If the LSU baseball season was a play, it’s just intermission.
The Tigers have only two more Southeastern Conference series remaining and have played 46 of their 56 games in the regular season, but their postseason fate is far from determined.
A hot start and a sweep against then-No. 6 Cal State Fullerton had many believing youth wouldn’t concern the Tigers.
SEC play was another story.
LSU struggled to begin conference action, getting swept by Florida and losing five of its first six SEC series before sweeping Kentucky and losing two out of three against Alabama.
Still, the mediocrity of the SEC West has the Tigers just four and a half out of first place as no teams have a record over .500 in conference play.
LSU possesses 13 freshmen, including consistent starters in second baseman JaCoby Jones and catcher Ty Ross, and just two seniors.
Jones was originally pegged as the starting third baseman before LSU coach Paul Mainieri decided to switch him to second base with junior Tyler Hanover.
The main location of the youngsters lies in the bullpen and pitching staff.
Freshmen pitchers Kurt McCune and Kevin Gausman are the weekly Friday and Saturday night starters, respectively.
McCune, a former teammate of junior left fielder Trey Watkins at Destrehan, was not even projected to be in the rotation before the season but turned into a consistent weekend starter with a 3.51 ERA.
Gausman leads the Tigers in strikeouts with 62.
Other freshmen pitchers include Kevin Berry, a potential closer who had a 3.00 ERA in 24 innings, and Ryan Eades, who became the typical midweek starter late in the season and who Mainieri said is capable of becoming a weekend starter in upcoming seasons.
One characteristic defining LSU’s season has been its commitment to small ball after former Tiger sluggers Blake Dean and Micah Gibbs jetted to the pros.
“It was pretty easy the last four years,” Mainieri said. “When I started to write out a lineup I always started with the No. 3 hole where I always put Blake Dean’s name.”
The Tigers’ famous “gorilla ball” style has been replaced by bunts and steals, due in large part to LSU’s athleticism, speed and a new style of bat that is supposed to act more like a wooden bat.
LSU already has more sacrifice bunts this season than in any previous year.
“We don’t have as much home run power, but I think we’ve got a lot more speed this year,” Hanover said.
Junior center fielder Mikie Mahtook seems to be one of the few athletes whose power hasn’t subsided. Mahtook leads LSU and the SEC with 12 home runs this season.
Mainieri said before the season sophomore Mason Katz would get the “first shot” in right field, and so far he has made the most of that opportunity.
After breaking his hand against Auburn, Katz came back a week earlier than anticipated and went 8-for-11 with a home run and five doubles against Kentucky. He is hitting .322 this season.
“I worked real hard with my injury doing everything I could do to make sure when I came back my swing would be as good as possible, and it’s paying off,” Katz said. “We have a chance to do something great this season and make a run late.”
The Tigers have lacked consistency at first base and left field. Four different players have played left field, with the most starts going to Watkins, while five Tigers have played first base, with the most starts going to sophomore Alex Edward.
LSU is first in runs scored (313) and RBIs (278) among SEC teams for the season but are seventh in runs scored (97) and eighth in RBIs (82) in the conference in SEC games.
Follow Rowan Kavner on Twitter @TDR_Kavner.
 
—-
Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]