Entering a series against No. 6 Vanderbilt on Thursday at Alex Box Stadium, the No. 15 LSU baseball team was 10-0 when it scored in the first inning and 13-1 when it scored first.
Needing a fast start against the league leader in runs scored and second in earned run average, the Tigers (20-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) achieved both of those goals and picked up their second run in the bottom half of the next inning.
But what the LSU offense did next against Vanderbilt starting pitcher Jordan Sheffield, whose fastball touched 97 miles per hour, hadn’t been done by a Commodore (24-6, 8-4 SEC) opponent all season.
Coupled with seven scoreless innings from junior left-hander Jared Poche’, who matched a career-high eight strikeouts, LSU exploded for seven runs off of six hits in the third inning en route to a 13-4, series-opening win.
Knowing the opportunity in front of LSU against Sheffield and the Commodores, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he and the coaching staff challenged their players, and the Tigers responded even before the first pitch was thrown.
“I’m just so proud of the way the guys got after it,” Mainieri said. “They had a great demeanor about them. It started during batting practice. It carried into infield-outfield [warmups]. The atmosphere in the dugout was really outstanding.”
Poche’ allowed just four hits and three walks in his 112-pitch outing, working around runners in scoring position in the first, second, fifth and seventh innings.
With 56 pitches to his name up to that point, Poche’ hit two batters in the fifth inning but struck out the side to strand runners at first and second. He followed that up by striking out the side in order in the sixth and escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh with a ground out.
Coming off of four days of rest, Poche’ stranded seven of the 11 runners Vanderbilt left on base, and he allowed the leadoff man on base just once. In junior shortstop Kramer Robertson’s mind, it was the “best I’ve ever seen him.”
“I felt like every pitch he threw, they weren’t going to hit him,” Robertson said. “In the first inning, I had a lot of confidence in him. He was hitting his spots. All three of his pitches were working, and I think he set the tone for us.”
As Robertson pointed out, Poche’ settled in once LSU broke through against Kendall in the third inning, already leading 2-0.
Following two throwouts on balls in the dirt by sophomore catcher Michael Papierski, which Mainieri said were critical plays in the game, Kendall put the first two runners on base via a hit batter and a walk to start the bottom of third.
Then, sophomore first baseman Greg Deichmann hammered a 1-0 offering off the McDonald’s sign in center field, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead off an RBI double. Deichmann, who chased a high fastball for a strikeout on his previous at-bat, said he knew what to expect coming into his next plate appearance.
“Going into the next at-bat, I was looking to be pitched the same way,” Deichmann said. “Sure enough, he went changeup first pitch and then elevated fastball, and I was just able to get my hands on top of it and drive it.”
With runners on second and third, Robertson drove a two-run single up the middle, setting up a two-run blast by sophomore left fielder Beau Jordan on the next at-bat. Jordan completed the night a triple shy of the cycle, while freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis went 2-for-2 and scored all three times he batted.
LSU plated two more off two singles and junior second baseman Cole Freeman’s triple, taking a 9-0 lead going into the fourth.
Kendall had reached 74 pitches by the end of the frame, chasing him from the game for reliever Chandler Day.
“It’s kind of a two-way thing,” Poche’ said. “I put up zero, then we go put up a run. When a pitcher puts a zero, we kinda feed off each other.”
But LSU didn’t stop there, grabbing its 10th run on another RBI from Deichmann, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs on the night.
Including Deichmann’s double to start the fourth inning, the Tigers got the leadoff man on base in the first six innings, while the Commodores did it just once through Poche’s seven innings. Vanderbilt also had four errors.
“It’s gigantic,” said LSU hitting coach Andy Cannizaro on getting leadoff hitters on base. “It such a big part of the game because then all of sudden you’re able to get aggressive. You’re able to do the things you want to do offensively, put pressure on the defense and that type of thing.
After Jesse Stallings shutdown Vanderbilt in the eighth, LSU padded its lead in the bottom half of the frame with three more runs off of three hits, including JUCO transfer Cody Ducote’s first hit as a Tiger.
Though right-handed reliever Russell Reynolds allowed four runs in the top of the ninth, right-hander Doug Norman struck out Commodore first baseman Penn Murphy looking to end the game.