LSU Continues Hitting Slugfest With 21-6 Win, Completing Sweep of Maine
Jay Johnson and this 2022 LSU team continued its blistering start to the 2022 season by clinching a little piece of program history in the process. The Tigers completed its sweep of Maine with a 21-6 win.
The 51 total runs scored in the first three games is a program record, breaking the 45 runs set by the 1996 Tigers team.
LSU batted around the order twice in two innings to seize control of this game from the start. During the nine hit, 11 run two inning stretch, the Tigers would put together five doubles, a triple and a three-run homer from designated hitter Brayden Jobert to highlight the day at the plate.
Jobert continues to be an early bright spot for this offense, following up a tremendous start to his career with a three hit afternoon in the close out game. Dylan Crews, Cade Doughty, Jack Merrifield and Giovanni DiGiacomo all added multi hit performances that included RBIs. Doughty would add a three run homer of his own by the fifth inning to push the Tigers lead to 19-1.
“It’s exciting that the only problem we have is all the depth,” DiGiacomo said. “You watch how we interchange everybody it was really awesome to see. Everybody had something to give and that’s really exciting.”
Seven of the nine LSU offensive players had hits by the end of the second inning with all starters contributing in some way by either reaching base or putting together RBI swings. It was complete dominance by this LSU offense all weekend, setting an incredibly high bar with 51 total runs and 45 hits in the three game series with visiting Maine.
“The strike zone discipline is something we’ve really worked hard on since the fall and improved,” Johnson said. “Pretty happy with the collective effort throughout the weekend and I think there’s a lot of things we can point to as a model of what it looks like. Now it’s about being consistent.”
Of course the next challenge is seeing it carry over to more elite teams but the approach that Johnson instills in his hitters has been apparent through three contests.
On the mound it was second year pitcher Ty Floyd who drew the nod and performed very well in his five innings on the mound. Floyd would allow just one run in his body of work while striking out eight Maine batters on 76 total pitches, blowing them away with 91-93 mph fastballs.
The real question mark surrounding Floyd this offseason was whether or not he'd gained more control of his secondary pitches. While he primarily used his fastball to get through the Maine order, he did switch up his pitches a little bit but did run into a little trouble in the third when he loaded the bases on a pair of walks.
LSU turned the ball over to Riley Cooper in the sixth, who gave the Tigers one solid inning of relief work. Garrett Edwards, Eric Reyzelman and Devin Fontenot also saw their first action of the season, with each not allowing a run during their outings. Reyzelman was able to pump up the remaining crowd in a 20-6 ball game by reaching 99 mph on the radar gun.
What the big lead also allowed Jay Johnson to do was throw out a completely new lineup halfway through the game, giving guys like Drew Bianco, Brody Drost and Collier Cranford their first action of the season.
This opening weekend went about as close to perfectly scripted as Johnson and the Tigers could've hoped for. Up next is the first road outing of the 2022 season when the Tigers travel to Louisiana Tech, followed by another three game home stand beginning with Towson.
“You have to master the ability to move on to the next day and I thought they responded really well,” Johnson said.
(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)