BATON ROUGE – Jared Jones called up a team meeting after LSU baseball’s worst nonconference loss in program history Tuesday night at home to Northwestern State.
The content of that meeting was simple for the Tigers (36-9, 14-7 SEC).
“Credit to the coaching staff and credit to those guys in that locker room,” LSU freshman Derek Curiel said Sunday afternoon after a 4-for-4, five RBI, two run performance against No. 6 Tennessee. “The bounce-back is what’s needed in baseball. I think we did a great job of that.
“Baseball is a game of failure, you’re going to fail, you’re going to succeed. I think our guys know how to bounce back from losses.”
Mere days after an embarrassing 13-3 loss to the Demons in seven innings, the Tigers indeed bounced back to take the series against the Volunteers, countering its worst loss with its two biggest wins this season.
LSU won on a Jones walkoff homer in game one, dropped game two 9-3 and responded with its best offensive showing in some time in run-ruling Tennessee 12-2 in eight innings Sunday.
Freshman Casan Evans makes case to be Sunday starter for LSU baseball
Freshman Casan Evans officially found out he was getting the ball after LSU’s loss to the Vols Saturday.
He was excited to learn the news but he said nothing changed for him in preparation.
“It was an amazing experience,” Evans said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. I think the closest was probably Mississippi State fan-wise. Being able to go out there and control my breathing, control my body was the biggest thing for me.”
Evans got off to a rocky opening inning, giving up two runs but after that settled in nicely after “getting the ball down in the zone,” as he retired 15 of the next 17 batters while striking out six on 85 pitches, his longest appearance this season.
LSU coach Jay Johnson said the gameplan with Evans coming into the Tennessee weekend was he would come in on relief his team was tied or had to lead late in either of the games and if not come in either Friday or Saturday, he would start on Sunday.
The scenario played out and the freshman hadn’t pitched to the first two games. Johnson was asked after the loss on Saturday about his pitching plan for Sunday and he didn’t want to show his cards.
“But he’s so good, it may not have mattered anyway,” Johnson said of Evans. Johnson was noncommittal about specifics of Evans’ role going forward but he did say it could look very similar to this weekend.
Michael Braswell turning corner offensively
With Chris Stanfield at the bottom of the order, LSU already has late lineup riches. But the reemergence of senior Michael Braswell makes the Tigers a far more formidable offense as the calendar flips to the last month of the regular season.
Braswell hit his first two home runs of the season in the Tennessee series and had three RBIs and four runs scored.
Johnson said his quality at-bats have been getting better and more consistent.
“He got off to a bit of a slow start, his defense has never wavered,” Johnson said of Braswell. “Having two shortstops on the left side of our infield is a big plus for our team. Offensively, in the midst of us maybe not being at our peak for a little bit of time here, he’s one guy that has kept taking really good at-bats.
“Playing the best baseball of his career right now. I’m proud of him for that.”
Why LSU baseball winning series over Tennessee matters in long run
Come Selection Monday in about a month’s time, what LSU accomplished this weekend will go a long if the NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Committee is deciding between LSU and another team for a seed. Tennessee’s résumé is great and its RPI will remain high so the wins will have miles on them.
Also in the SEC standings, LSU is now above the Vols in sole third place and hold the tiebreaker in the event it comes down to it. The Tigers will have a chance to possibly leapfrog Arkansas, who currently sits in second behind Texas in the standings, at home in a couple of weekends.
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].
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