GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Chase has caught up.
Redshirt sophomore Chase Shores pitched in a game for the first time in nearly two years on Sunday, and it was like riding a bike – a very fast bike.
After missing all of 2024 and from April on of 2023 because of an elbow injury that required reconstructive surgery, Shores looked like he had a bionic arm for No. 2 LSU on Sunday afternoon.
CHASE SHORES COMES BACK STRONG
The 6-foot-8 right-hander from Midland, Texas, hit 99 mph in the first inning with a fastball that bottomed at 95 through five innings. And he struck out seven with no walks and allowed three hits and a run in an 8-1 victory over Purdue-Fort Wayne in front of 10,380 at Alex Box Stadium.
“Oh, my goodness. Holy Cow!,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said after sweeping the three-game series to open the season with 14-0 and 10-1 wins in the first two.
“You know, you’re not supposed to have favorites as a coach. But he’s up there at the top,” Johnson said. “Great person. Kind of the first big, high-ceiling, high-talented arm that chose us here in the recruiting world. Was super excited to get him here.”
That was in 2023 when Shores was as highly touted before that season as Air Force transfer Paul Skenes, who would take the Tigers to a national championship crown in Johnson’s second season and become the first player picked in the Major League Baseball Draft later that same summer.
“He’s been through a lot,” Johnson said of Shores. “Just seeing how he’s gone about his work – personally, really happy for Chase, and obviously ecstatic to have him back as a huge contributor to our team.”
Shores mixed in a few different fastballs of varying speeds along with some off-speed deliveries in a 67-pitch outing with 44 strikes.
“If I want to be a starter, I have to be able to mix and change speeds,” Shores said. “I think that was a huge step in the right direction for me.”
One might consider Shores a starter in LSU’s rotation.
“It just didn’t seem like he was trying to chase the count at all,” Johnson marveled. “It felt like it was 1-and-2 or 0-and-2 to every single guy. He showed some really good pitch-ability. The off-speed stuff was awesome. When you’re running it up there – he hit 99 in the first inning – at that velocity, and on the low end 95, and you’re throwing two different shapes of fastballs and mixing two other off-speed pitches, it’s hard. It’s a lot to deal with in the other box.”
LSU’s offense answered the bell as well with 11 hits to finish with 33 on the weekend and 32 runs. Sophomore outfielder Ashton Larson started as the designated hitter and delivered a three-run home run for a 3-1 lead in the fourth. LSU made it 5-1 in the inning on an RBI single by freshman left fielder Derek Curiel and with another run on a wild pitch.
Larson added a two-run double in the sixth for an 8-1 lead and finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
“There’s boys, and there’s men,” Johnson said. “Ashton’s a man. He handles himself the right way all the time.”
Senior third baseman Michael Braswell III’s RBI single put the Tigers up 6-1 in the fifth. Sophomore right fielder Jake Brown was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
LSU also got top flight pitching from freshman William Schmidt, who turned down millions of dollars to enter pro ball right of Catholic High in Baton Rouge last summer as he pulled his name out of the draft before it started. He struck out four in two and two-thirds innings.
Junior transfer Grant Fontenot also struck out two in one inning of relief. And sophomore Jaden Noot, who also had not pitched since 2023 because of the same elbow surgery that Shores had, struck out one in an inning and a third to end the game.
LSU PITCHING MAY LEAD THE NATION IN STRIKEOUTS
LSU pitching struck out 14 in all on the day with zero walks and had 45 strikeouts on the weekend with just two walks. The first batch of NCAA statistics were not fast enough for LSU pitching. They had not come out yet as of Sunday night.
“I’d be shocked if anybody has more strikeouts that we do in the country over three games,” Johnson said. “I thought it was a good weekend. Mainly, the pitching staff was excellent. Takes a lot of pressure off the offense, and we have a good offense.”
LSU (3-0) hosts Southern on Tuesday at 2 p.m., then plays at Nicholls State on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Be the first to comment