LSU baseball's new power couple is Jobert and Jobu
Somewhere between LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson’s hitting mantra and the unwavering superstitious belief in a Jobu doll that resides in a dugout cubby is an explanation why the No. 1 ranked Tigers scored their most runs in an SEC game this season on Thursday night.
The Tigers put No. 11 Kentucky to bed early, tucking in the Wildcats with 14 runs in the first three innings and eventually winning 16-6 on just eight hits in Alex Box Stadium.
Half those were run-producing rockets such as:
•A one-out two-run first-inning double by third baseman Tommy White for 2-0 lead.
•A two-out grand slam first inning homer by shortstop Jordan Thompson for a 6-0 advantage.
•A two-out grand slam second inning homer by right fielder Brayden Jobert for 11-0 cushion.
•A two-out three-run third inning homer by designated hitter Cade Beloso for a 14-1 margin.
For Thompson, it was his fourth straight game hitting a homer. The fact he’s eighth in LSU’s batting order speaks to the power of the Tigers’ hitting talent and lessons learned from Johnson.
“I'm just trying not to miss a good pitch in the zone,” said Thompson, who has six homers and 30 RBI on the season. “For the past few years since Coach Johnson has been here, he's preached `We're gonna take balls and crush mistakes.'
"I feel like that's just my mentality right now. I'm trying to see a good pitch that I can hit, crush. That's just what I've been doing.”
But four consecutive games banging a homer?
It wasn’t because Thompson took a glance at Jobert’s Jobu doll, the replica from the 1989 classic baseball movie “Major League.” In the fiim, the doll resides in the locker of fictional player Pedro Cerrano who prays and conducts rituals with the doll to bless his bats with more hits.
Jobu came into Jobert’s life when Jobert was once in a batting slump when he played for Delgado Community College in 2021.
“My dad (Jacques) had a little Jobu on his desk at home,” said Jobert, who homered Thursday for a second straight game. “I was struggling a little bit and he brought it to me. He said, `Hey, keep this. Bring him to every game and just watch.'
"I think I ended up hitting like .480 the rest of the season. Ever since, I couldn't leave him. I have him around all the time. So, he's been here (at LSU) last year and he's here every game this year.”
It’s no coincidence that Jobert’s fellow Jobu believer is Beloso, who in his last four games is batting .500 (7 for 14) with two homers, seven RBI and seven runs scored.
"He’s going off,” Jobert said of Beloso’s hot batting streak.
Beloso had the game-winning ninth inning hit in last Friday’s 8-7 comeback win at South Carolina, went 3 for 5 in Tuesday’s 11-5 win at Tulane and topped it off with his three-run homer vs. the Wildcats.
Just to assure Jobu that he knows his role, Jobert said he and Beloso conduct rituals with the voodoo doll.
"We’ll hold him (Jobu) in the air and pray to the baseball gods for success." Jobert said.
It is Jobert’s responsibility at all games, whether he’s in the lineup or not, to make sure Jobu has one of the best seats in the house for maximum effectiveness.
“He stays in the helmet cubbies. . .looking at home plate always,” Jobert said.