Lane Mestepey’s recent struggle continued this past weekend, but the slump did not affect Clay Dirks and Greg Smith, the other weekend starters, who both came up victorious to give LSU a series victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores.
The series began with a double whammy for the Tigers when Friday night’s opener was rained out and the rescheduled opener resulted in a loss. LSU bounced back with its own type of double whammy, taking the next two games — and the series.
Mestepey (5-6) allowed six runs in only 2.2 innings of work in game one.
Mestepey was relieved by three different pitchers, but the damage already had been committed.
“He wasn’t really that bad, but it is still not Mestepey,” said coach Smoke Laval in a press release. “When you are struggling, you need the line-drive out. He needs some good fortune in there, and he didn’t get it. That’s the bottom line. The wrong guys get on to lead off the inning, which got their running game going.”
The Tiger offense did not connect for a base hit until the third inning when Derek Hebert sent a ball to the top of the right field wall for a double.
The Commodores lead the Southeastern Conference in fewest homeruns given up by a pitching staff, but they could not cool off the hot bat of senior Ryan Patterson.
The SEC homerun leader sent a shot over the fence to put the Tigers within three runs in the sixth. The blast was Patterson’s 17th on the season. Vandy responded with three runs in the seventh to seal its victory.
The Tigers (30-14, 11-9 SEC) were never limited in hits during the weekend. The offense put up eight hits in game one but were limited to only four runs in its 9-4 defeat.
In game two LSU recorded 12 hits which proved to be more timely than the previous game by putting up nine runs.
The offense was led by senior right-fielder Nick Stavinoha, who was 4 for 5 on the day including a homerun, two runs and two RBIs.
“I have made a few adjustments with my hands and my grip, which has helped me stay on the ball longer,” Stavinoha said in a press release. “I got a few pitches up in the zone on the outside half [of the plate] that I could pull today.”
The Tigers maintained their lead throughout the game, due to another impressive outing by sophomore starter Clay Dirks. Dirks stayed solid for 6.1 innings giving up only four runs on eight hits. Dirks recorded the win to improve his record to 9-1, leading SEC pitchers in wins.
“Once again, I threw majority fastballs,” Dirks said in a press release. “The zone was really tight today, but that is one thing you just can’t control. My changeup worked the best it has for me all season. I just tried to get ahead out there.”
Dirks was relieved by junior Jason Determann and Edgar Ramirez closed the game.
Both releivers held the Commodores scoreless putting the Tigers ahead 9-4 and tying the series 1-1.
Nick Stavinoha continued his attack on Vanderbilt pitchers Sunday by knocking in all three of LSU’s runs in game three.
Junior left-hander Greg Smith (7-2) also experienced a continuation of excellence when he pitched his second consecutive shutout to put the Tigers ahead 3-0.
The victory also gave LSU the series win taking two games to one against the Commodores.