In a league as stout as the Southeastern Conference, the buzz phrase for LSU coach Paul Mainieri is “margin for error.”
That was clear in the No. 8 LSU baseball team’s series loss to No. 3 Mississippi State, where Mainieri felt the first two contests were “winnable,” but ultimately slipped through their fingertips when the Bulldogs took advantage of LSU’s blunders.
“A little thing here and a little thing there can help determine the outcome of a game,” Mainieri said Monday.
But after the Tigers salvaged a win in the series finale, they turn to another stiff nonconference test against No. 2 Tulane at 6 p.m. today at Turchin Stadium.
Mainieri is giving the starting nod to sophomore right-hander Doug Norman against the Green Wave. Prior to a two-hour rain delay, Norman started and threw two clean innings in the Tigers’ 11-4 win against Southeastern Louisiana on April 20.
While Mainieri is unsure of how long Norman will pitch today, he’s eyeing a permanent position for the second-year hurler, which the Tigers haven’t had all season.
“[I’m] hoping that he can develop as a fourth starter for us [for] the rest of the year and the postseason,” Mainieri said.
The Green Wave will counter with sophomore right-hander J.P. France, who quieted the Tiger bats in a 7-1 win on March 29 in Baton Rouge. France surrendered four hits and kept LSU scoreless in his six-inning start.
Though he said his team will look at film of what France did well in the last contest, Mainieri also said his team attempted to “purge” that loss from their memory.
“I know [France] pitched well, so, obviously, he did have some good stuff going,” Mainieri said. “But he also had a lead early. He was able to be very aggressive. We just didn’t do much that night. It was a bad night for us overall.”
Tulane’s early lead was partially based on shaky start from Tiger freshman righty Cole McKay, who walked four consecutive batters after recording the first two outs of the first inning. On top of four hits, two errors helped plate two of the Green Wave’s four runs in the second inning.
LSU stood in a 5-0 hole before it could come to the plate for the second time.
Similarly, a few self-inflicted miscues allowed for crucial Mississippi State runs in both of the Tigers’ losses to the Bulldogs.
But Mainieri didn’t believe any of those mistakes in the series loss were due to a lack of focus.
“Again, the game is hard to play, and sometimes you make plays and sometimes you don’t,” Mainieri said. “[Junior second baseman] Cole Freeman just felt awful after the game on Friday because he dropped a perfect double-play flip and could have turned a double play. He didn’t drop that because of a lack of focus or a lack of effort. It happens, once in awhile, and he felt awful about it.
“I can say the same thing about everybody that made a mistake.”
More so, Mainieri is proud of his team’s resiliency after dropping the first two games of the series. Like it did against Alabama to open SEC play, LSU entered Game 3 of a home series down 0-2 and battled back from a Sunday deficit to claim a victory.
“Winning that last game against Alabama and winning the last game against Mississippi State were very critical for us to win,” Mainieri said. “You look at things so many different ways. A weekend ago, we went on the road and swept a series. That doesn’t happen very often in this league. In a sense that makes up for us maybe not winning a series at home, by sweeping a series on the road.”