The No. 11 LSU baseball team came into Tuesday night’s contest looking for a rebound on several fronts, but came out of the game with more questions than answers losing 11-5 to Louisiana-Lafayette.
From weekday junior starter Tyler Jones, who didn’t record an out in his last start. From the offense, which was downright anemic while being swept by No. 1 Florida. From all-time saves leader junior Matty Ott, who was knocked around in his last appearance, LSU (16-5) had plenty of issues heading into the game.
ULL, coming into the game with a 9-10 record, looked like the perfect cure to the Tigers’ recent woes.
But the Ragin’ Cajuns (10-10) proved they weren’t going to lay down for LSU.
“We just got totally outplayed,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “ULL was the better team tonight. You’ve got to tip your hat to them. They pitched better, they hit better, they did everything better.”
The deciding factor in the game may have been the six-run fifth inning, when seven of the first eight Ragin’ Cajun batters reached base.
Freshman pitcher Joe Broussard (0-1) walked the first two
batters in the fifth and was pulled in favor of freshman Sam Peterson.
Peterson only lasted a third of an inning, however, giving up four straight hits, as he was chased out of the game after allowing a two-run triple.
ULL was locked on Jones early, posting four hits in the first inning. Jones was able to hold ULL to one run in the inning, but the frame provided a glimpse for what was to come.
The ULL hitters looked like they were taking batting practice against the rest of the Tiger pitchers, tallying 11 runs off eight walks and 15 hits.
LSU used six pitchers in the game, including an appearance by junior Matty Ott in the eighth inning with LSU down by four. Ott’s struggles continued, as he gave up four hits — including a two-run home run — in one inning.
The LSU offense scattered 11 hits, showing glimpses of busting out of its recent slump.
Sophomore right fielder Mason Katz bombed a solo home run in the second inning — the first LSU home run since March 4. The drought spanned 419 plate appearances and 10 games.
But the offense couldn’t come through in the clutch, with many of the hits coming with the bases empty or with a runner on first.
“There’s no way we should be getting 11 hits and lose the game,” Katz said. “We’re coming around. JaCoby [Jones] was robbed on a liner, I had one to the warning track, Mikie [Mahtook] had a couple deep ones. We just need to get them at the right time.”
LSU will try to break its four-game losing streak Friday when it resumes Southeastern Conference play at Georgia.
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]