Going on the road for four games provided coach Jay Johnson much information about his second LSU team.
The Tigers won three of four games – beating Kansas State and Sam Houston State and losing to Iowa in the Round Rock Classic and defeating Texas in Austin. LSU did not cruise past the opposition in the three victories.
The Tigers didn’t pull away from Kansas State until the middle innings and needed a three-run homer by Gavin Dugas in the ninth inning to break a scoreless tie with Texas. LSU easily handled Sam Houston one day after being hammered by Iowa.
The Tigers are taking a 7-1 record and that No. 1 national ranking into a busy stretch of five games in six days at The Box. LSU will play both Butler and Central Connecticut State twice Friday through Monday before meeting Lamar, which has won its first nine games of the season, on Wednesday.
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The Tigers are about halfway through its pre-Southeastern Conference schedule – eight games down with nine games to go before traveling to Texas A&M. None of LSU’s first six opponents are ranked. In fact, none of them appear to be NCAA tournament teams two weeks into the season.
But, Johnson is discovering some facts about his squad.
Most importantly, the Tigers seem to be a much better defensive team. LSU has committed just three errors in eight games. There has been a single error charged to a starting position player.
Of course, the defensive numbers are certainly helped by a pitching staff which is averaging 11 strikeouts per nine innings. That number of strikeouts leaves just 16 outs to be made by the players in the field over the course of a game.
Before the start of the season, Johnson indicated the desire to utilize multiple players in the lineup. However, the results on the field have cut down on the playing rotation. It certainly appears that Johnson has settled upon a top 11 position players.
Tommy White’s shoulder injury in the season-opener may ended up making the LSU lineup even stronger. After missing three games, White has been limited to the designated hitter role. Freshman Jared Jones, who was the DH, has hit too well to come out of the lineup.
As a result, Jones has been put at first base with Tre Morgan shifting to leftfield. There is no doubt that Morgan is a premier defensive first baseman. However, Morgan did play the outfield in high school at New Orleans Brother Martin. In addition, Morgan’s professional future will be in the outfield.
When White is able to play third base again, Johnson must decide the positions for a handful of players. Ben Nippolt, who has replaced White at third base, is not going to hit well enough to stay in the lineup. The VCU transfer is 3-for-22 in eight games.
Johnson can return to the season-opening lineup with Morgan at first, Jones as the designated hitter and either Paxton Kling or Josh Pearson in the outfield. However, Kling and Pearson are a combined 3-for-24 at the plate in the first eight games.
Johnson could also leave Jones at first base and Morgan in leftfield and use a hot hitter as the DH. That choice will probably depend upon the defensive work of Jones and Morgan over the next two weeks.
Outside of Paul Skenes, the starting pitching has been sketchy. In 12 innings, Skenes has given up one run and five hits with three walks and 23 strikeouts – numbers suitable for the ace of the staff.
There has been one bullpen game – the rout of Sam Houston. In the other five games, the Tigers have received just two good starts – Riley Cooper against Western Michigan and Thatcher Hurd against Texas. Neither Cooper nor Hurd was effective in his other starting assignment.
Now, three relief pitchers have been outstanding in the first two weeks – Christian Little, Nate Ackenhausen and Ty Floyd. In 19.1 innings, these three pitchers have allowed three runs and five hits with four walks and 24 strikeouts. Each of the three pitchers has one victory and one save.
Johnson must determine if one or more of these three pitchers should get the opportunity to join Skenes in the weekend rotation. Evaluating the performance of these pitchers is the primary task for Johnson over the back half of LSU’s pre-conference slate.
