The second act of LSU baseball’s Saturday doubleheader against South Carolina was every bit as sweet as the first, thanks to pitching brilliance.
The Tigers downed the Gamecocks, 7-3, behind an excellent outing from starting pitcher Marcos Paz.
With Cooper Moore out for the rest of the season and typical Friday starter Casan Evans on the mend for the second weekend in a row, head coach Jay Johnson needed new answers in the rotation.
He turned to freshman righty Paz on Saturday. After a few solid showings in relief against SEC sides and a short outing to open last week’s contest against Mississippi State, Paz made his second start in an SEC game in his career.
His outing proved the faith placed in him right, delivering his best collegiate appearance yet. Paz hurled a gem over five innings in Saturday’s contest, allowing just one run on one hit in two full trips through the South Carolina lineup.
His lone blip, a solo homer conceded to South Carolina center fielder Tyler Bak, came early. After striking out the first batter of the game on four pitches, Paz left a fastball over the heart of the plate that Bak caught up to and pushed into the Left Field Landing.
The homer gave South Carolina the early lead, but it’d be the last hit it’d get against Paz.
“Figuring out, like, hey, they hit a home run, so what?” Paz said about flushing the bad result against high-end, SEC-caliber talent. “I’d say that’s the biggest thing, just like, getting used to the talent.”
He responded by setting the next two batters down in the first by way of the punchout.
He’d push it up to five straight retired Gamecocks in the second inning, tallying his fourth strikeout of the evening to cap the frame against South Carolina shortstop KJ Scobey. He picked up where he left off an inning later, facing the minimum and striking out another batter.
Paz did issue a walk in this frame, but it was erased on a great throw by catcher Cade Arrambide to thwart a stealing attempt.
The LSU offense responded to Paz’s outing in its turn to bat that inning.
Right fielder William Patrick singled to lead off the inning, pushed up to third through small ball: an infield single from left fielder Tanner Reaves and a sacrifice bunt from Mason Braun.
With Patrick at third, a sacrifice fly from Omar Serna Jr. sent him home to tie the game at one.
After another dominant frame from Paz in the top of the fifth inning, where the righty struck out another batter and only issued a walk that moved no further than first, the Tigers took the lead.
“I just think [Paz’s] tempo tonight was outstanding,” Johnson said. “I was proud of how he handled. He got behind a couple guys and then got right back in the count.”
They scored in a fashion similar to their third-inning tally. Arrambide led the frame off with a single into right and advanced to third on a double from third baseman Seth Dardar. Arrambide made it home on a sacrifice fly from second baseman Jack Ruckert, and LSU was out in front.
“I know our offense is really, really talented,” Paz said. “ [I] just trust those guys and then keep pitching from there.”
Lead in hand, Paz continued to deal. He started the fifth inning with a strikeout, and after a groundout and a walk, finished with emphasis. He set down South Carolina right fielder Luke Yuhasz on a nasty breaking pitch. That finish was the exclamation mark on an outstanding outing where the freshman displayed tremendous movement on his pitches.
“Just leaning on off-speed [pitches], I think, is a big thing for me,” Paz said. “Whether it’s slider or curveball, just kind of stealing strikes or getting weak contact, and then once you get ahead in the count, just finish the batter when you can. I did that pretty well today.
The LSU bats padded Paz’s lead in the home fifth, posting three more runs to move the score to 5-1. The inning was highlighted by a two-run blast by Mason Braun, who deposited his third home run of the year into the bleachers in right.
Both the LSU bullpen and lineup did their job to preserve the work Paz did: Deven Sheerin issued four innings of mostly trouble-free work behind Paz, and the offense piled on, headlined by Arrambide launching a solo homer in the seventh to add to his team-leading homer tally and the LSU lead.
The win clinches LSU’s first series win since early April, and keeps it in its fight to claw back into the NCAA tournament picture. The Tigers will look to complete their first sweep against an SEC foe on Sunday at 2 p.m.
