LSU Sweeps Oklahoma

Three SEC sweeps in four weekends

Despite the cold, mist, and wind in Norman on Saturday afternoon, everything is sunshine and rainbows in the LSU dugout as the Tigers were successful in sweeping Oklahoma 3-2.

LSU improves to 30-3 on the year and, more importantly, 10-2 in SEC play. LSU has swept three of four SEC series since conference play began and only needed to use five total pitchers this weekend.

Chase Shores got his usual game three start and had by far and away his best SEC outing. Shores gave LSU five innings and did not allow an earned run. The one Sooner run was unearned and came by way of a passed ball that got by Luis Hernandez. Shores did have some command issues (four walks) but he only gave up three hits and there’s progress being shown.

“Chase was great today, and he just keeps getting better,” Jay Johnson said. “He just got to the next pitch every time today, and he did a great job. He continually got what he needed to do next very, very well.”

Shores handed the ball to Zac Cowan in the sixth inning and Cowan got LSU home and was really efficient early on in his outing. Cowan needed just 15 total pitches to go six-up, six-down across the sixth and seventh inning, and ended up retiring the first eight batters he faced.

Cowan made LSU sweat it out late, however. After retiring the first two batters in the eighth, Cowan gave up a single and issued a walk to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but was able to get out of that jam with a grounder back to the mound.

Cowan made things really interesting in the ninth inning when a leadoff error by Michael Braswell got a short-lived rally started for Oklahoma. The Sooners were able to bring that runner home two batters later to make it a 3-2 game.

Oklahoma got the tying run into scoring position and the go-ahead run on board when Cowan issued a four-pitch walk, but Cowan was able to get Trey Gambill to fly out to centerfield and end the game.

Offense was, of course, hard to come by for either side in these conditions. LSU only managed six hits, while Oklahoma had five. Steven Milam and Luis Hernandez each had two hits, while Derek Curiel and Bear Jones had one.

All three of LSU’s runs were driven by Curiel, who has now reached base in all 33 games LSU has played this season, which is a new program record for an LSU freshman.

Curiel’s first two RBI of the afternoon came in the second inning, when an error by Kyle Branch allowed the Tigers to plate two.

Curiel’s third run, which proved to be the difference Saturday, came thanks to an RBI double and some aggressive base running by Stanfield. Curiel hit a double to left field and Stanfield, running on contact, came all the way around from first base to score.

“That run ended up being the difference in the game,” Johnson said. “Awesome at-bat by Derek.”

The story of this weekend is, of course, the LSU pitching, and especially the efforts by the starting trio of Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, and Shores. The Tiger starters pitched 19.2 innings and did not allow an earned run. They also had 26 Ks (14 by Anderson) against 10 walks; and that’s of course not counting the efforts out of the pen by Cowan and Casan Evans last night.

This was about as big of a statement weekend LSU could have hoped for. The Tigers went on the road against a top-10 team, swept them, and only needed five pitchers to do it. Add in the fact that LSU’s swept back-to-back conference weekends, plus the stockpiling of SEC wins, and the Tigers are on the right trajectory to be a Top-8 seed.

LSU will be on the road for the entirety of this upcoming week. On Tuesday LSU will make up its previously postponed game against Nicholls in Thibodaux, and then the Tigers will travel to The Plains to take on Auburn. LSU will back to the usual Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekend rotation and all three games may be streamed via SEC Network+.