GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Got that empty feeling?
No. 3 LSU does … as in going 0-for-3 at No. 9 Auburn over the weekend.
The Tigers (31-6, 10-5 Southeastern Conference) got swept in an SEC three-game series for the first time this season and for the first time at the hands of Auburn since 1988. Auburn (26-10, 9-6 SEC), which won 8-4 Friday and 4-2 Saturday, swept an SEC team for the first time since the 2023 season.
LSU had lost only one previous series all season at Texas. And Auburn did it with pitching after entering the series 12th out of 16 teams in the SEC in earned run average at 4.72 against an LSU team No. 2 in the SEC in batting average at .328.
For this series, LSU hit .187 (18-for-96) and scored all of eight runs.
“I got some good advice before I came out here from another coach in the league indirectly,” said coach Jay Johnson, who is in his fourth season at LSU since leaving Arizona. “You’re going to take a punch to the gut. You’re going to get swept at some point on the road in this league.”
The Tigers put up just four hits Sunday and were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. For the series, LSU was 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position and left 26 men on base.
Auburn reliever Griffin Graves allowed two runs on one hit in the eighth as the Tigers cut a 3-0 lead after two innings to 3-2. Graves walked four in three and a third innings with three strikeouts, but got the win to go to 3-1. Dylan Watts allowed zero runs on one one hit with two strikeouts for his first save of the season.
After Ethan Frey walked and Daniel Dickinson doubled, Steven Milam’s ground out scored the Tigers’ first run of the game in the eighth to get within 3-1 in the eighth. Jake Brown’s RBI single then made it a one-run game. But as was the case Saturday, LSU went out in order in the ninth.
“That game was there for the taking today,” Johnson said. “And we didn’t do it.”
Auburn pitching nullified LSU top average hitter and RBI and home run leader Jared Jones in all three games as he finished 1-for-13 with six strikeouts. Luis Hernandez finished 0-for-9 with two strikeouts, and Frey was 0-for-7.
LSU starter Chase Shores, meanwhile, lasted just two innings in his shortest outing of the season, allowing three earned runs on three hits with two walks in taking the loss to fall to 5-2. Zac Cowan pitched well enough to win as he allowed no runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings.
“After two and a half games of not scoring a lot, I didn’t feel like we could afford to get behind by five,” Johnson said of Shores’ removal. “So, we put a guy in that doesn’t give up runs.”
Cowan has been one of LSU’s top relievers and best overall pitchers at 2-0 on the season with a 0.79 ERA and four saves. He has struck out 42 in 34 innings with six walks and a .156 batting average allowed. Shores’ ERA is up to 5.12. He has struck out 41 with 20 walks in 38 and two-thirds innings and has allowed a .291 batting average.
Reliever Casan Evans also pitched well enough to win or get a seventh save, allowing two hits and zero runs in an inning and a third. He is 1-0 with an 0.73 ERA on the season with 39 strikeouts and eight walks in 24 and two-thirds innings and a .193 average allowed.
LSU BASEBALL OPENS 9-GAME HOMESTAND TUESDAY
The Tigers at least get a lengthy homestand now after seven straight road games. LSU hosts Alabama (29-8, 8-7) at Alex Box Stadium on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPNU), Friday (6 p.m., SEC Network+) and Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network). The Tide lost two of three at home over the weekend to Mississippi State. LSU hosts McNeese State (27-5, 14-4 Southland Conference) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to open a stretch of nine straight at home.
“Holding it together, staying together and moving forward,” Johnson said, “and making it about coaching baseball is what makes the difference.”
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