Last night I went with my wife and friends to go see Project Hail Mary, so I saw very little of LSU’s jam-packed Friday night. I saw just a few minutes of the women’s basketball team dominant win over Jacksonville to open up their NCAA Tournament run, and I didn’t see a single pitch from LSU’s game two loss to Oklahoma.
After this afternoon, I wish I had gone back and watched Project Hail Mary again.
LSU (16-9, 2-4) gagged away the rubber match against #8 Oklahoma (19-5, 4-2) to drop a second straight
SEC series, and third consecutive weekend overall. LSU led 3-1, but gave up three eighth inning runs to lose 4-3.
LSU’s inability to play complimentary baseball showed up once again and it cost them yet another SEC series. On a day where the pitching was more than good enough to win, the Tiger bats only produced four hits, and Jack Ruckert committed an eighth-inning error that would have ended the frame with LSU’s lead intact; instead Oklahoma was able to capitalize off the mistake, tie the game, and then push across the go-ahead run one batter later.
William Schmidt got the start and while his numbers were good enough (six hits, seven strikeouts, and just one run) he wasn’t efficient. Schmidt threw 90 pitches, but only got through four innings.
Since Schmidt couldn’t give LSU more length, Jay Johnson had to lean on his bullpen and I think he rode Gavin Guidry too long.
Guidry was awesome coming out of the pen. He escaped two different situations with multiple runners on— one in the fifth, and one in the seventh. In the fifth with two on and nobody out he went strikeout, line drive that shot directly into Steven Milam’s glove, strikeout; in the seventh with two on and one out, he got another strikeout and a groundout to Milam.
But Jay sent out Guidry in the eighth inning and it was clear that Guidry was out of gas. Guidry walked the leadoff man on four pitches, then gave up back-t0-back singles that cut LSU’s lead from 3-1 down to 3-2. That’s when Johnson finally gave Guidry the hook and went to Devin Sheerin to try and close the game out.
Sheerin should have gotten out of the eighth with the lead, but a tailor-made double play ball to Jack Ruckert was booted, and the Sooners were able to tie the game. To make matters even worse for Ruckert, he didn’t even get the out at first after Oklahoma challenged the call.
Trailing 4-3 with six outs to work with, LSU went down pitifully and quietly. In the ninth inning Milam grounded out on the first pitch he saw, Seth Dardar lined out on just two pitches, and Chris Stanfield—who homered in the fifth—grounded out to end the game.
LSU’s just not a good team right now. They are at or near the bottom of the SEC in hitting, staff ERA, and fielding…you know, all three phases of baseball. Jay’s trying seemingly any and every idea that pops into his head. Today John Pearson started at third, with Omar Serna at first, while Zach Yorke got booted from the lineup after going 0-4 with four strikeouts last night. Today Eddie Yamin got the start at DH. Jay’s also been using Trent Caraway at second base, except in late game scenarios where he inserts Ruckert in as a defensive replacement…which of course blew up in his face.
I don’t know what the solution is for this 2026 team; and with all the tinkering Jay’s done this year it’s fair to wonder if there even is a solution. I also know there’s still 24 more conference games to go, and we saw LSU get off to a 3-12 start in league play two years ago, find themselves, and came within a few outs of hosting a Super Regional.
But if you’re skeptical that LSU can “do a 2024 again” I don’t blame you. Right now they don’t do anything well, and their one supposed advantage, starting pitching, is about to take a hit as Cooper Moore is going to miss a couple of weeks with some inflammation in his right arm. Oh, and LSU still hasn’t really played the hardest portion of their schedule yet.
Maybe I’ll just go back to the theater next weekend and see Project Hail Mary again.
