Once again in dominant fashion, LSU baseball destroyed the bullpen of Tennessee, taking the series after just game two.
The environment in Alex Box Stadium was electric. Not only were fans witnessing their home team take down a top 10 opponent, but they were also tuning in to the LSU women’s basketball game, who took down Virginia Tech in its Final Four matchup.
LSU baseball started game two with Ty Floyd on the mound. Though it wasn’t his most complete outing, the right-handed pitcher managed to be a force on the rubber until the fifth inning.
“I mean, I had the bullpen up in the first inning,” head coach Jay Johnson said in regards to Floyd’s performance. “It’s the third inning and I’m looking at this like, ‘Are we going to go with Herring or Cooper?’ and then to get through the fifth was unbelievable. Ty deserves a lot of credit for that.”
Floyd was retired after the fifth inning. He allowed four runs on six hits, walked one and struck out five. He totalled 84 pitches and 54 of them were strikes.
Freshman Chase Shores was called in for Floyd’s relief. He put together a solid two innings. Shores allowed two hits but no runs. He struck out four in the eight batters that he faced.
The true testament to LSU’s bullpen was not just that Shores, as a freshman, was a relief for a starter against a top 10 opponent, but that another freshman, Griffin Herring, was chosen to close out the game.
“It’s been surreal,” Herring said. “I mean, pitching in this place is unlike any other baseball experience I’ve ever had. And I mean, you can hear the crowd chanting. It’s just so electric and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Herring pitched in the final two innings. He struck out four and allowed no hits or runs in the seven batters that he faced. Herring threw only 24 pitches. 18 of those were called for strikes.
The Tigers brought a fiery lineup to the plate once again in the series.
The fourth inning was headlined by back-to-back home runs from freshman Brady Neal and second baseman Gavin Dugas.
“I think we took really good at-bats, starting from the very beginning,” Dugas said. “We stuck to our plan by just staying on the fastball, you know, just not letting them beat us with off-speed, down and away, you know, just staying simple.”
Those two shots were followed by a Tre’ Morgan double. After just 3.1 innings, LSU was able to retire Tennessee’s starter, Chase Burns. Burns is one of the Volunteer’s most notable pitchers.
“We did a great job against a guy that’s gonna make $100 million or more in Major League Baseball,” Johnson said of his team’s performance against Burns.
LSU rounded in six runs on 12 hits while Tennessee plated only four runs on six hits. The Tigers noted two home runs and seven doubles.
In the final game of the series, LSU will be looking to complete a series sweep over Tennessee, a very possible feat for the No. 1 SEC powerhouse.
The first pitch of the last game is set to take place on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., once again at Alex Box Stadium.
Leave a Reply