An unseasonably chilly day in Baton Rouge was fitting for an afternoon when LSU’s offense couldn’t get rolling when it was required.
With winds howling throughout the day and temperatures reaching the mid 50s by the end of Saturday’s doubleheader against Alabama, the Tiger offense recorded a bitterly cold 2-for-17 clip with runners in scoring position between both games, falling 6-0 and 4-3 in Southeastern Conference opening games against the Crimson Tide (13-5, 2-0 SEC).
The doubleheader sweep was the first home series loss to Alabama since 1996 and the first time LSU lost two SEC games in one day at Alex Box Stadium since 1989. Even though LSU coach Paul Mainieri acknowledged it’s a natural learning experience for his team, it’s not something he takes pride in.
“We’re not trying to learn things,” Maineri said. “We’re trying to win games, and we didn’t win these two games today.
Despite 13 hits in Game 2, No. 6 LSU didn’t pick up its first run of the day until the bottom of the sixth inning, having already fallen into 3-0 hole. On top of only five hits in the first game, the Tigers (13-5, 0-2 SEC) were just 4-for-29 with runners on base between both games.
But junior shortstop Kramer Robertson believed there was another glaring statistic LSU can point to as a weakness.
“I don’t think we got one guy to third base with less than two outs, and that’s a mistake” Robertson said. “We got to do a better job of executing and taking pressure off the hitters. Because I don’t care who you are, it’s hard to hit with guys in scoring position and two outs. It’s a tough position.”
Unlike sophomore right-hander Alex Lange in Game 1, who commanded for the majority of his first collegiate loss before the Crimson Tide solved him in the seventh inning, junior left-hander Jared Poche’s five-inning start was doomed by self-inflicted errors.
Coupled with an error by Robertson, two of the three batters Poche (2-2) hit led to two unearned runs in the top of the fourth.
Offensively, though, the only difference between the first and second games was number of hits.
LSU recorded leadoff singles in the the first two innings, but both were erased by a pick off and a caught stealing. Tiger freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis extended the bottom of the first with his 18th hit in as many games played this season, but a ground out ended the frame.
“When you have players who have not played in these kind of environments that much,” Mainieri said. “sometimes, they have to make mistakes to learn and to be able to grow. We did. We ran ourselves out of some innings. When Kramer got picked off at first, he wasn’t even stealing. He just took off his eye off the pitcher, which is a cardinal rule.”
Similarly, the Crimson Tide put the leadoff man on base in the first three innings. But a 5-4-3 double play erased the threat in the second inning, and sophomore catcher Michael Papierski caught a pair of runners stealing in the first and third innings.
Alabama, though, finally broke through in the top of the fourth inning, aided by some Tiger miscues. Crimson Tide left fielder Keith Holcombe led off the top of the fourth with a hard hit ground ball right Robertson, who booted the routine play.
Then, Poche’ plunked two of the next three hitters he faced to load the bases, setting up Alabama second baseman Cobie Vance’s RBI single. First baseman Chance Vincent followed Vance with RBI fielder’s choice, giving the Crimson Tide a 2-0 lead on a pair of unearned runs.
“They’re SEC hitters,” Poche’ said. “They’re supposed to do things when the pitcher makes mistakes. They put together a couple of good at-bats.”
For the third time in four innings, LSU’s leadoff hitter of the inning reached the basepaths. With two outs in the frame and sophomore left fielder Beau Jordan at first base, sophomore designated hitter Greg Deichmann provided the Tiger with their first hit with a runner on base in 12.1 innings on the day.
Prior to Deichmann’s blooping double, LSU was 0-for-18 with runners on. But, with men on second and third a two outs, Alabama starting pitcher Jake Walters fanned freshman third baseman Chris Reid to escape the two-on, two-out jam.
Alabama added to its lead with Will Haynie’s solo moon shot into the Left Field Landing. Against the stiff wind carrying in and toward right field, Haynie’s home run left the bat at 107.3 miles per hour, according to TrackMan, and was his third hit of the series.
Once again, LSU faced a run-scoring opportunity with two outs in the the bottom of the fifth, but Duplantis couldn’t score or advance Robertson from second base. Duplantis’ ground out made LSU 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position between both games of the doubleheader to that point in the second game.
Junior right-handed reliever Russell Reynolds replaced Poche’ after the Tiger starter gave up a leadoff double to Crimson Tide right fielder Chandler Taylor. Reynolds stranded runners on second and third base with a flyout to center field, and the LSU offense finally scratched a run across in the bottom half of the inning.
Sophomore first baseman Bryce Jordan’s double into left field with two outs brought up junior pinch hitter Jordan Romero, who drove an RBI single up the middle. Romero’s run-scoring base knock was the Tigers’ first with a man in scoring position of the doubleheader.
Reid followed Romero with a walk to put another runner in scoring position, but junior second baseman Cole Freeman lined out to the third baseman to keep the game at 3-1.
With Reynolds shutting down the Crimson Tide offense in three innings of relief, LSU had another opportunity to produce with runners on the corners and two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Again, though, a Tiger ground out ended the frame with nothing to show for it.
Still trailing by just two runs in the bottom of the eighth, Bryce smoked a leadoff single into left field but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. 
“When I hit it down the line, I saw [first base coach Brent] Bonvillain waving me, so I tried to take second. I didn’t see the ball until I saw the left fielder starting to throw, and, by that time, I was too far [off of first base]. I was caught in the middle.”
Despite Alabama grabbing an insurance run off of junior right-hander reliever Parker Bugg, LSU had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Alabama reliever Matt Foster minimized the Tigers’ threat with just two runs allowed to end the game and pick up the save.
“In baseball, you have to stay even keel,” Robertson said. “You can’t get too low because we have to come right back tomorrow morning with a quick turnaround. I’m going to try to make everyone realize how many games we have left. We weren’t going to go 30-0 in the SEC. Nobody has ever done it…You’re going to lose games in this league.”