For the first time since his junior year of high school, including 144 innings pitched in 22 collegiate starts, LSU sophomore right-hander Alex Lange has been charged with a loss.
But, for the first time since April 28, 2013, the No. 6 Tigers (13-5, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) failed to score a single run, notching just five hits in a 6-0, SEC-opening loss to Alabama.
In Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Crimson Tide (12-5, 1-0 SEC) recorded seven of its 10 hits against Lange in the top of the seventh inning and scored four of its six runs in that frame. In LSU’s first conference opening loss since 2011, Lange tied his career high for most hits allowed in his collegiate career.
“That was a good hitting team,” Lange said. “They did what they were supposed to do with mistakes, and they hit good pitches. That’s what the SEC is all about.”
Though the second-year ace was roughed up in the final of inning of his 6.2-inning stint, he kept the Crimson Tide at bay for the majority of his start. But the LSU offense provided him no help with runners on base, going 0-for-13 with runners on and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position versus Alabama right-handed starter Geoffrey Bramblett and reliever Jon Keller.
Bramblett allowed just four hits and one walk in six innings on the mound.
Yet, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said most LSU’s opportunities came with two outs, where they went 2-for-11 at the plate. Despite Alabama’s success at the plate in spite of strong, inward wind, Mainieri acknowledged LSU’s inability to overcome it as the game wore on.
“We had a few opportunities,” Mainieri said. “Not a lot of great opportunities…It was a couple opportunities we didn’t take advantage of. Most of the opportunities were with two outs, though, and it’s hard to get two-out hits. The conditions, obviously, were very difficult to hit in, but they were the same for both teams. Somehow, those guys got 12 hits and scored six runs. So, you can’t use that as an excuse.”
After allowing one-out single in the top of the first, Lange loaded the bases with two outs on a hit batter and a walk, but Crimson Tide first baseman Chance Vincent lined out to Tiger sophomore first baseman Bryce Jordan to end the frame.
Though he picked up his first two strikeouts in the inning, Lange escaped the jam having already thrown 19 pitches.
However, Lange worked a clean inning in the top of the second, needing just nine pitches to do so. His inning-ending punchout gave him three strikeouts to that point, putting him mostly in cruise control until the seventh.
Lange then retired the side in order in the top of third, requiring only seven pitches in that inning, and worked around another one-out base hit in the top of the fourth to ease out of that inning.
Meanwhile, LSU couldn’t get much going offensively against Bamblett through the first four innings, picking up just two hits up to that point. LSU stranded runners at second base with two outs in the bottom of the third and one out in the bottom of the fourth.
Likewise, Crimson Tide catcher Will Haynie led off the top of the fifth with a single off the left-field wall and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt. But left fielder Keith Holcombe bounced into unassisted ground out, and Lange induced a fly out to erase the threat.
“I felt really good,” Lange said. “I felt like my command was good. My breaking ball was working well. My changeup was good. [Sixty-eight] pitches through six innings, I thought I was going to go a long way.”
Lange produced another harmless inning in the top of sixth, generating three straight outs hit into the air, but it was more of the same for the Tiger bats in the bottom of the fifth and sixth.
After leading off the bottom of the fifth with a bloop double just inside the left-field line, sophomore designated hitter Greg Deichmann was left stranded in scoring position on a foul out and a pair of groundouts.
In the bottom of the sixth, freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis pulled a one-out single into right field and swiped second with two outs in the frame, but junior catcher Michael Papierski’s popout allowed Bramblett to finish his sixth scoreless inning.
Duplantis had two of the Tigers’ five hits and extended his hitting streak to all 17 games of the season.
“[Bramblett] has a 1.00 ERA for a reason,” Mainieri said. “He made some big pitches when he needed to. The shocking thing to me is Lange was dominating through six innings and then all of sudden a couple of kids down toward the bottom portion of their lineup put some good swings on the ball that, quite frankly, were a bit surprising to us.”
With LSU getting nothing in those two innings, Lange returned for the top of the seventh on just 68 pitches, and Alabama jumped all over him. A double from first baseman Chance Vincent and a bunt single put runners on the corners, setting up Haynie’s two-run double into the left-center field gap.
Lange then snared a line drive off the bat of Holcombe two batters later, doubling off third baseman Daniel Cucjen, who singled. But shortstop Chandler Avant singled up the middle to bring in the third run, and designated hitter Cody Henry pushed across the fourth run with an infield single.
Henry’s RBI single ended Lange’s day.
Crimson Tide right fielder Chandler Taylor’s two-run blast off LSU right-handed reliever Austin Bain in the top of the eighth capped Alabama’s scoring effort. The Tigers went down in order in the bottom halves of the eighth and ninth innings.
With Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader beginning at 6:30 p.m., Mainieri is keeping his eyes forward.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Mainieri said “There’s no use sitting around, whining and pouting about it because we got to play again in a very short time in some difficult conditions. We got to show some real toughness.”