Gavin Guidry came into the 2024 season with high expectations.
He was named to the 2024 Stopper of the Year Award, an award given to the top reliever in college baseball, watchlist in the preseason, but he hasn’t quite reached those standards so far this season.
If Tuesday night’s performance is any indication though, Guidry could be hitting hit peak at just the right time for the Tigers. He pitched a season high four innings and allowed just one hit and no walks to help LSU to a comeback win over Northwestern State.
“I’m so thankful for Gavin Guidry going four innings,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said.
Guidry was awarded his second win of the season for his performance and dropped his ERA from 5.10 to 3.78. His four innings pitched were the most since the threw two hitless innings in a loss to Arkansas.
He entered the game for LSU in the sixth inning with the Tigers trailing 5-3. He didn’t have much margin for error. A loss would’ve likely snuffed out LSU’s postseason chances. The Tigers’ RPI and KPI would’ve plummeted and reversed any goodwill they garnered over the last three weeks with selection committee.
“We knew that game was a game that had to be won,” Guidry said. “The RPI would have completely plummeted if we would have dropped that game.”
But Guidry came in and struck out the first three batters he faced to help LSU’s offense start to slowly chip away at the deficit. The lone blemish on his performance was a single in the seventh inning. His seven strikeouts were a career high.
After LSU reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the eighth, Guidry sent the Demons three up, three down and finished the game with a strikeout to secure the win.
“You lose that game and the chances of getting into the postseason plummet,” Guidry said. “We’d have to sweep and win the SEC Tournament in order to get in the tournament if we dropped that game. Pretty soon, a couple weeks from now, every single team that’s still playing is going to be in the hot seat. We’ll be lucky enough to have played 15 games, 20 games up to that point where it’s pretty much win or the season is over with, and there’s not going to be a lot of teams that’ve gone through that.”
LSU’s next two series against Alabama and Ole Miss will be crucial in the Tigers making the postseason. Being able to rely on Guidry in the high pressure situations like they did last season could be a difference maker as they try to make their case for a postseason bid.
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