LSU was shut down by Cam Appenzeller and Tennessee in the second game of the series, falling 4-1, where its defense couldn’t bail itself out.
The Tigers fell flat on their face and weren’t able to get much done on offense or defense, despite a relatively good performance from starter William Schmidt.
Zach Yorke’s fourth error of the year cost LSU two runs in the first inning, letting a ball skip through his legs and allowing two Volunteers to score. The play could have been an inning-ending double play without the mishap.
The wind was also blowing in hard, and just as it seemed no one would be able to cut through it to get a ball to leave the ballpark, Blake Grimmer hit a no-doubter to right field.
That home run was the highlight against Schmidt in an outing in which he gave up the most runs he has in SEC play, though not all were earned.
The Volunteers’ defense had some trouble with runners on in the first few innings, but that was about all LSU could muster.
LSU’s scoring started when Chris Stanfield caromed the ball into centerfield off the head of Tennessee pitcher Tegan Kuhns, who was checked out and stayed in the game.
Appenzeller’s relief of Kuhns in the fifth inning sputtered any attempt from the Tigers to string together base runners and cut into the Volunteers’ lead. Steven Milam had a hit as the first hitter that Appenzeller faced, but he absolutely shut down the lineup after him.
He retired the last 15 Tigers in order, striking out six along the way. The Tigers couldn’t find any hard contact, and it wasn’t being helped on the other side of the ball.
Defensive issues bugged LSU all day, but in a strange play, a would-be inning-ending strike three broke through Cade Arrambide’s glove and reached the backstop, allowing Jay Abernathy to reach base. It didn’t matter in the end, as Schmidt got the next out quickly.
Schmidt dealt with runners on in almost all of his 5.2 innings. After having to work out of the stretch in three of his first four innings, with the outlier being the one in which Grimmer hit his home run, his fifth inning looked clean with two strikeouts and a great catch by Derek Curiel in center.
Fatigue found Schmidt in the sixth, but Cooper Williams got the Tigers out of the jam. Despite the four runs, it wasn’t a bad outing by Schmidt, as he continues to show that he has evolved to be comfortable with runners on.
Marcos Paz had what might have been his strongest outing of the year in the eighth, pounding the zone and going three up, three down to give the Tigers their final chance.
Ultimately, they couldn’t take advantage of it.
Easter Sunday’s game will be the decider of the series, and one that each team needs desperately. First pitch will be at noon CT, and the starting pitchers slated to go are Gavin Guidry for LSU and Evan Blanco for the Vols.
