LSU Baseball Cruises to 13-1 Opening Day Win Behind Arm of Blake Money

Every opening day in baseball is special in its own unique way but there was added weight in Alex Box Stadium Friday evening.

The night began with an anticipated yet memorable passing of the torch as legendary coach Paul Mainieri tossed out the first pitch of the 2022 season to new coach Jay Johnson. Quickly the attention shifted to the field and the remarkable season debut for pitcher Blake Money in a 13-1 opening day win for the Tigers.

Passing of the torch…it’s a strike for Paul Mainieri

Let the Jay Johnson era begin.#LSU pic.twitter.com/cKpjSwEHsw
— Glen West (@glenwest21) February 19, 2022

We'd heard all offseason about the physical transformation the sophomore made and it was all on full display as he tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 10 Maine batters en route to an eye opening season debut.

Money was in total command of all his pitches, throwing 56 of his 79 total pitches for strikes and rarely let his defensive teammates have opportunities to make plays. It was a tremendous performance and solidified everything that was said about his development in the offseason, particularly the composed way he handled himself on the mound.

"The game's really emotional and I made a comment in the dugout 'people say watching baseball is like watching paint dry and it's really not,'" Money said. "After you have that really big moment and you show that emotion, that's great. But then you gotta stop, sit down, have a drink of water, regroup and one to the next one. That's the biggest separator for our guys right now.

"It was money," Jay Johnson said of Money's performance. "He deserves a lot of credit for the transformation, the work, the handling the adversity. But I think now the bigger story is he's a really good pitcher."

The offense would gain momentum as a brisk and windy night wore on, putting up 13 total runs on 12 hits. It helped that Maine committed six errors that directly led to three runs but also freshman designated hitter Brayden Jobert made quite the debut performance.

Jobert drew the nod for an injured Cade Beloso, who got injured in the pregame celebration before the contest. The freshman out of Slidell went 2-for-2 with two RBI a solo home run in the fourth inning for the first run of the Johnson era. Overall, it was one of those games where as long as the Tigers were respectable on offense, the game was never in question with the way Money threw the ball.

Many were curious what that opening day batting order would look like, with Johnson ultimately front loading the lineup with Tre Morgan, Jacob Berry, Dylan Crews and Cade Doughty. The Tigers top four in the order would go a combined 7-of-18, with Morgan leading the way with three hits including a triple that blew the game wide open.

As the game wore on Johnson was able to substitute a number of players in different situations, something LSU fans can expect to get used to moving forward.

"I thought it was great," Johnson said. "We want to build a team here where all the players place the need of the team above their own. I like to work at putting players at spots to be successful. We had 12 players in before the fifth inning and I think that's how we're gonna do it."

LSU would blow the game open with three runs a piece in the sixth and seventh and five more in the eighth inning with Maine errors once again helping the Tigers capitalize on scoring opportunities. To close the game, LSU went with Arizona pitcher Bryce Collins, who threw the final two innings, allowing one solo homer to spoil the shut out.

The Tigers will be back in action to try and clinch the series with Maine on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. with Ma'Khail Hilliard on the mound.

(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)