LSU baseball lost its SEC opening weekend series to Mississippi State two games to one, losing the series opener on Friday and Saturday and bouncing back for a win on Sunday to avoid a sweep.
Here are four takeaways from the series loss.
Landon Marceaux is just as dominant against the SEC
In Marceaux’s first start against an SEC lineup this season, the junior allowed just two hits over seven innings. A run did score, but it was ruled unearned, extending his scoreless inning streak to begin the season to 30. He’s the only SEC pitcher to not allow a run yet this season.
Marceaux and the rest of the starting rotation had a solid weekend in their first look at SEC bats. LSU will continue to rely on them to keep the opponent’s scoring low as the young LSU offense navigates the struggles of facing higher-quality pitching.
Centerfield and catcher are up for grabs
After over 20 games and through the first weekend of conference play, centerfield and catcher are seemingly the only positions still up for grabs. There are two players competing for each spot, and both bring something the other does not.
At catcher, it’s a battle between Alex Milazzo and Hayden Travinski, where Milazzo offers the defensive upside while Travinski brings the offense. Milazzo’s defense was on full display in Saturday’s loss when he threw out two base stealers. To contrast, Mississippi State was comfortable taking extra bases on Travinski while he continued to work his way back from an elbow injury. Even though Travinski went hitless in seven at-bats this weekend, he’s still hitting over .300 on the season.
In centerfield, it’s a similar competition between Mitchell Sanford and Giovanni DiGiacomo; Sanford brings the bat and DiGiacomo brings the glove. Ultimately, it will come down to whether coach Paul Mainieri wants to prioritize offense or defense on a given day. If one of these four can showcase something that their counterpart is known for, they would easily run away with the position.
Collier Cranford has solidified second base
Second base, at least defensively, had been a weak spot in the infield. Zach Arnold suffered a few game-changing errors in recent weeks, and Mainieri spoke earlier in the week about possibly making a change.
He inserted sophomore Collier Cranford into the lineup, playing second base and batting near the bottom of the order. Cranford had just one hit in eight at-bats, but his impact came defensively.
“Collier Cranford was the storyline of the weekend,” Mainieri said after Sunday’s win.
Cranford made all the routine plays and even some unroutine ones. His inning-ending double play that got LSU out of a sixth inning jam on Sunday was particularly special.
Deep bench provides lineup options
LSU’s deep bench gives Mainieri a slew of options in any circumstance he could encounter. Need a late-game defensive replacement at shortstop or in the outfield? There’s Drew Bianco. Need a left-handed pinch hitter? There’s Brody Drost. Need a pinch runner? There’s Will Safford. Need a new catcher after the starter was pinch hit for? There’s Jake Wyeth. Not to mention others like Arnold and whoever isn’t playing between Sanford, DiGiacomo, Milazzo and Travinski.
This weekend, we saw two different starters at centerfield, second base and designated hitter. Bianco and Wyeth came in to the games in the later innings on Sunday and Saturday, respectively.
The deep bench offers the team flexibility that not many teams have, and it allows Mainieri to be ready to throw somebody at any situation that may arise.
Four takeaways from LSU’s first SEC series
By Taylor Lyons
March 22, 2021