Last place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division is not a familiar position for the LSU baseball team.
Coach Paul Mainieri said an immediate turnaround must begin tonight against Northwestern State (10-22, 3-12 Southland) after LSU (21-11, 3-9 SEC) was swept by Arkansas during the weekend.
“I’m not going to downplay the significance of this week,” Mainieri said. “We have to get the job done, beginning with these midweek games.”
Freshman Ryan Eades, who has a 5.68 ERA in 12 2/3 innings and 11 appearances out of the bullpen, will make his first career start tonight.
“This is a kid with an awful lot of talent, one of the really shining lights in our recruiting class,” Mainieri said.
Mainieri said Eades “has as much talent” as weekend freshmen starters Kurt McCune and Kevin Gausman.
He said Eades, who had shoulder surgery his senior year of high school, hasn’t had any major post-surgery issues, and his innings should not be limited the way redshirt freshman Forrest Garrett’s were following Tommy John surgery.
“It seems like every time Eades has pitched, the game has been on the line,” Mainieri said. “He hasn’t had a chance to use all of his pitches, and he hasn’t had a chance to really get comfortable out there.”
Eades will pitch against a Northwestern State lineup hitting .253 with only 124 runs compared to LSU’s 227.
The Demons were also swept last weekend, scoring only three runs in each of their three games against Nicholls State.
LSU sophomore designated hitter Raph Rhymes said it’s still easy to get excited for a non-conference game against a struggling team.
“We all love this game a lot, and any chance we get to come out and play, we really embrace that moment,” Rhymes said. “We treat these games just as important as SEC games.”
Mainieri said the Tigers were “down in the dumps” following the weekend sweep, which kicked LSU out of the national rankings in the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls. The Tigers were No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
He said he met with the players immediately after the Arkansas series to keep their spirits high.
“You have to keep the kids believing,” Mainieri said. “I don’t think you can play well enough to win unless the morale is there and the confidence is there.”
LSU swept consecutive games against Northwestern last season before losing seven straight games.
Six of those seven losses were away, whereas this year LSU plays another midweek game at home Wednesday against Alcorn State and hosts Auburn in a three-game series.
The Tigers are 18-6 at home this season, including a sweep of No. 8 Cal State Fullerton.
“Hopefully a week from today we’ll be talking about how we’re 26-11 and we’ve won five in a row,” Mainieri said. “And hopefully we’ll have a better feeling about ourselves.”
Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter @TDR_Kavner.
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected].