By Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
The LSU baseball team struggled to find a rhythm early this season but has gained some momentum after taking its first SEC series last weekend at Auburn. LSU will host SEC East leading Georgia in a pivotal SEC series this weekend.
LSU capped a solid weekend with a 9-5 victory on the planes and took two out of three from their SEC West rival.
Good hitting from the entire lineup top to bottom, and excellent relief pitching has lifted the Tigers of late, as they’ve won four of their last five games overall.
Moving Jake Tompkins to the bullpen proved to be an excellent move by LSU skipper, Smoke Laval.
“We moved (Jake) Tompkins to the bullpen just to shake things up,” said Laval. “Maybe he can help us more from the bullpen and perhaps he can make the bullpen better as a whole unit.”
Tompkins was responsible for closing out three of LSU’s victories last week and his steady right arm closed the door on Auburn Friday and Sunday.
The Tigers are a young team with plenty new faces as the learning process continues. At any other school, this season would be viewed as a rebuilding year, but at LSU, the Tigers are looking to reload in a hurry. It seems apparent that this team is ready to turn the corner.
“The pressure is real and its tough to overcome,” said Laval. “We are the problem and we are the solution. Once we recognize that we are the problem then we can find a solution. It’s our mindset that need’s to change.”
It’s not a new phenomenon for LSU 20-13 (5-6), to enter a season with an entirely new lineup than the previous year. And it’s not unusual for that team to struggle early as it tries to gather itself.
“It’s not so much youth that is hurting us,” said Laval. “The bases are still 90 feet long and the mound is still 60’6″. It’s how you handle success and how you handle failure. It’s the pressure barrier and expectations that you put on yourself. That’s what being young is. You hope that you are a close knit team where you can rely on your teammates to help you out and pick you up.”
In 1997, LSU returned only two starters and one starting pitcher. The team managed to have a good win/loss record early on, but weak opponents through the first two months of the season were pushing the Tigers. Not to worry, though, that season ended with LSU’s playing championship baseball and winning its fourth national title while setting a single season team homerun record (188) that still amazes people today.
In 2000, the Tigers had a five game losing streak in March and fans began to question Skip Bertman’s coaching ability. Question Bertman? Well, he had the team where he wanted it by season’s end and LSU won a fifth national title.
Now it’s Coach Laval’s turn to redirect the fortunes of the Tigers in 2002.
“It’s playing better, not the wins and losses that concerns me right now.” said Coach Laval. “Yeah sometimes you win, but we didn’t play well. We’re just trying to play well every time out so we get to a plateau where we feel comfortable playing at. We need to put all phases of the game together.”
This year’s team has excelled and struggled in all phases of the game at times this season. Hitting, starting pitching, relief pitching and fielding have all helped and hindered the inconsistent Tigers.
LSU has shown potential to have one of the more complete teams in recent years capable of being strong in all four phases. However, LSU has yet to solidify any one phase that the team can count on every game.
Laval has never lost faith in his team, however. He’ll tell you that the preseason expectations placed on this team weren’t fair, but admit that his team has a chance to be special.
“Everyone in the conference is telling me how good they think we are,” said Laval. “Well, this weekend I’d like to see us go out and prove how well we can play. If we win a few games, great, but as long as we play well I will feel better about this team.”