Baseball Team Strives for Consistency

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By Jason Dupuy

Anyone who follows baseball knows that the season is not won in April. Similarly, college baseball is not won in February or even March. The season is long and filled with many mountains and valleys. The key is always to have more mountains than valleys and not to let those valleys become bottomless gulleys.

After taking two of three from the oft regional-bound Stetson Hatters, LSU was on its way up the mountain, grabbing solid footholds and leaving Tiger fans anxiously awaiting the upcoming SEC slate.

The footholds promptly crumbled, and LSU not only lost its conference opening series at Tennessee (and the previous midweek game against lowly Southeastern), but was swept in a pretty convincing fashion.

After the Sunday loss, coach Paul Mainieri said, “We made some key mistakes, but we’re going to learn from them and continue to move forward. We have a group of hard-working players that I firmly believe will enjoy success this season.” At the college level of athletics, just as with academics, learning usually occurs during trying times, and little is more trying in college baseball than being swept in your first true test of the year.

With the footholds plummeting toward earth, fans had to wonder if LSU would grab hold of something or freefall into what could become the proverbial bottomless pit. The Tigers would host Tulane, a worthy in-state rival who, like LSU, has been less dominant of late than just a few years ago. Still, it was a worthy test, and after the 7-5 Tiger victory, coach Paul Mainieri admitted how crucial the contest really was.

“I don’t know that a win was ever needed more by a team that I’ve coached in 26 years than tonight,” he said. “I don’t care who the game was against. The way things were going for us, we just needed a great win.”

Mainieri’s crew snagged a piece of the mountainside and held on for dear life, putting their five-game losing streak behind them.

The Tigers would return home to host their first SEC series of the year, a three-game set against Arkansas. Needing a series win to make up for getting swept the previous weekend and to have a chance at remaining competitive in the SEC West, LSU responded with four first inning runs and knocked Razorback starter Cliff Springston around for nine hits and six runs in just over five innings of work. However, the game wouldn’t, couldn’t be just one miraculous climb for the Tigers as it took six LSU pitchers and three Tiger homers to pull out game one of the series 8-7 in the 11th inning.

On the other hand, game two looked to be the easy ascent Tiger fans thought they had in the bag on Friday night. Then again, looks are deceiving. LSU jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead after three innings and managed to tack on two additional runs in both the fourth and fifth inning, but Arkansas fought back with runs in each of the last three frames and one in the 10th to stun the home crowd 14-13 on Saturday. The way the series and season had gone, Sunday’s outcome was anybody’s guess.

Needing a win perhaps even more than in the Tulane game, LSU junior southpaw Ryan Verdugo responded with a gem, throwing seven innings of three-hit, one-run ball en route to a 4-2 victory. The win moves LSU into a second-place tie in the SEC West, a single game back of Ole Miss.

LSU’s next SEC action is in Gainesville as the Tigers travel to face the Eastern Division leading Florida Gators, fresh off a 2-1 series victory over the No. 8 Ole Miss Rebels. The season has already held its early share of valleys, but they’ve been tempered by strong comebacks. With the bulk of the season still ahead, LSU looks to improve on their 2-4 conference record and begin the slow climb back toward college baseball supremacy. It may not happen this year, but if the purple and gold can keep up the current pace, at least we’ll be moving in the right direction again.

Originally Published: Issue 601 - March 26, 2008

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