LSU Tigers Collapse Late, Drop Series To Oklahoma Sooners On Saturday Afternoon
· Yahoo Sports
It was a fairly stress-free day for the LSU Tigers on Saturday, until it wasn't. The Oklahoma Sooners took advantage of a three-run eighth inning to come back and beat the Tigers, taking the series.
LSU now falls to 16-9 on the year and just 2-4 in SEC play. They had a chance to win this game and the series, leading for the first seven innings. Instead, a bad start to the conference season gets even worse.
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This Sooners team is good; they're top-10 for a reason, but the Tigers are going to need to find some consistency. Just five runs in the final two games of this series is not enough, even when Oklahoma only scored eight.
The bats certainly let the pitching down again, and the defense stumbled at the worst possible time. With the bases loaded, one out and a one-run LSU lead, exciting freshman Jack Ruckert fumbled a ground ball that could have led to a double play. Instead, it extended the inning and allowed the Sooners to eventually take the lead.
In some good news, the Tigers continue to get good at-bats out of freshman slugger Omar Serna Jr. Serna has played a solid catcher this year, but Jay Johnson moved him to first base in this game in an effort to keep him in the lineup.
The 19-year-old went 1-for-4 in this one, but that one hit was a two-run shot in the first. It was his third of the year. His average for the year is now at .280. LSU, rightfully, will be prioritizing him. He's a future star of the team and is already one of their more solid contributors right now.
Their only other offensive standout was Chris Stanfield Jr., who hit his first home run of the year and the ninth of his college career. His bat was underrated by many when he missed so much time this year, but the Tigers clearly need him. He hasn't been perfect, but he's getting on base at a great rate.
William Schmidt went just four innings in this game. He was doing well enough, but Oklahoma got to him early. He gave up just one run, but also six hits and two walks. He threw 90 pitches in that time and LSU had to go to the bullpen early.
Gavin Guidry was charged with the loss, allowing two earned runs on two hits and four walks in 3.1. Deven Sheerin walked two and was on the mound when the runs got charged to Guidry, but didn't allow a hit in 1.2.
The Tigers will return to the field on Tuesday night for a midweek home game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.