Numerous candidates for No. 3 rotation spot

The first week of the 2017 LSU was baseball season is in the books.

No, the Tigers did not go unbeaten.

The bullpen collapsed in an 11-8 loss at UNO on Tuesday night. LSU performed like a top-five team in its four victories against Army (twice), Air Force and Hofstra when it won by a combined score of 33-4.

The Tigers will face Maryland in the opener of a three-game series at The Box on Friday (7 p.m. Central/SEC Digital Network). Alex Lange and Jared Poche, who combined for 12 scoreless innings against Army, will be on the mound for the first two games against the Terrapins.

Then, it will be Eric Walker making the start in the series finale. What has been most encouraging to coach Paul Mainieri has been the work of the pitchers who are the candidates for that No. 3 spot in the weekend rotation.

Those three individuals all made one start in the past week. All three hurlers turned in impressive outings. Walker gave up two runs and two hits with one walk and six strikeouts against Air Force. Walker, who was named the No. 3 starter initially, did nothing to lose that spot.

However, both Caleb Gilbert and Zack Hess made huge statements in their appearances. Gilbert allowed one run and four hits with five strikeouts in four innings at UNO. Hess yielded no runs and five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in five innings against Hofstra.

Mainieri tossed in another name – Todd Peterson, who has allowed one baserunner in three innings during a pair of relief outings.

“We have four guys,” Mainieri said. “All three (Walker, Gilbert and Hess) looked good. Now. You can throw Todd Peterson in that group. Somebody is going to have to pitch out of the bullpen.”

Hess probably turned in the top outing of the group. Hess’ start against Hofstra may have been somewhat surprising after his struggles in one inning of relief against Air Force. In that appearance, Hess gave up one run and two hits with one walk.

“Hess was very good,” Mainieri said. “He really did a nice job. He threw a lot of strikes and he threw a lot of sliders for strikes. He appeared to be very cool and calm out there.”

It’s possible two of the three hurlers who do not win that No. 3 starting spot will be in the bullpen when the Southeastern Conference schedule begins. Three relievers – Hunter Kiel, Collin Strall and Russell Reynolds – had much difficulty against UNO.

LSU only has one midweek game next week – Tuesday against Nicholls State, so one would expect some of these starting candidates to pitch out of the bullpen before the tournament next weekend in Houston.

Mainieri will continue to evaluate two positions in the everyday lineup – leftfield and designated hitter. Beau Jordan and Brennan Breaux divided the leftfield job in the first five games. Bryce Adams has been the starting designated hitter in every contest.

In his three starts, Jordan is just 1-for-9. Jordan, whose hit is a double, walked once and struck out once. Breaux is 3-for-8 with a home run and two RBIs. Breaux struck out twice.

“Beau has not swung the bat well, but it is still early,” Mainieri said. “Brennan has done some good things. He is so close to playing a great game.

“Brennan has a couple of hits against UNO, but strikes out when we had runners on base and were trying to rally. Brennan made one great catch, but there were two others I thought he could have made. I hope Brennan can break through that barrier.”

Adams has been a little up-and-down at the plate with four hits in 12 at-bats. Adams, who hit an opposite-field home run at UNO, has struck out only one time. Mainieri lifted Adams after two hitless at-bats against Hofstra and inserted Mason Templet, who struck out twice.

“Bryce has been all right so far,” Mainieri said. “Templet didn’t swing the bat well when we put him in. Rankin Woley brings a real physicality and then Jordan Romero is working his way back in after the injury.”

Templet is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Woley has reached base in all three of his pinch-hitting appearances – double, walk and hit by pitch. Romero is hitless in his one plate appearance. More experimentation will be done in the series against Maryland.

“It’s disappointing to lose a game, but you have to give guys a chance,” Mainieri said. “(Former LSU coach) Skip (Bertman) told me when I first got here was that you may lose a game early to find out something about your players. Sometimes, the information may not be positive.”