LSU Baseball Receives Stellar Pitching Effort in 6-1 Opening Day Win Over Air Force
Opening Day at the Box is always an exciting day on the field as it's the first opportunity to see what LSU baseball's team will look like. With Skip Bertman and 2,500 devoted fans in attendance as well as an extended 349 days away from Alex Box Stadium, LSU was guided by a dominant pitching performance to knock off Air Force 6-1.
It was the first time since 2019 LSU fans got to see Jaden Hill in a starting role and the junior ace didn't disappoint. Ahead of the season opener, LSU coach Paul Mainieri said he would more than likely allow Hill to pitch no more than three innings but after a slow start from the Tigers' offense, Hill wound up going four innings.
The first two, he looked like the dominant reliever that didn't allow a single run in 17 innings pitched in 2020. He was firing 98 mph fastballs and struck out three of the first four batters he faced.
As the outing went on, Hill struggled with his command a bit, particularly in the third and fourth innings by allowing three hits and hitting another batter. But in both innings he was able to escape unscathed with strikeouts.
"I think I did good, I was able to get my team four innings and pass it on to the next guy," Hill said. "That's my job, to get as many innings and outs as possible."
All in all it was a great showing for Hill, who displayed a great variety with his pitches, including overpowering fastball and a backbreaking changeup that caught multiple Air Force batters looking. Hill finished the afternoon allowing no runs on 62 pitches, three hits and five strikeouts.
The relievers continued Hill's strong start by throwing a combined five innings of one run baseball between Garrett Edwards, Matthew Beck, Alex Brady, Aaron George and Devin Fontenot. The only hiccup in the game came in the eighth as a walk wound up scoring a run later in the inning after a few wild pitches.
"Our whole pitching staff was the story of today's game, of course Jaden Hill was fantastic," coach Paul Mainieri said. "Garrett's been a really impressive guy since fall practice and has a chance to really be special in his career. I'm really proud of all of them and thought we pitched well."
LSU's offense early in this game was defined by missed opportunities, none moreso than in the first inning. With one out in the opening frame, Air Force starting pitcher Stevan Fairburn walked three batters and hit a fourth to put LSU on the board.
However a strikeout from Will Hellmers and groundout by Giovanni DiGiacomo ended the threat right then and there. LSU's offense stuggled to convert in the early innings, leaving a total of 15 batters stranded on base.
LSU was able to tack on an insurance run in the fifth inning with runners at second and third because of a clutch swing from the veteran DiGiacomo. Instead, what LSU relied on most was patience at the plate and the inconsistency out of the Air Force pitchers to pull out the opening day win.
The Tigers were walked a total of 11 times on the afternoon and were finally able to capitalize as the game reached the final innings. Insurance runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings put the Tigers up 6-1 with a little bit of breathing room for the closer Fontenot.
"I thought we hit some balls hard in the early innings," Mainieri said. "We weren't having a lot to show for it and it was a little disappointing. If we want to be competitive and compete for a championship in this conference we're gonna have to do better then that."
Freshman Dylan Crews put together a solid first performance, going 2-for-4 at the plate in the leadoff spot while Cade Beloso and freshman Tre' Morgan also added hits and a pair of RBI for Morgan. A two run homerun from shortstop Zach Arnold was the highlight on offense in the opener.
"The older guys really helped me get comfortable. The pitchers really made our job easy," Morgan said. "We just had to worry about our offense today. They make our job much easier."
LSU will be back in action Sunday afternoon at noon against Air Force with veteran Landon Marceaux on the mound.
Story will be updated with quotes