LSU’s steadiness through the first half of the Southeastern Conference schedule may now start paying dividends.
Last weekend was a very profitable one for coach Jay Johnson’s Tigers. Facing last-place Ole Miss, LSU took care of business by sweeping all three games. While the Tigers were putting together their first 3-0 conference weekend, four teams ahead of them suffered series defeats.
Kentucky lost two of three games to Texas A&M. Vanderbilt, Florida and Arkansas were all swept on the road – by Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia, respectively.
So, six weeks into the SEC schedule, LSU is in third place in the overall standings – one game behind first-place South Carolina. Vanderbilt is one-half game ahead of the Tigers. Moreover, LSU is two games ahead of Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky.
The Tigers have won five SEC series and split a two-game set with the Gamecocks. That consistent worksheet has LSU in position to win the league title. The top two teams in the standings have home series this weekend – South Carolina against Auburn and Vanderbilt against Kentucky.
Meanwhile, the Tigers have a tricky matchup Alabama. The Crimson Tide swept Missouri a week ago to move to .500 in the SEC at 9-9. Alabama certainly has a chance to solidify its NCAA tournament chances with a good series at The Box.
LSU used the long ball to win the first two games of the series at Ole Miss. Tommy White, who injured his leg in the series finale, hit a grand slam in the opener to give the Tigers the lead for good. Dylan Crews hit a two-run homer and a grand slam in the second game to give LSU the series win.
It appeared that the Tigers were going to fail for the third time to complete a SEC series. LSU lost series finales to both Texas A&M and Tennessee after winning the first two games. But, Hayden Travinski hit a two-out, three-run, ninth inning homer to give the Tigers a 7-6 victory.
College baseball observers are amazed at the offensive production coming from a pair of LSU hitters – Crews and White. Crew is hitting .485 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs and White is batting .370 with 13 home runs and 66 runs batted in. In addition, Crews has scored 66 runs.
However, there is another duo who has played a key role in the Tigers’ 32-8 record. Fifth-year seniors Gavin Dugas and Cade Beloso have developed into important offensive performers.
Dugas, the leadoff hitter, is batting .319 with 10 homers and 34 RBIs. Beloso, who hits in the middle of the lineup, is batting .359 with eight homers and 26 RBIs. No one expected Dugas and Beloso to be such cogs in the batting order.
Dugas had only been a regular one season since arriving at LSU. Starting in leftfield in 2021, Dugas batted .296 with 19 home runs and 66 runs batted in. Injuries limited Dugas to 39 games and 108 at-bats last season. Johnson shifted Dugas back to second base for this season. Dugas provides the Tigers toughness.
Beloso was the starting first baseman as a true freshman in 2019 and batted .279 with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. Beloso lost his job at first base a year later with the arrival of Tre Morgan. Beloso became a designated hitter. He struggled in 2021 as he batted just .226 with three homers in 164 at-bats.
Then, Beloso suffered a knee injury in the pre-game team circle prior to the 2022 season-opener. Beloso had three at-bats late in the season. Beloso was not even sure he was going to use his last season of eligibility. But, Beloso decided to put on a LSU uniform one more year.
It took Beloso a couple of weeks to get his opportunity in the lineup. When put in the batting order, Beloso immediately contributed at the plate. Now, Johnson cannot take Beloso out of the lineup.
Both Dugas and Beloso are on track to have batting averages higher than .300. It has been six years since LSU had two seniors with .300 batting averages – Cole Freeman (.315) and Kramer Robertson (.307) for its 2017 national runner-up team.
It has been ten seasons since the Tigers had two seniors bat at least .320. In 2013, Mason Katz hit .370 and Raph Rhymes hit .331. That LSU team reached the College World Series.
Crews and White are the two players with the flashy statistics. But, no two players have given the Tigers more dependability at the plate than Dugas and Beloso.
Here are the remaining conference schedules for the top six teams in the SEC standings.
SOUTH CAROLINA (13-4): Auburn, at Kentucky, at Arkansas, Tennessee
VANDERBILT (13-5): Kentucky, at Alabama, at Florida, Arkansas
LSU (12-5): Alabama, at Auburn, Mississippi State, at Georgia
ARKANSAS (11-7): Texas A&M, at Mississippi State, South Carolina, at Vanderbilt
FLORIDA (11-7): Missouri, at Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, at Kentucky
KENTUCKY (11-7): at Vanderbilt, South Carolina, at Tennessee, Florida
