LSU's Defense Doesn't Travel on Road in 11-6 Loss to Louisiana Tech
In its first road test of the 2022 season, LSU couldn't get out of its own way, dropping, bobbling and misplaying the ball on defense, leading to a 11-6 loss to Louisiana Tech.
It was the first time LSU (3-1) had traveled to Ruston since 1997 and the entire city knew it, with pregame secondary tickets reaching over $200 just hours before first pitch.
The biggest detriment to the Tigers in this one came on defense. Balls were misplayed in the outfield and bobbled off gloves as Louisiana Tech was able to put up two runs in the first and two more in the second to grab an early 4-0 lead. For the game, the Tigers would commit five errors with many more deserving.
Rain and the cold very much played a factor in the defensive struggles but there were also a few errors that were very preventable. This was a highly anticipated game for the Tigers as a good gauge for a road environment and top 25 opponent but got down early and kept the Bulldogs full crowd very engaged on a cold, rainy night.
Starter Riley Cooper allowed four runs in two innings of work while Will Hellmers would enter in the third and immediately allow a solo home run.
Bulldogs pitcher Cade Gibson also did a nice job taming this LSU lineup with a low 90s fastball coupled with some really well placed off speed pitches. He hit two batters but did a nice job of retiring the rest of the offense in three innings of work with three strikeouts. Consistently getting ahead of LSU batters, it was difficult for the offense to muster much of anything the first third of the game.
While LSU struggled to make plays in the field, Louisiana Tech had no such issue making the routine plays. LSU coach Jay Johnson couldn't agree more, bluntly saying during his mid game interview with the TV crew that his team just wasn't playing well.
"We're not just playing very good right now. Has nothing to do with the weather," Johnson said.
But this LSU team just kept fighting. It wasn't until the fourth inning where LSU was able to get to Gibson a little bit, with Jordan Thompson getting a bat on the ball and Brayden Jobert knocking his third home run in four games to cut the Bulldogs lead to 5-2.
Gibson would allow one more run to cross in the fifth but strikeouts to Jacob Berry and Dylan Crews to close the inning would give him eight total and help the Bulldogs regain some momentum. The 14 total strikeouts from LSU was a bit surprising after stringing together some really nice at bats during opening weekend.
In total LSU would score four unanswered to get the game as close as 5-4 in the sixth thanks to a clutch RBI swing from Gavin Dugas, who drove in three total during the night. But the defense in the infield were glaringly bad as the game wore on as the Bulldogs scored three in the sixth and two in the seventh to blow the game open.
While the final outcome was disappointing, this is a game that really shouldn't hurt LSU too much in the long run as both are NCAA tournament quality teams.