NASHVILLE, Tenn. โ It was an up-and-down weekend for in its opening series of play.
Against Vanderbilt, the Tigers dropped series opener 13-12 on a two-run, two-out, game-winning home run, got crushed 11-3 on Saturday and earned an emphatic 16-9 victory on Sunday.
Here are five takeaways from a wacky weekend for LSU.
Pitchers struggle
Sophomore right-hander Casan Evans on Friday, junior right-hander Cooper Moore on Saturday and sophomore right-hander William Schmidt on Sunday, for the most part, struggled as LSUโs weekend rotation in its opening series in SEC play.
Evans had command issues, resulting in five walks and six earned runs in three innings. He couldnโt locate his slider and had too many pitches that were nowhere near the strike zone. His issues appeared to be mechanical, as many of his misses were low and toward his glove side.
Mooreโs outing the next day wasnโt much better, allowing four earned runs on seven hits in four innings. He was inefficient โ throwing 79 pitches in four innings before exiting. He consistently found trouble and had a difficult time finishing off hitters with two strikes, a theme for the pitching staff throughout the weekend.
โThey did a nice job fighting our pitchers with two strikes, and it made it really hard to put (them) away,โย coach Jay Johnson said after Saturdayโs game. โI think they did a good job tonight against Cooper.โ
Schmidt had the best outing of the trio on Sunday, getting six strikeouts and limiting the Commodores to three hits. But two of the hits he allowed were home runs, and his command was shaky. He walked three and hit another, although the final hitter he walked may have been because of the back tightness he was pitching through in the fifth inning.
Johnson pulled Schmidt after his third walk, but said he couldโve continued to pitch if he had to and said he would be fine physically.
โHe just started to miss up in the zone, and I thought he was protecting it a little bit,โ Johnson said. โThat guy's health is the key to my life for the next 18 months. So it just wasn't really worth it.โ
The hitter-friendly conditions at Charles Hawkins Field factored into the rocky weekend for the starters. The turf field, wind blowing out to center field, unexpectedly warm weather and tight dimensions, especially in the corners โ 310 feet to left field and 320 to right โ made it tough on pitchers.
โThe wind was howling out today,โ catcher Cade Arrambide said Sunday. โI think of (when Vanderbilt) hit a fly ball to center field off Schmidt. At first, I was like, โOh, that should be a routine fly ball,โ and then it just kept carrying. But, itโs just a part of (the game).โ
Offensive surge in context
Give credit where creditโs due: LSUโs offense was much better this weekend.
The Tigers were patient at the plate and, besides Saturday,ย drove the ball into the air. Nine extra-base hits and 22 walks donโt happen on their own.
But if there was ever a weekend for LSUโs bats to get going during SEC play, this was the week. Vanderbilt is known for its pitching, but the Commodoresโ staff was dealing with injuries to five arms, including Saturday starter Austin Nye. And on top of all that, Vanderbilt was missing its veteran starting catcher, Colin Barczi. Nye and Barczi had a chance to appear in the series but didnโt.
Combine those absences with the same park conditions that were hurting LSUโs pitchers, and it was going to be hard for the Commodores to keep LSUโs offense at bay, despite the Tigersโ struggles heading into the series.
The walks
It was a maddening weekend for LSU fans for many reasons, but the walks were at the top of the list. Without the walks, especially on Friday, LSU likely wins the series.
The Tigers, including hit by pitches, issued 29 free passes. They walked 21 in the first two games alone, and 12 of the hitters who either walked or got hit by a pitch ended up scoring.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect was that the arms that struggled typically donโt have this many issues with their command.
Evans had never walked more than three batters in a game since arriving at LSU until Friday, nor had sophomore left-hander Cooper Williams, who only walked 13 all of last season.
โCasan's an elite strike-thrower, he's an elite strike-thrower,โ Johnson said. โCooper Williams is an elite strike-thrower and did not throw strikes tonight.โ
Sophomore left-hander Ethan Plog walked two of the five hitters he faced despite heading into the weekend as a trusted arm in relief for Johnson. Moore also struggled with his command, despite it being his calling card. Nearly 40% of his pitches on Saturday were out of the zone. Schmidtโs ball rate, on the other hand, did eclipse the 40% mark.
Arrambideโs strong weekend
After a dip in production during LSUโs slide in nonconference play, Arrambide turned things around at the plate. The sophomore catcher went 5 for 13 with two doubles, a walk and three RBIs, looking more comfortable than he did a year ago against SEC pitching.
โThe guys that we face on (our) staff are just like the best of the best,โ Arrambide said. โAnd so when I'm seeing that every day in the fall, I guess I can get a little bit more comfortable seeing that (level of stuff).โ
Arrambideโs strong weekend helped lengthen out an LSU lineup that needed it. With fifth-year senior Seth Dardar and senior Zach Yorke struggling, the Tigers have had to rely on Steven Milam and Jake Brown and Derek Curiel too many times.
Placing pressure by putting runners on base is a key tenet of Johnsonโs offensive philosophy. A strong year at the plate for Arrambide is a necessity if LSU wants to become that kind of team.
Going forward
Winning Sundayโs game kept LSU in the hunt for 15-plus SEC wins, which would give the Tigers a good chance at hosting an NCAA regional at Alex Box Stadium. Road series in the conference are tough to win, but avoiding a sweep this weekend was paramount, especially given Vanderbiltโs early-season struggles.
However, for as big as Sundayโs win potentially was, weโre still early enough in the season that LSUโs quality of play is a stronger indicator for its future success than the results of the games themselves. Yes, LSU was an out away from winning this weekendโs series, but, perhaps more importantly, the Tigers did not play like a team that deserved to win an SEC series on the road.
LSU still has plenty of talent to become that type of club, but it isnโt there yet for many of the reasons listed above. It will, however, have many opportunities to prove it can be the team fans envisioned before the season started, starting next weekend against Oklahoma, which just won twice in three games against Texas A&M.