Tigers do what’s necessary for the sweep

LSU ace pitcher Alex Lange allowed eight runs in fewer than five innings in the series opener against Georgia last Friday.

The Tigers were outhit by the Bulldogs in each of the next two games over the weekend.

LSU closer Hunter Newman was not available because of a back injury. Just three Tigers players had more than three hits in the series – Antoine Duplantis, Kramer Robertson and Greg Deichmann.

Those facts would not indicate a successful first weekend in the Southeastern Conference for LSU. However, numbers can be deceiving. The Tigers were one of an amazing six SEC teams to open the league schedule with a 3-0 record.

“Your first goal every weekend is not to get swept,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “There were six teams who did not accomplish that goal this weekend. You have to win one game first. Then, you can’t talk about sweeping until you win the first two. We had a chance to finish the job and fortunately we did.”

Despite the fact that Lange had his second horrible outing in three starts, the Tigers were able to win the series opener 22-9. Every starter except for Josh Smith collected a hit, but the damage came primarily from two players – Duplantis and Robertson.

Both players reached base in all seven of their plate appearances. Duplantis had five singles, a double and a walk. He scored four runs and drove home seven runs. Duplantis was the first LSU player to have six hits in a game.

Robertson had three doubles, two singles and two walks. He scored five runs and drove in a sixth run. The three doubles tied the Tigers record. Robertson became the 20th LSU player to hit three two-baggers in a game.

In the middle of the series, Jared Poche had his scoreless inning streak end at 32 innings when Keegan McGovern hit a fourth-inning home run. That was the only run allowed by Poche in seven innings. Poche picked up his 32nd career victory – one fewer than Stan Loewer, who is No. 3 on the Tigers’ all-time list.

The Tigers collected only four hits against four Georgia pitchers, but Duplantis brought home three runs with a solo homer in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth. Caleb Gilbert stepped in for Newman and recorded a six-out save in a 5-1 victory.

In order to come away with the sweep, LSU took advantage of the opportunities handed to them by the Bulldogs. The Tigers had only seven hits, but they benefitted from four errors, five walks and five hit batters. Only one LSU runner who scored reached base on a hit.

Eric Walker provided a quality start – three runs in six innings. The bullpen was far from perfect as Zack Hess and Gilbert yielded a total of three runs. But, Gilbert stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth with a strikeout of Michael Curry for a 7-6 Tigers victory.

“Sunday is always a grind,” Robertson said. “Normally, the team who brings the most energy wins on Sunday. We had to stay focused. We had the tenacity to win the game. It was not pretty, but we did what we needed to do.

“We played well as a team defensively all weekend. That helped our pitching out a lot. If you pitch and play defense consistently, you have a chance to win.”

Excluding Lange’s statistics, LSU pitchers had a very good 2.78 ERA in the Georgia series. Poche and Walker gave up a combined four runs and 12 hits with two walks and 13 strikeouts in 13 innings. The Tigers made no errors and registered five double plays in the three games.

Duplantis and Robertson enjoyed spectacular weekends. Duplantis was 8-for-13 with six runs scored and ten RBIs. Robertson was 7-for-9 with ten runs scored and two RBIs. Robertson reached base 13 times in 15 plate appearances.

LSU was one of three SEC West teams to sweep series at home – Arkansas took three games from Mississippi State and Auburn did the same against Florida. Three Eastern Division teams swept road series – South Carolina at Tennessee, Kentucky at Texas A&M and Missouri at Alabama.

The Tigers’ midweek game will take place Wednesday when they play host at The Box to Southeastern Louisiana, which had a ten-game winning streak stopped by Lamar on Sunday (6:30 p.m. Central/SEC Digital Network). LSU goes to Gainesville to meet what should be an angry Florida squad this weekend.