No. 12 LSU Lays a Dud at Nicholls, Drop First Away Game of the Season 4-2
In its first road setting of the year, LSU baseball gave a poor showing with the bats and on the mound, dropping its first away game of the season to Nicholls 4-2.
The story of the night was Nicholls left handed pitcher Tyler Theriot, who did a phenomenal job in the early innings to stymie the LSU offense. Theriot didn't allow a run in his first five innings on the mound and struck out the side in the second and fourth innings which fueled the sold out Nicholls crowd.
In total, Theriot would strike out seven LSU batters in 5.1 innings pitched and allowed just two hits and a run.
LSU would finally get to the Brusly native a bit in the sixth, in large part due to two Nicholls errors. The Tigers scored one run off an errant pickoff attempt that went into left field and a heads up play from third baseman Zack Mathis to race home.
But ultimately the bats just weren't there for the Tigers, even after Theriot's departure. After a two hit first inning, LSU went the next six innings without recording a hit.
Even in the eighth inning, third baseman Mathis was able to finally get a bat on a ball but tried to stretch a single into a double and paid the price for it.
The Tigers received a bit of help from freshmen Maurice Hampton and Alex Milazzo in the ninth as back-to-back singles to start the inning gave Nicholls a good scare. Ultimately the rally fell short as LSU plated just one run in the ninth.
Senior Eric Walker drew the start on the mound for LSU and struggled with his command right out of the gate. The junior threw 29 pitches in the first inning alone, hit a batter, walked another and allowed one run as the Tigers found themselves in an early 1-0 hole.
Walker's command didn't improve much but he was able to go nearly three innings with only surrendering one run, striking out two batters, hitting two and walking another three batters. With runners on first and third in the third and Walker already at 60 pitches, coach Paul Mainieri decided to go with his bullpen, inserting Aaron George.
George did a great job to get LSU out of the jam in the third but would face trouble in the fifth inning. The senior allowed one insurance run but left the bases loaded after hitting two batters and allowing two hits in the inning.
All in all, it was just a poor performance from the LSU pitching staff. Giving free passes has become an issue for the Tigers in the last two games as LSU has walked or hit 17 batters in that span. On Wednesday night alone, LSU walked eight batters and hit four others.
The other issue that cropped up on LSU was the defense itself. Miscommunication on a bunt and a passed ball in the sixth inning led to another run for the Colonels.
LSU will need to bounce back in a hurry as it prepares for a three game series with Eastern Kentucky, a team coming off an opening weekend sweep of Presbyterian College.