Despite LSU baseball winning its series against No.15 Alabama, the Tigers weren’t able to close out the series finale on a good note after losing 4-7 on Saturday.
The Tigers had two areas of concern: their lack of consistency on the mound and at bat.
By the end of the night, LSU had rotated eight different pitchers on the mound and had a series-low batting average of .212. Coach Jay Johnson expressed how despite the close score, his team wasn’t able to bring the heat to help them come back in the ball game.
“You have to bring it every single day,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said. “That’s a mindset challenge for us and our team and our players. Alabama was a little better today.”
The Crimson Tide hit the ground running. Within the top of the third inning, junior outfielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. would hit a home run into left field, allowing Alabama to take the lead 3-0.
Within the next two innings, Alabama would have a 5-1 lead against LSU, with the help of redshirt-junior outfielder Bryce Fowler hitting a single up to middle field and infielder Brady Neal singling into left field.
Alabama’s offensive firepower was too much for LSU to handle at home and despite a roaring crowd attendance of 11,833, the Tigers only had a few great opportunities at bat with the help of junior first baseman Jared Jones and sophomore pinch hitter Jake Brown.
Brown,who hit a two-run home run into left field in the bottom of the sixth inning, pointed out how this loss may hurt with the momentum his team had the first two games of the series; however, it is only how a team pushes through to help it shift focus to what’s next.
“Just keep on going,” Brown said. “We obviously have a really talented team and we have a lot of good players. We are able to play some great baseball when at our best. We had probably had our best game of the week on Thursday. So, it’s just playing at that level every game.”
“If we continue to do that, we’ll be a really hard team to beat.”
A hard team to beat is something LSU must think of itself as they face Northwestern State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT and No.4 Tennessee at home in a three-game series starting on Friday.
