Rejuvenated LSU ready for showdown vs. Mississippi State
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU crashed through the pressure barrier Wednesday night just in time for a significant series with Southeastern Conference West leader Mississippi State that opens Friday night.
Former Tigers baseball coach Skip Bertman spoke of it often. The pressure barrier could be the difference between making it to Omaha and the College World Series or not, or winning the national championship or not.
For ninth-ranked LSU, which had lost four in a row before beating McNeese State 10-3 Wednesday, it was just about feeling confident again amid struggles to score and even hit.
"We actually started to look like a decent ball club there at the end," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri, whose team dropped three at Florida last weekend to fall into last place in the SEC West at 3-5-1.
The Tigers (21-8-1) host No. 12 Mississippi State (20-10, 6-3 SEC) in a three-game series beginning Friday. The Bulldogs have returned much of their 2013 team that pushed the pressure barrier all the way to the championship series in Omaha before losing two in a row to UCLA.
"They don't really have any weaknesses," Mainieri said. "They've got a real strong club in every area."
LSU's strength continues to be junior right-handed ace Aaron Nola (5-1), who leads the SEC with a 0.55 ERA and 61 strikeouts. Mainieri decided late Thursday to move Nola to the Saturday game as Nola threw 100 pitches and 8 2/3 innings in a 2-1 loss at Florida last Saturday because the game was postponed by rain on Friday.
Freshman left-hander Jared Poche (5-2, 2.61 ERA), who usually starts on Saturdays, will start Friday in place of Nola. Poche also pitched a week ago Saturday, losing 6-2 to Florida in the second game of a doubleheader, but he threw only five innings. Poche will be opposed by junior left-hander Ross Mitchell (5-1, 1.55 ERA). Sophomore right-hander Preston Brown (3-1, 1.95 ERA) was first scheduled for Friday, but Mississippi State coach John Cohen said Thursday that Brown has some shoulder problems. Brown may start Sunday. Mainieri is unsure what pitcher he may start on Sunday.
A former strength of the Tigers showed signs of life on Wednesday. Sophomore All-American shortstop Alex Bregman was 0-for-14 and 4-for-41 before launching a three-run home run through the pressure barrier for a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning Wednesday night.
"I was just trying to play the game and have fun playing the game that I love," Bregman said.
Mainieri put the hit-and-run on for Bregman.
"When he just wants us to go up there and hit, he tells us to hit and run," Bregman said. "And he did that for me, and it helped me simplify it."
LSU scored five more in the seventh inning.
"Finally, everybody just kind of loosened up and started enjoying playing again," Mainieri said.
The Tigers totaled 10 hits in all, including a two-run home run by Sean McMullen to tie the score 2-2 in the third.
"I think Alex is just the heartbeat of our lineup," McMullen said. "He can really spark this lineup. And he did it last year, too. He's the key to the lineup."
Mainieri thinks he will need Bregman and others to continue what happened Wednesday into the weekend against Mississippi State.
"We're going to have to play our best," he said, "to have a chance to have success against these guys."