With regional play kicking off in Baton Rouge, LSU baseball made the most of the home-field advantage in its 7-0 win against Little Rock to kick off the double-elimination opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
In typical Baton Rouge fashion, a mid-day start time dragged into the night due to a six-hour weather delay.
Head coach Jay Johnson chose to save the arm of Kade Anderson for a higher-seeded regional matchup and start LSU’s second ace Anthony Eyanson.
“I know we had a little bit of a mix on who could start coming into this game,” Eyanson said. “I found out later in the week, and was prepared for it.”
The nation’s No. 4 pitcher in terms of strikeouts made it tricky for the Trojans to get their feet moving. In eight innings, Eyanson had seven strikeouts and only five hits with one walk.
“We’ve had great crowds through the year, but this was different tonight,” Johnson said. “You want to make sure the picher can handle the moment, and that dude can handle any moment.”
The LSU offense’s shortage of runs proved detrimental in the team’s SEC Tournament run that was halted by Ole Miss in the semifinals.
While tallying runs on the road has been a weakness throughout the season, LSU’s hitting at home has been almost unstoppable.
The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the first with leadoff batter Derek Curiel singling and stealing second. After Jared Jones and Daniel Dickinson flew out, Curiel was able to make it home off Jake Brown’s single to center field.
Ethan Frey and Steven Milam each walked with Brown now on third. With one out to spare, Hernandez struck out and left the bases loaded to close the first inning.
LSU’s defense was merciless, responding to its new lead with a 1-2-3 second inning.
The rain may have passed, but the wind rolled in, which made it more difficult for batters to hit out of the park. Therefore, RBIs on the ground were the main source of income for the home team.
On the next go around, Jones singled just out of the third baseman’s reach, which drove in Stanfield in the second inning.
Defense held its advantage all the way through with more quick innings and fielding. In the fifth, shortstop Milam threw to second for a double play to first. The next batter went out swinging, and LSU had itself another 1-2-3 inning.
In back-to-back innings, Dickinson found some strength in his bat and beat the wind.
“After my second at-bat, Coach Johnson walked up to me on the on-deck circle and said, ‘Get something you can drive, you’re chasing the ball a little bit and you’re getting yourself in tough counts,'” Dickinson said.
In the fifth, he nailed the ball into left field for a solo home run. In the sixth, he hit an almost identical ball out of the park, plating himself and Curiel.
“I went up there, got pitches that I could drive that were kind of over the heart of the plate, and I put good swings on them,” Dickinson said.
Just before, Curiel had hit an RBI double that drove in Stanfield, and to finalize the score, Braswell did the same for Milam to set the score 7-0.
In total, they scored in five of the eight offensive innings, and The Trojans couldn’t compete with LSU’s ability to run the plates.
“It was constant pressure, even in the innings we didn’t score, it was kind of like we were poking them all night,” Johnson said. “That’s what I believe this team is when it’s at its very best.”
With a more than ideal outcome, the Tigers are set up for success in Game 2 on Saturday. They’ll take on the winner of Dallas Baptist and Rhode Island’s following late-night matchup.
