In Game 2 of its series against Oklahoma, LSU baseball couldn’t recover from the starting pitcher exiting early with an injury on Friday, despite the offense applying as much pressure as possible.
In the 4-2 battle, junior right-handed pitcher Cooper Moore started the game, but he exited earlier than expected after only four innings and 62 pitches due to a sore tricep. After this, a hodgepodge of pitchers entered the game. The Tigers used five in the contest, which is on par with their midweek pitching staff.
“I just was watching [Moore’s] warm-up pitches, and then the first one missed so badly from a guy that throws strikes blindfolded,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said postgame. “I didn’t feel good about it. I walked out there, and he said, ‘Yeah, my tricep is bothering me.’”
Before Moore exited the game, he was making a promising campaign for himself, striking out four and not walking a single batter. He was so solid at keeping the ball in the zone that the Tigers’ defense had to step up and make solid plays to maintain the pitchers’ duel.
Sophomore center fielder Derek Curiel kept the Sooners from taking an early lead with a diving catch in the gap that would have ended in a run scored to tie the ballgame. The sneaky shifts also played well for the Tigers, keeping a few hits out of the scorebook that could have been runs.
If Johnson had a crystal ball, his calls on player positioning really prevented any early deficit for the purple and gold.
The defense did all the things it needed to remain in the game. The Tigers showed some struggle in the middle, but it was the offense that proved to be hot-and-cold on Friday.
This team has tallied as many as 21 runs in a game, but struggled to scratch across more than one entering the sixth inning. LSU made lots of trouble early, but was silenced after a loud second inning.
This second inning was the one that started the scoring for both teams. At this point, Moore was dealing with the best, and the Tigers were making trouble on the basepaths. Sophomore third baseman John Pearson started the scoring early with a long fly ball into the left field bleachers.
In response, the Sooners scored a single run in each of the next three innings, and in those three innings, the Tigers went three up and three down at the plate.
LSU did all it could after Oklahoma was silenced, but it wasn’t enough to push across the winning run.
Junior right fielder Jake Brown walked and stole second. He would later score on a single by catcher Omar Serna Jr., but that was the end of the LSU offense.
“[Serna is] tied for first most talented guy on the team,” Johnson said. “I’m really proud of just how he slowed the game down, and really providing good at-bats. He’s not coming out anytime soon, probably ever.”
It wasn’t the best showing for the Tigers on Friday, but it was a good reference for what this team could do when the game doesn’t go as planned.
LSU will look to take the series in Game 3 on Saturday. First pitch will be at 2 p.m. in Alex Box Stadium.
