"Mission accomplished. We pack up and move on.” LSU sweeps Missouri, looks ahead

LSU started off SEC play with a three-game sweep over Missouri, further solidifying itself as one of the top teams in the nation. Everything is clicking for the Tigers on the mound and at the plate as Jay Johnson’s team is playing with high-level confidence and maturity across the board.

“It’s a good weekend. I’m proud of our team,” Johnson said. “I thought we executed really well, all phases. Outside of one mistake, we played error free baseball on defense. The pitchers did a great job competing in the slots that we had them in and really executed well. And then offensively, it’s just a lot of different stuff. Kind of weird day with the wind and we got one pitch up that Jake hit out, but other than that, manufactured a lot of runs, a lot of quality at bats, took advantage of free bases or mistakes and turned it into a lot of runs. We scored seven last night, so that’s 29 over a three game weekend is really good when you’re in conference play. Mission accomplished and we pack up and move on.”

Derek Curiel, Jared Jones, Daniel Dickinson, and Steven Milam continue to lead the Tigers at the plate, all batting over .370 on the season, but there was another name that stepped up in LSU’s game three win on Sunday.

Ethan Frey continues to step in and produce, helping the Tigers seal the seep with a 3-for-4 day with two RBIs. Johnson continues to rave about his play and the impact of everyone on the roster.

“I thought he had a great day,” Johnson said. “The first one, a huge hit,
I thought he just competed well with two strikes, fouled a couple pitches off, and he’s strong, so he ripped one that went down the line to get things started, and it’s always good to get off to a good start. We’ve been a very good first inning team, especially here recently. He’s been a part of that when he plays. I love that we were pretty lined up for what he was going to do and saw an opportunity right there. He executed a good job on hit and run and big two out hit, staying inside of him again. Really good job by Ethan today.”

Frey continue what has been an encouraging trend of LSU getting off to hot starts and it’s been imperative for LSU in this winning streak. Now, at 20-1 on the season, the Tigers hope to continue setting the table and getting their pitchers into comfortable games from the jump.

“Coach Bertman used to talk about the inevitable two, that it’s two runs in the first inning because the pitcher’s trying to settle in, the umpires trying to settle in,” Johnson said. “There’s an opportunity there, and usually your best hitters are coming up. Now, we have a line up full of good hitters, but you’re starting with the guy that had five quality bats today again, best power hitter in the country and Jared and Danny’s playing great.
There’s a lot of pressure on that picture in the first inning facing those guys and we’re usually matching up pretty good in the four hole and Milam’s an RBI machine. I think it has to do with the players, executing their plan and taking good at bats.”

LSU battled throughout the weekend, winning game two just 7-6 and showing that resilience we’ve seen throughout the year. It’s become an early trademark for this team and something that impresses Johnson every time they step on the field.

“Yeah, that was really good this weekend,” Johnson said. “It’s just an answer back mentality. I think these guys are really good when they’re challenged and it probably just speaks to that competitive nature, but just focusing on what’s in front of them. You don’t get disappointed by maybe the other team scoring one or two, just get back to playing offense. Their ability to focus on what’s right in front of them and just a competitive nature.”


The Tigers wrap up another week of baseball and now look ahead to the rest of SEC play hoping to maintain their momentum, but also seeking rest and a chance to regroup before heading to Austin where they’ll face No. 5 Texas next weekend.

“No matter how much baseball you’ve played, you haven’t played this. I mean, that’s two five game weeks, ten games over two weeks and then you’re right in the SEC play and there’s been zero drop off,” Johnson said. “Tomorrow is off, we got a lot of guys that need training room, recovery, lift on their own, get their bodies back. There’s a pretty narrow window of players we use for the weekend when you talk about Luis catching all three games. The middle of the infield was the same for all 27 innings. We have to really take care of their bodies and then Tuesday, I know New Orleans won Friday and Saturday. I don’t know if they won today or not. It’s gonna be a good competitive game. It was a really good competitive game last year, starting our ascent to be a really good team. It was that game. Get focused on that and then Wednesday, depending on how that game goes, we may need to get some more guys some work, and then evaluate what we need to do, get ready and then we’ll fly over there on Thursday.”