At times, LSU junior left-hander Jared Poche’ played with fire against Fordham on Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.
He allowed 11 runners to reach the basepaths and faced runners in scoring position in four of his seven innings, including the base loaded in the top of the seventh.
With a little help from his middle infield, the third-year Tiger hurler beared down and stranded all of them in a 12-1 Game 1 win.
Behind Poche’s (2-0) scoreless outing with five strikeouts, junior catcher Michael Papierski’s three-run home run ignited a stagnant LSU offense, propelling it to its second straight double-digit hit performance.
Fordham starting right-hander Greg Weissert allowed just one hit through the the first three innings, but the Tigers exploded in the bottom of the fourth for four runs and blew the game open with a five-run sixth inning. Poche’ ended three frames with inning-ending strikeouts, including the bases-loaded jam in the seventh.
“That’s just Jared’s m.o., it seems every game,” Mainieri said. “He has been getting a lot of clean innings – 1-2-3 – but he always finds a way to wiggle out of it. He never gives up. He just keeps competing. Ultimately, he did that again tonight.”
After notching a pair of strikeouts in the top of the first inning, Poche’ danced away from danger in his next two frames.
Poche’ induced consecutive ground outs to junior shortstop Kramer Robertson to begin the second, but he gave up a two-out single to Fordham junior designated hitter Luke Stampfl. Then, the Tiger southpaw allowed a four-pitch walk to Ram third baseman Ian Edmiston, and Stampfl later advanced to third base on a wild pitch.
Poche’, however, punched out DeVito with a 1-2 breaking ball to escape the jam with no damage done.
More trouble for Poche’ followed in top of third as Fordham center fielder Jason Lundy reached second base on an infield single and Robertson’s throwing error. Lundy then advanced to third base on a sacrifice and runners were put on the corners when Poche’ plunked left fielder Ryan McNally with a pitch.
But Ram first baseman Matthew Kozuch’s safety squeeze on the next at-bat stopped right in front of LSU catcher Michael Papierski, preventing Lundy from scoring. With men on second and third base and two outs, Poche’ triggered an inning-ending fly out.
“I was just executing pitches [with runners on base], not trying to overthrow it,” Poche’ said. “I’ve definitely got in trouble with that in the past. I was just trying to locate better instead of trying to overpower a guy. Let the defense work. They played great tonight.”
Poche’ then breezed through the top of the fourth, needing just four pitches to retire the side in order. With its starting hurler throwing up another zero, the LSU offense finally jumped on Weissert.
Tigers freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis slapped a single up the middle to lead off the inning, giving him a hit in all nine games of his collegiate career. Two batters later, sophomore left fielder Bryce Jordan executed a hit and run, placing runners at the corners for Papierski.
Papierski, who entered the game batting .190, then belted Weissert’s 2-0 fastball into the right field bleachers, which came off the bat at an estimated 100.7 miles per hour and traveled 414 feet.
“Me and [hitting coach] Andy [Cannizaro] worked in the [batting] cages yesterday, and we fixed a couple of things to my hands and how I started. It just felt good up there and more comfortable than before, and I put a good swing on it.”
Freshman O’Neal Lochridge then reached the basepaths via DeVito’s dropped a pop up in shallow center field, and Lochridge later scored on a wild pitch, giving the Tigers a four-run advantage. Lochridge was replaced by freshman Chris Reid in the next inning because Lochridge’s “legs were bothering him,” Maineri said.
Poche’ entered the fifth with just 38 pitches to his name, and he retired the first batters of the inning. But Poche’ allowed a two-out double to Fordham second baseman Joseph Runco, bringing up Ryan McNally, who led the Rams in RBIs.
McNally drove Poche’s 1-2 pitch between Reid and Robertson, but Robertson laid out for the ball deep in the hole. He then popped up, pump faked to first base and fired a one-hop throw to Papierski the tag out to end the inning.
After the throwing error in the top of third, where he misfired after spinning to field another ball deep in the hole, Robertson said moving on from that play was the key to the run-saving stop in the fifth.
“That’s what you need in a shortstop,” Robertson said. “You got to have a short memory and erase the mistakes because there’s always going to be a bigger play later in the game. I made all the plays after that.”
In the top of the sixth, junior Cole Freeman, who – like Robertson – was making his second start this season at their respective positions, sprinted over for a grounder up the middle, made a diving stop, and flipping behind his back to Robertson to make a forceout at second base.
“I’m going to be honest, I’ve never really practiced flipping it behind my back,” Freeman said. “When I was at Delgado [Community College], my coach just wanted meat and potatoes, just regular stuff. It was just something I didn’t even think of…It was just a reaction play.”
LSU then tacked on five runs in the sixth via an RBI from Reid and some miscues by Fordham. Ram reliever Anthony Zimmerman walked in a run, and Duplantis’ two-out fly ball was dropped by Fordham right fielder Mark Donadio, which cleared the bases.
A wild pitch and throwing error on the same plated two more LSU runs in the seventh, and Jordan Romero’s pinch-hit, solo home run in the eight gave the Tigers a 12-1 lead.