Last weekend, the sixth-ranked LSU baseball team travelled to Knoxville, Tenn., to face the second best pitching staff in the Southeastern Conference in terms of ERA. It was not a problem.
The Tigers (32-11, 10-8 SEC) scored 28 runs during the weekend series in taking 2-of-3 games from the Volunteers.
This weekend, Alabama (25-18, 6-12 SEC) comes to Baton Rouge boasting the best pitching staff in the SEC with a 2.94 ERA. That number puts the Crimson Tide as No. 6 in the entire country in terms of ERA.
Leading the way for the Crimson Tide pitching staff are junior left-hander Taylor Tankersley and freshman left-hander Wade LeBlanc, a resident of Lake Charles. Tankersley boasts a sparkling 1.42 ERA while LeBlanc pulls in right behind Tankersley with a 1.81 ERA. Those two marks lead the SEC.
However, a lack of run support has plagued the two pitchers records, with Tankersley resting at 2-2 and LeBlanc being slightly more effective with a 5-4 record.
Still, LSU left fielder Ryan Patterson knows the Tigers’ lineup will have to be at the top of its game against the Crimson Tide’s hurlers.
We’re not going to really change anything,” Patterson said. “Alabama is always known for having a good pitching staff. We know what they got. They got the lefties coming in and they throw well. But you can’t psyche yourself out just because they’ve got good pitching. You just treat them like everybody else.”
LSU’s pitching staff, which coming into the season seemed like a strength, is starting to come back together and live up to expectations after a midseason lull.
Clay Dirks, who has been the Tigers’ most consistent starter this year with an 8-0 record and a 2.41 ERA, is scheduled to face LeBlanc Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
Starting Saturday will most likely be sophomore Justin Meier, who boasts a 5-2 record with a 3.46 ERA, will return to the weekend rotation after being relegated to weekday duty since the 11-8 loss to Arkansas on April 9. In that outing, Meier went 1.1 innings, giving up seven runs on six hits.
LSU coach Smoke Laval said Meier needs to be successful for LSU to go where it wants to.
“I’ve got to get Meier right for where we’re going,” Laval said. “That’s really the bottom line.”
Senior Nate Bumstead will hold down the Sunday starter spot, which he has done all season. Bumstead bounced back nicely last weekend against Tennessee in LSU’s 11-1 win on Sunday, giving up only one run on five hits in seven innings. The week before, he gave up five runs on seven hits in 1.1 innings before being pulled in a 12-4 loss to Georgia.
“I was keeping the ball down,” Bumstead said. “And I was able to hit my spots pretty good. I didn’t throw a whole lot of off speed so I was throwing a lot of fastballs. But I had good movement on my fastball, and I was able to get ahead in the count early and get some guys to hit some groundballs and make the defense play a little bit.”
One reason Bumstead was able to throw a majority of fastballs was the eight runs the Tiger offense provided him with in the second inning. He said early runs go a long way in a successful outing.
“Anytime you get big innings early it kind of make the game go a little bit easier,” Bumstead said. “And anytime you can get the defense going in and out pretty quick it makes the game go along nice.”
LSU has won 4-of-5 games and Laval said even though the Tigers still are not where they need to be, he is seeing some good things.
“We did get better our last four or five games,” Laval said. “And that hasn’t happened all year.”
Tigers to face red-hot ‘Bama pitchers
April 1, 2004