A Dunn deal keeps LSU's injury-riddled pitching staff afloat

It seemed for the longest time this baseball season that LSU’s pitching staff was cursed.

Every time one previously injured hurler healed, another one got hurt. It was like opposing head coaches were sticking pins in a voodoo doll wearing a miniature Tigers’ uniform.

Chaos ensued in the pitching rotation. It was a weekly lottery for LSU head coach Paul Mainieri and pitching coach Alan Dunn, trying to find able-bodied starters and wondering how many innings they would last.

Finally, in the last three weeks, just in time for the Tigers to make a postseason run that resumes Saturday when LSU (40-24) plays Florida State (39-21) in an NCAA Super Regional opener in Alex Box Stadium, the injuries have subsided, and normalcy has returned as roles have been solidified.

“The big thing with roles is you know what part of the game you need to be ready for,” LSU junior reliever Zack Hess said. “Guys are getting used to that, we’re starting to have more concrete and developed roles for certain guys. That has definitely played a role in us pitching well.”

The sore arms of freshmen Cole Henry and Landon Marceaux have healed to account for two starting spots. Sophomore middle reliever Trent Vietmeier has made a stunning comeback after it was feared during a May 10 outing at Arkansas that he sustained a season-ending shoulder injury.

As bad as it seemed this year, it could have been worse if not for Dunn, universally credited for holding LSU’s pitching staff together in the bleakest of moments.

“The big thing with him is he’s not an excuse-maker,” Hess said of Dunn. “He doesn’t allow his guys to be excuse-makers either, regardless of anything that’s happening internally or externally.

“That said, if we do have those arm injuries which we’ve had this year, it’s just been a `next-man up mentality.’ Find a way to make it work. When one guy goes down, someone else is going to have to step up and fill that role.”

Since hiring Dunn eight seasons ago after Dunn’s 22 years of experience coaching in the major and minor leagues, Mainieri has leaned on him heavily.

But the last few months as injuries mounted, he has been Mainieri’s rock.

“This season has been especially challenging for him, but there’s nobody in the world who works harder than Alan Dunn.” Mainieri said. “He hasn’t stopped working, hasn’t stopped building up the confidence of the pitchers.

“A.D. is a very principled guy, probably the most principled person I’ve ever met in my life. He believes in certain things and he stays the course. He knows eventually it’s going to turn right.”

Most of Dunn’s principles are simple, but the most important is one for all and all for one.

“It's not a pitching person, it's a pitching staff," Dunn said. “You've got to have guys who take their egos and put them on the shelf. They have to say, 'What will it take for our team to win today? I will do whatever is asked of me.'

“That's a huge part of trying to get that camaraderie and build something that's a unit. That guy is standing here next to his buddy, he doesn't want to let him down, and him and him. You've got to buy into that.”

LSU’s pitching staff has, and it’s the only way it could have survived this season because of injuries to 11 pitchers including three season-ending situations. The Tigers might be the only of the remaining 16 Super Regional teams that doesn’t have a pitcher with more than five wins on the season.

LSU has four hurlers with five wins each – Marceaux, third-year sophomore Eric Walker, junior Todd Peterson and sophomore Devin Fontenot.

Walker, who has thrown for a staff-high 72.1 innings after sitting out last year recovering from Tommy John surgery, said Dunn has a motto for reminding his pitchers they are all in it together.

It’s called “I.T.T.”

“I.T.T. is `In the Truck’,” Walker said. “He’s (Dunn) driving the truck and we all got to pick each other up. There’s going to be injuries, there’s going to be struggles. But that’s what a pitching staff does, when one pitcher struggles, another picks him up.”

It has been a tradition for LSU veterans to nurture newcomers. So, when Marceaux was struggling early this season, both Walker and Hess helped him through it.

“I think he was just trying to strike everybody out, which he could do with his stuff,” Walker said. “But you got to let them (opposing batters) get themselves out sometimes. You’ve got to just take a deep breath and throw the ball over the plate. You’re going to get hit sometimes and you’ve got to live with the result.”

Marceaux, 5-2 with 4.64 ERA that has been plummeting with a sub 2.00 ERA in his last four starts, now has a pitching philosophy that is practically his mantra.

“Fill up the strike zone because I know I’ve got my defense behind me to work for me,” he said.

Henry’s return to form in last week’s Baton Rouge Regional against Southern Miss, with just one previous appearance after he sat for a month with a sore arm, can’t be understated. He threw a two-hit, five-inning shutout in Saturday’s 8-4 win over USM.

“The first start back (against South Carolina in the SEC tournament), I thought he would be rusty,” Mainieri said of Henry, who’s 4-2 with a 3.51 ERA. “He had a tough time getting a feel for his breaking ball. With a full work week, I knew breaking ball would be better. He’s a strike-throwing machine, he’s got good stuff.”

Then, there’s Vietmeier (3-1, 4.81 ERA), at first diagnosed with a serious shoulder injury according to an MRI. But when the pain didn’t persist, he was allowed to begin throwing. Last weekend making two relief appearances, he contributed three scoreless innings.

“Miraculous, he did a phenomenal job,” Mainieri said.

Besides healing arms, another key in LSU’s stretch run was a selfless decision made by Hess, who was chosen by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round of the major league draft on Tuesday.

After 26 starts over the last two seasons, Hess asked Mainieri at the start of May to return to the bullpen. It’s where he was a dominating closer two years ago as a freshman on LSU’s 2017 College World Series runner-up squad.

“I’m a big believer that if you put the team first and the team’s best interests first, the stuff that you want individually will follow,” said Hess, 4-5 with a 4.63 ERA “I just felt me going back to the pen was the best move for us, give us a better chance to win. And I think it has.”