Most LSU fans would say the anticipated wait for postseason baseball at Alex Box Stadium on Friday night was worth it after the Tigers secured a convincing 7-0 victory over Little Rock in game one of the Baton Rouge Regional.
After a five-and-a-half-hour weather delay in a game that was slated to start at 2 p.m., Anthony Eyanson threw out the first pitch at 7:36 p.m. where the usual Saturday starter would dominate from start to finish.
EYANSON GEM
Eyanson was once again phenomenal as he tossed seven and two-thirds innings of zero run baseball while only surrendering five hits the entire night. He also struck out seven while only walking one.
The decision to start Eyanson would be one that would benefit the Tigers as it saves Kade Anderson for a winner’s bracket matchup on Saturday with Dallas Baptist.
“You want to make sure the pitcher can handle the moment. And that dude (Eyanson) can handle any moment. And he did a great job for us tonight,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said, speaking to the ability that Eyanson has in rising to the occasion in his outings.
GETTING HOT AT THE RIGHT TIME
LSU not only got some help from magnificent pitching, but its offense also impressed in the win versus Little Rock. LSU tallied eleven hits on the night, two of those hits being home runs from second baseman Daniel Dickinson.
LSU started the scoring in the first inning after Jake Brown would drive in Derek Curiel with an RBI single to right field. LSU would end up stranding with the bases loaded after Little Rock starting pitcher Jackson Wells struck out catcher Luis Hernandez.
In the second inning, LSU would put another run across with an RBI single from Jared Jones, who drove in Chris Stanfield, making it 2-0 early.
The LSU bats would go quiet until the fifth inning when Daniel Dickinson would sit back on a fastball and drive it to the left field landing, providing a spark for the Tiger offense for the rest of the game.
In the sixth inning, Derek Curiel would score Chris Stanfield all the way from first with a double in the right-center field gap to make the game 4-0. But it wouldn’t end there.
Daniel Dickinson would then make the Trojans pay as he lifted his second home run of the night, a two-run shot, after turning on a hanging breaking ball to left field which made the game 6-0 in LSU’s favor.
Dickinson said that his first two at-bats did not go how he wanted them to, which coach Jay Johnson picked up on.
“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.
So, what did he do to adjust?
“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.
Each of the starting LSU batters reached base safely in this game, which carries huge momentum into the winner’s bracket game on Saturday.
LSU would eventually tack on another run and finish the game with relievers DJ Primeaux and Mavrick Rizy, who both looked the part.
WHAT’S NEXT?
LSU will face DBU on Saturday night at 8 p.m. after a long first day of the Baton Rouge regional. LSU will throw left-hander Kade Anderson and Dallas Baptist is expected to pitch right-hander James Ellwanger, who has a record of (4-2) this season and a 3.81 ERA.
