LSU baseball has what sounds like a simple task today, win 1 game at home and head to Omaha for the College World Series. Most fans would think LSU winning today against Stony Brook would be a lock. It is not, not even close to a sure thing.
Stony Brook has dominated the first 2 games of this series and looks to be the better team. The SeaWolves have out pitched , out hit, and thoroughly out played the Tigers in this series.
If not for late game heroics and timely home runs, LSU could already be home for the season.
Stony Brook has been so dominate that they have only trailed 1 inning in the entire series. That 1 inning would be the bottom of the 12th in game 1 when the Tigers may have used all of their 9 lives.
Many LSU fans breathed a sigh of relief when Miami was knocked out of the Coral Gables regional thinking the Tigers caught a break. Be careful what you wish for.
This Stony Brook team reminds me of Boise St. in football in that they have built a strong veteran program without the best recruits in the country. The SeaWolves don’t seem to be rattled by anything including 11,000 screaming Tiger fanatics.
Remember that Stony Brook had 7 players drafted in the MLB draft compared to LSU’s 5, and the SeaWolves bested the #4 player drafted yesterday in Tiger’s Ace pitcher Kevin Gausman.
People in Baton Rouge have to be nervous today because LSU’s Kevin Eades goes on the mound for the Tigers. Eades has struggled recently and a loaded Stony Brook lineup will be looking to jump all over him.
Something that could help Eades would be for the Tigers bats to come alive. LSU’s lineup has been held in check by Stony Brook pitching.
Coach Mainieri lamented the Tigers poor at bats.
“We need to get some more hits than we are getting, that is for sure,” Mainieri said. “We have run up against some tough pitching. These kids from Stony Brook are good. They are not overpowering guys and we knew that, but have good command, they mix their pitches well and they do not get you too comfortable in the batter’s box.
“We’ve had a few balls hit hard, not a lot. We just have to do a little bit better tomorrow.”
That would be what I call an understatement Coach. If not, LSU fans and players will be watching the CWS from the same place, TV.
I am hoping that Mouton the “Rally Monkey” has some more magic left because the Tigers are going to need it. Never thought I would say that against a team called Stony Brook.
Catch the game on ESPN 2 today at 12:00 pm.
