flyouts. A runner tagged to third, and wild pitch put runners at second and third with two outs. Walker walked the bases loaded and a wild pitch allowed one run to score. Walker then allowed a base hit to centerfield that drove in two more to cut LSU’s lead to 10-4.
Junior right-hander Aaron George stopped the bleeding with a strikeout to end the inning, but he encountered problems of his own. He allowed a home run in the seventh that cut the LSU lead in half. After allowing a double and walk, George finished his night with a strikeout before Mainieri brought in junior right-hander Matthew Beck.
Beck struggled as he walked the bases load then walked a run home. Beck struggled to find the strike zone and Mainieri had enough in the middle of his third batter – a two ball one strike count. Sophomore right-hander Devin Fontenot came in to draw the count full and strikeout Bryant’s first baseman behind a rowdy Alex Box.
The Tiger bullpen struggled throughout the evening after a quality start from Hess. The bullpen allowed five runs and five walks in four innings.
“That concerns me a lot,” Mainieri said. “You just can’t do that, especially when you’ve got a big lead. You’ve got a 10 to one lead, come on, let’s throw the ball over the plate and make them earn [it].”
The offense was stagnant for the sixth and seventh. There was an uneasy feeling was moving through the crowd as the offense couldn’t get going and the pitching started to struggle. That all changed when Cabrera stepped up to the plate in the eighth inning. With runners on first and third after a hit-and-run, Cabrera hit a ball to right field that never came back.
That uneasy feeling that crept through Alex Box during the top half of the inning, it was gone. The Tigers led 13-6 going into the top of the ninth where sophomore right-hander Trent Vietmeier came in to finish the game.
Freshman right-hander Landon Marceaux is the likely starter for the Saturday game which will be played at a new time, 7 p.m. because of the incoming weather.