If his 2016 season debut is any indication, LSU right-handed pitcher Alex Lange’s sophomore season shouldn’t be much different than his freshman season, which is bad news for his opponents.
Just ask the Cincinnati Bearcats (0-2) after the No. 5 Tigers’ 4-0, series-clinching victory at Alex Box Stadium.
With control over a 94 miles-per-hour fastball and a swing-and-miss breaking ball, Lange carved up Cincinnati hitters to the tune of nine strikeouts while allowing just one hit in 6 ⅔ innings Saturday.
In a 91-pitch outing, Lange threw 57 strikes and walked just three Bearcats, while LSU (2-0) provided enough offense for its stud second-year hurler.
“I don’t ever remember a day when Alex Lange’s breaking ball wasn’t working,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Alex, obviously, was the story of the game.”
The Tiger bats sputtered at times during game one, but junior center fielder Jake Fraley revved up the LSU offense early in game two, ripping a two-out triple into left field in the bottom of the first. Fraley scored on the next at-bat, racing home on a wild pitch from Cincinnati starting pitch Mitch Patishall.
The recharged Tiger hitters, though, weren’t done there, as sophomore Greg Deichmann’s recorded his first collegiate hit with a solo blast into the right-field Diamond Deck.
In an adjusted lineup, which featured freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis in the two hole, Deichmann batted seventh. Despite no hits in eight at-bats last season and an 0-for-3 night in the opener, the Metarie, Louisiana native was confident in his approach.
“In the back of my mind, maybe [I was pressing] a little bit, coming off of eight at-bats last year and 0-for-3 in the debut,” Deichmann said. “There’s a little bit of pressing, but I just tried to relax. [Hitting] coach [Andy] Cannizaro just said, “Stay with your approach that you’ve always taken.’ I’m a good enough hitter to [where] it’s going to come. It just happened to be a home run.”
Meanwhile, Lange showed why he was named National Freshman Pitcher of the Year in 2015, allowing just two runners to reach second base through six innings. By the end of the sixth inning, Lange had tossed just 74 pitches and had retired nine batters in a row. In his entire outing, only one runner reached third base, resulting in the Bearcats’ 0-for-6 clip with runners in scoring position.
The most danger Lange faced came in the top of the second inning. Cincinnati first baseman Connor McVey led off the inning and reached first when freshman shortstop Trey Dawson booted a high chopper. Bearcat left fielder Ryan Noda flew out to center field on the next at-bat, but Lange conceded his first walk of the game. But, with men on first and second, Lange struck out the final two batters to squeeze out the jam.
“I know you’re not going to go out there and throw 27 pitches, get 27 outs, go sit down and the game is over,” Lange said. “That’s not how baseball works. You got to play with what you’re given and adjust to situations as they come. You can’t go out there and expect to not run into those situations.”
Behind Lange’s command, LSU padded its lead in the bottom of the fifth, led off by junior second base Kramer Robertson’s walk and Duplantis’ single up the middle. With runners on the corners after a fielder’s choice, sophomore left fielder Beau Jordan skied a sacrifice fly to right field to score Robertson.
Fraley, who was at first, swiped second base on the next at-bat and sophomore designated hitter Bryce Jordan drove in the run, poking a single away from a shift.
“It was a [1-0] count, and I was just thinking, ‘Get it out of the infield,’” Beau said of his at-bat. “I just popped it up to right field. Then, Bryce came through. I think they put a pull on. Coach said, ‘Hey, hit it to the right side,’ and he hit it up the middle and got the job done.”
After retiring the side in order in the sixth inning, Lange walked Noda with one out in the seventh, and Noda advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Cincinnati catcher Woody Wallace drove Lange’s 3-2 offering to deep center field, but Fraley tracked it down to hold Wallace to a sacrifice fly.
Freshman right-hander Caleb Gilbert took over for Lange with Noda 90 feet away from scoring, but Gilbert squashed the threat with an inning-ending strikeout.
Despite two singles, Gilbert ended the top of the eight with two more strikeouts, setting up sophomore right-hander Jesse Stallings to close the game. Touching roughly 96 miles per hour on the radar gun, Stallings shut down the Bearcats in the ninth with just a single allowed.
“To be honest with you, we kind of overpowered them with the three arms we threw at them,” Mainieri said. “Every one of those guys was touching [around] 95 miles per house, and they all had good breaking balls going. That’s a tough task for anybody.”
LSU and Cincinnati will return to action tomorrow at noon at Alex Box Stadium. Senior left-hander John Valek III, a transfer from Akron, will make his LSU debut as the game-three starter.