LSU baseball falls to 1-7 in SEC play on the season after a disappointing 13-1 loss to Vanderbilt to start the weekend series and an 11-2 loss in Game Two. 
“Today was a really hard today,” said LSU Head Coach Paul Mainieri. “You tip your hat to Vandy. They were like sharks in the water.”
The Tigers had a tall task ahead of them coming into Thursday’s game facing one of the best pitchers in the country in Kumar Rocker. Rocker looked comfortable from the first pitch, and other than an RBI single from Dylan Crews in the sixth, faced no real threats from the LSU bats. He would finish the game pitching six innings giving up just the one run on four hits and registering eight strikeouts.
Landon Marceaux, the Tigers’ starting pitcher had a much tougher night than his counterpart, pitching five and one-third innings giving up nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and only recording three strikeouts. Marceaux looked better than his final numbers suggest, but great situational hitting from Vanderbilt and a few bad bounces made it a tough night for him.
Vanderbilt got out to an early lead after a Jason Gonzales RBI single put the Commodores on the board first in the third, but the onslaught really came in the fifth and sixth innings. The Commodores scored four runs in each of these innings essentially putting the game out of reach after the sixth getting out to a 9-1 lead. The Commodores would go on to score two runs each in the seventh and ninth innings to cap off a dominant 13-1 win over LSU.
This is now LSU’s fifth loss in a row dropping them to 1-7 in SEC play, the program’s worst start since 1969. After a blowout loss like this it will be interesting to see how the Tigers will respond in the series from a mental perspective. Head Coach Paul Mainieri’s message after the game was a serious one, encouraging his players to play with more pride.
“The message tonight is all about pride,” Mainieri said. “Wins and losses are going to happen, but how you represent your university is what’s most important to me, and that’s what I want to see tomorrow.”
It did not get any easier for the Tigers’ bats in Friday’s game, going up against freshman phenomenon Jack Leiter who entered the game having thrown 16 consecutive no-hit innings. The Tigers’ bats have struggled through much of the SEC season so far and going against teams of Vanderbilt’s quality, can be a recipe for disaster. An RBI single from Dylan Crews scored LSU’s only run of the game and the Tigers were only able to record four hits over the course of the game. Despite the tough loss, Crews was positive after the game and was adamant that this LSU team still has what it takes to compete in the SEC.
“I think it’s going to come together,” Crews said. “We had a few rough games, but we got punched in the gut today. We’ve got to leave it all out on the field tomorrow.”
The Tigers have a chance to bounce back in Game Three of the three-game series Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at Alex Box Stadium.