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BATON ROUGE — When was the last time LSU baseball still had almost a month of regular season left in front of it and the situation feels this dire?
The truth is after No. 7 Texas A&M closed out the sweep over the Tigers with the 5-2 win Sunday at Alex Box Stadium, the postseason light is as dim as it's been this early in the season in a long time. LSU (23-18, 6-12 SEC) is not completely eliminated from NCAA regional contention but most of how it's played the last two-plus weeks has to take a complete 180-degree turn.
LSU has suffered two straight sweeps in the SEC, last weekend at Ole Miss and now against the Aggies, the first time that's happened since 2021 for the program. The Tigers are also 15-18 in their last 33 games, all signs of a team that's hanging on by a thread.
LSU BASEBALL COVERAGE LSU baseball swept by Texas A&M, 2nd straight SEC series sweep: Final score
Here are three takeaways from LSU's series loss to Texas A&M this weekend.
LSU coach Jay Johnson admitted after the team's series-opening loss Friday that the team "has not been connected" to the program's win awareness.
Johnson said that the team's defensive issues are likely unfixable at this point in the season, its two-out hitting struggles, which LSU went 7-for-33 against the Aggies this weekend, is "deep-rooted" and that the seeds have sprouted from an ill-advised approach to the team's roster construction.
"I made some mistakes in constructing the team and trying to replace two guys that were irreplaceable where we should have looked for replacing them through the guys that were already in the program," Johnson said, "and then replace the guys that were athletic and could play defense and be more complete players.
"We won't make that mistake again."
Across the three games against Texas A&M, LSU's pitching staff collected six wild pitches and had 19 free passes. The Aggies scored several runs in the series thanks to the walks and pitches getting by the catchers.
LSU has more wild pitches than any other team in the SEC as the problem has plagued the ballclub all season. But against good teams, the execution in this department must be elevated and the Tigers didn't have it against A&M.
"This is an area we have to develop (the catchers) a little bit more. We have to keep finding ways to get them better. With the pitchers' command tightening up, that number has to go down," Johnson said.
"That's a big reason why we are here. You can look at that stat sheet and you can spell trouble or what I'd like to call low maintenance defense."
In order to win games against good teams, a team's best hitters have to show up and deliver. The Tigers' best hitters struggled against the Aggies' pitching staff that was middle of the road in the SEC in terms of team ERA.
Steven Milam, Jake Brown, Derek Curiel and Cade Arrambide combined to go 13-for-52 over the weekend. The same group of players had a tough time getting anything going at Ole Miss last week.
If the Tigers are going to turn this ship around and go on a run to make the postseason, the improvement has to start with their best players.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball get swept by Texas A&M | Here are the takeaways
Continue reading...
The truth is after No. 7 Texas A&M closed out the sweep over the Tigers with the 5-2 win Sunday at Alex Box Stadium, the postseason light is as dim as it's been this early in the season in a long time. LSU (23-18, 6-12 SEC) is not completely eliminated from NCAA regional contention but most of how it's played the last two-plus weeks has to take a complete 180-degree turn.
LSU has suffered two straight sweeps in the SEC, last weekend at Ole Miss and now against the Aggies, the first time that's happened since 2021 for the program. The Tigers are also 15-18 in their last 33 games, all signs of a team that's hanging on by a thread.
LSU BASEBALL COVERAGE LSU baseball swept by Texas A&M, 2nd straight SEC series sweep: Final score
Here are three takeaways from LSU's series loss to Texas A&M this weekend.
LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson admits roster mistakes
LSU coach Jay Johnson admitted after the team's series-opening loss Friday that the team "has not been connected" to the program's win awareness.
Johnson said that the team's defensive issues are likely unfixable at this point in the season, its two-out hitting struggles, which LSU went 7-for-33 against the Aggies this weekend, is "deep-rooted" and that the seeds have sprouted from an ill-advised approach to the team's roster construction.
"I made some mistakes in constructing the team and trying to replace two guys that were irreplaceable where we should have looked for replacing them through the guys that were already in the program," Johnson said, "and then replace the guys that were athletic and could play defense and be more complete players.
"We won't make that mistake again."
Wild pitches and LSU's 'low maintenance defense' problems
Across the three games against Texas A&M, LSU's pitching staff collected six wild pitches and had 19 free passes. The Aggies scored several runs in the series thanks to the walks and pitches getting by the catchers.
LSU has more wild pitches than any other team in the SEC as the problem has plagued the ballclub all season. But against good teams, the execution in this department must be elevated and the Tigers didn't have it against A&M.
"This is an area we have to develop (the catchers) a little bit more. We have to keep finding ways to get them better. With the pitchers' command tightening up, that number has to go down," Johnson said.
"That's a big reason why we are here. You can look at that stat sheet and you can spell trouble or what I'd like to call low maintenance defense."
Top of LSU's batting order in a funk
In order to win games against good teams, a team's best hitters have to show up and deliver. The Tigers' best hitters struggled against the Aggies' pitching staff that was middle of the road in the SEC in terms of team ERA.
Steven Milam, Jake Brown, Derek Curiel and Cade Arrambide combined to go 13-for-52 over the weekend. The same group of players had a tough time getting anything going at Ole Miss last week.
If the Tigers are going to turn this ship around and go on a run to make the postseason, the improvement has to start with their best players.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball get swept by Texas A&M | Here are the takeaways
Continue reading...
