Jay Johnson reviews pitching vs. Southern, previews upcoming week
LSU improved to 4-0 on Tuesday evening with an 18-4 win over Southern in seven innings, after trailing 4-0 entering the bottom of the third.
UCLA transfer Thatcher Hurd took the mound for his first start in the purple and gold, but was unable to find his footing, allowing six hits and four earned runs, before coming out in the third inning.
“He came from a great program at UCLA, at the highest level of college baseball, but they don’t have fans,” head coach Jay Johnson said. “This is a different animal, so I could tell his heart was beating pretty fast. It’s an experience that will benefit him going forward. I’m going to tip my cap to Southern. I thought they did a really good job with their approach and made him grind and made him battle. He had three guys with two strikes in the third inning and they all ended with singles. You tip you hat to them, but I think he’ll be better from this appearance.”
From there, it was Vanderbilt transfer Christian Little who shined, going 3.2 innings allowing just one hit and one walk with six strikeouts to build a cushion as the Tigers’ bats woke up. Garrett Edwards and Griffin Herring came in to close the game out.
It was the first chance for LSU fans to see Herring, the talented freshman out of Southlake, Texas, and Johnson said they’ll be seeing more of him soon.
“I’m really excited about him,” Johnson said of Herring. “He’s going to pitch in the rotation here at some point and I would expect he gets some meaningful outs this weekend and I’m really excited about that.”
What’s next
Now the No. 1 ranked team in the nation is the Round Rock Classic, where LSU will play Kansas State, Iowa, and Sam Houston State in succession, a significant jump from the first four games to start the season, even though none of the three are ranked.
After that, it’s a short drive down to Austin to take on Texas at Disch-Falk Field on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be great for our team,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of things that are great about it. We’re going to play different opponents. Kansas State is 4-0, Iowa is 3-0, and Sam Houston is 3-1, but they scored 25 runs on Sunday, then a true road game at Texas the following Tuesday. We’ll be challenged, but I’m really excited to get out there. It’s a beautiful ballpark and a great venue, so it will be very beneficial for our team in a lot of ways.”
By the numbers
The standout of the weekend was Gavin Dugas, who went 7-for-10 at the plate with two home runs and one double. The most exciting player was Jared Jones, though. There were audible “Oohs” and “Aaahs” from the crowd on every swing as the towering freshman felt like he was trying to hit the ball over the scoreboard on every at-bat, and for his first home run, he came close. Still, he finished with six hits on 10 at bats with six RBIs.
Tre Morgan was quiet in the three games against Western Michigan, but on Tuesday hit for the Cycle in order, one of the more impressive feats in the country for the week. Morgan now leads the team with nine RBIs in 13 at-bats.
On the mound, LSU has now allowed nine runs in 34 innings, with the three weekend starter going five or more innings. The Tigers used 12 pitcher in four games, and now have a team ERA of 2.38.
