Most would think Sacramento State, which was shut out by LSU junior lefty Jared Poche’ and two relievers Friday, would struggle to handle sophomore right-hander Alex Lange’s low-90s fastball and power curveball in Game 2 of a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium.
As the game progressed Saturday, the Hornets found success against the heralded second-year pitcher (1-0) and hung around until late in the contest. Meanwhile, the LSU offense left the door wide open by not capitalizing on scoring chances after the third inning, giving Sacramento State the opportunity to steal a 5-4 victory and force a rubber match Sunday.
Frustrated by the lack offensive production Saturday, LSU coach Paul Mainieri challenged his players to live out a program mantra it keeps after losses. Aided by senior left-hander John Valek III’s one-run, six-strikeout performance in seven innings, the Tigers (5-2) did exactly that in 11-1 win in Game 3 on Sunday.
“We have a little saying among our team that we don’t have losing streaks at LSU,” Mainieri said.
Much like Saturday, the Tiger offense exploded in Game 3 with one out in the bottom of the third, picking up runs on a pair of singles and a bases-clearing extra base hit.
With runners on the corners, junior center fielder Jake Fraley slapped an RBI single to scratch the first run across. Freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis drew a walk, setting up a three-run double by sophomore designated hitter Beau Jordan. One batter later, sophomore first baseman Bryce Jordan drove a single to score his twin brother, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead.
“You don’t have to drive a ball over the left fielder, right fielder or center fielder’s head,” Fraley said. “All you have to do is put the ball on the ground and get a run in. Myself, as well as the rest of team offensively, we need to make sure that when we have that guy on third base with less than two outs we get the job done.”
But, unlike Saturday, the LSU bats stayed active when presented with run-scoring opportunities in the next few innings. Despite stranding runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth, junior designated hitter Greg Deichmann drove in Bryce in the fifth, who reached the basepaths via a double.
Then in the sixth, electric baserunning from Freeman and a one-out single from Duplantis gave LSU an eight-run lead before the Hornets pushed their first run across. But LSU put the final nail in the coffin with a three-run seventh inning.
Even with a sizeable cushion for most of his outing, Valek (2-0) didn’t need much from the LSU offense, shutting down the Hornet offense for six innings until Sacramento State’s lone run in the seventh. Prior to the top of the fifth, Valek hadn’t allowed a hit and faced the minimum amount of batters through six innings. He left the game accounting for only four of the Hornet’s hits.
The Akron transfer also conceded no free passes and punched out seven Hornets, now totaling 13 strikeouts and no walks in his two starts. Because Valek doesn’t throw as hard as the preceding LSU pitchers, Mainieri said he was apprehensive about Valek’s start due to the forecast showing a 14 mile per hour wind carrying out and aggressive Sacramento State offense.
But, Valek’s ability to slam the door on the Hornets in the innings after LSU scored runs was the key, Mainieri said.
“Earlier this week against Lamar, [sophomore right-hander Austin] Bain didn’t do that, and even the great Alex Lange didn’t do that after we had a big inning [Saturday],” he said.
As for Valek, he said he simply felt relaxed when the game started, dissimilar to his two-run first inning in his LSU debut against Cincinnati last weekend.
“I felt a lot of more comfortable this week than obviously last week,” Valek said. “Big-time jitters last week with the crowd and all that, just a little bit emotional. Going into this week, I knew I could calm down. I knew what to expect.”