Going into this season, everyone knew LSU’s strength this year would be the vaunted pitching staff. Opening day reflected that belief in a huge way. Led by Jaden Hill’s assertive starting performance, the story of the day was how good LSU’s pitching staff played.
Tiger pitching combined allowed one run on six hits. They threw 14 strikeouts, walked just one and hit two batters. With 104 strikes thrown out of 149 pitches, the pitchers were in control of the plate and tempo of the game.
Jaden Hill was everything LSU fans would have hoped he’d be. He threw four innings, struck out five, and shutout the Falcons without any walks either. His fastball was blazing, and his slider and changeup broke hard and fast. Even with all the good things he did, Hill wasn’t completely satisfied with his performance. He felt his control could have been even better than what he showed.
“I have a lot of work to do,” Hill said. “It was something I didn’t do consistently. I would say I didn’t have my slider. My offspeed stuff isn’t as consistent as I want it. I had it in certain big moments, but I didn’t have it to where I needed it. Mainly, I really just had a fastball today, to be honest, and so I definitely need to go in with Coach [Alan Dunn] and watch film, get back on the field in two days, and get back to work.”
While Hill might have struggled a bit, it was more than enough to appease head coach Paul Mainieri.
“Jaden Hill was absolutely fantastic,” Mainieri said. “I thought it was a great start for him. I only wanted to have him go three innings, but he was only at 44 pitches. He was begging me for another inning.”
Hill confirmed that once his three-inning limitation Mainieri had placed on him prior to the weekend, he was determined to convince his coach to let him go out and throw just one more.
“As I was walking off the field, I went straight to Coach,” Hill said. “I told him, I said ‘I want to go another inning, I have another one in me.’ He looked at me and said, ‘You sure?’ and I said ‘Yeah, I’m ready to go.’”
After Hill came off for the fifth inning, a cluster of strong performances from Garrett Edwards, Matthew Beck, Alex Brady and Aaron George only gave up two hits and one run from a passed ball under George’s command but was charged to Brady.
“The whole bullpen was fantastic,” Mainieri said. “We really should have pitched a shutout. We had a couple misplays behind the plate there to allow the runner to get into scoring position and then score on a passed ball, so we should have had a shutout really for the way those guys pitched.”
Devin Fontenot was warming up for a chance at a save as the Tigers’ designated closer as LSU led 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth, but thanks to Zach Arnold’s two-run home run, the cushion for LSU’s lead grew to where the save opportunity was lost. Regardless, Fontenot was rock solid, giving up a hit but picking up two strikeouts to close the game.
“They really made our job easy,” first baseman Tre’ Morgan said about the entire pitching staff. “I feel like I only had to catch maybe one ball at first base. They just weren’t hitting them hard at all.”
It was a great start and good confidence booster for a staff that depending on their consistency, could be one of the best in the conference.