LSU's Offense Shows Off Immense Potential in 17-8 Series Clinching Win Over Maine

LSU came out swinging both figuratively and literally Saturday afternoon.

In a 17-8 series clinching win over Maine, the Tigers' offense showed its true colors, collecting 17 total hits and scoring in all but one inning throughout the contest.

LSU's offense picked up right where it left off Friday night by scoring seven runs on seven hits in the first three innings alone to chase off Maine starter Noah Lewis. Every hitter played a role in the fast start for the purple and gold in some capacity as the Tigers would also draw three walks during that stretch but most importantly, zero strikeouts.

In fact for the total game, LSU would strike out just one time in its first 27 at bats, an impressive number considering the number of attempts at the plate the purple and gold had. Batters are rarely getting behind in counts and even when it does happen, they don't go down without a fight, working their way back to a respectable count.

It also shows the Tigers are putting the ball in play which is a very encouraging sign the discipline and approach at the plate has reached great heights this offseason. A bigger sample size will be required to make any sweeping declarations but the offense has been largely as advertised through two outings.

The offensive spurt was highlighted by Cade Doughty's three run homer in the first as well as Jacob Berry's three hits, including home runs on back-to-back at bats that added to an already explosive offensive day.

"Definitely a great feeling. It's been amazing to be out here the last few days," Berry said. "You've gotta make adjustments day to day and at bat to at bat. I just tried to have competitive at bat and find a barrel. Stand back and stay inside the ball has really helped."

Doughty would go 3-for-6 at the plate and Dylan Crews would tack on three more hits while seven different LSU players added RBI swings to the big afternoon.

"It was definitely a point of emphasis to get the ball in play and put pressure on them to play defense," Jay Johnson said. "Two strike hitting is a big deal, you find out a lot about your team and your program based on how good your team is in that element. I thought were really good today.

"We feel good. A lot of guys feel real comfortable up there and that's what we want and strive for," Doughty said.

LSU will be very versatile with the lineups it puts out but does seem to be comfortable with transfer Jack Merrifield at third base. The LSU Eunice transfer doesn't make mistakes, has a cannon for an arm and gave the Tigers good at bats. As the nine hole hitter, Merrifield collected two hits to go along with three RBI.

On the mound, it was an up and down day for fifth year senior Ma'Khail Hilliard who drew the start and did a respectable job of holding down the fort while LSU built on its early lead. After retiring the first six batters of the game, Hilliard ran into trouble in the third inning by allowing three runs to come across.

Hilliard got behind in a number of counts during that three run third inning but the Tigers were able to keep a fourth from scoring with consecutive outs. Hilliard has added two more pitches to his repertoire and would get through four innings of work allowing five runs with two strikeouts.

Sophomore Javen Coleman would take over in middle relief, tossing three innings of one hit, one run baseball while Paul Gervais closed the game out.

LSU will look to go for the series sweep against Maine on Sunday at 1 p.m. with Johnson electing to hold off on a starter until tomorrow.

(Photo courtesy of LSUsports)