LSU opens 2018 baseball season with a dud - its first opening series loss this century

BATON ROUGE - LSU partied at Alex Box Stadium over the weekend like it was 1999.

Meaning, it lost a season opening baseball series at home for the first time since 1999. The Tigers lost two of three to lightly regarded Notre Dame, 10-5 on Saturday and 11-3 on Sunday, after coming back from a 6-0 deficit in the sixth to win, 7-6, on Friday. All totaled, LSU held a lead for exactly three innings over the 27-inning duration through the weekend - 7-6 in the eighth and ninth Friday and 1-0 in the third on Sunday.

LSU's new pitching rotation did not get off to a flying start. Junior right-hander Caleb Gilbert, sophomore right-hander Zack Hess and sophomore right-hander Todd Peterson combined for a 13.50 earned run average in giving up 18 hits and 16 earned runs through 10 and two-thirds innings with 10 walks, two hit batsmen and a wild pitch.

Starting pitching was an area of concern entering the season as LSU lost all three starters from last season, but it was not expected to start like this.

The offense was viewed as stronger, but it its most hits were eight in the opener. There were just seven Saturday and five Sunday.

And this was not against a powerhouse. Notre Dame was 26-32 last year with a 10-20 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference for last place and lost most of its pitching staff.    

The Fighting Irish also just played better and with more zest throughout the weekend. The Fighting Tigers are lucky they were not swept. They were shut out through five of the opener before getting a grand slam from Bryce Jordan in the sixth, then winning it with a three-run homer by Josh Smith in the eighth.

"They made every play," a subdued LSU coach Paul Mainieri said Sunday of the program he coached from 1995 through 2006. "The infield, the outfield. All over the park, they just played great. Honestly, I've been through that for 12 years - bringing a team out of the snow and going outside for the first time. Obviously, their coach (Mik Aoki) has the secret for it because I couldn't figure out how to play that well right out of the gate."

When LSU started to get close Saturday and Sunday, the Irish pulled away.

"Every time we made a mistake, Notre Dame took advantage of it," Mainieri said. "They just played tremendous baseball, and really just outclassed us in just about everything. Everything they did, they just played great and he (Aoki) coached them well. And we didn't coach them well enough. And we didn't play well. It really wasn't one aspect of the game all weekend, where I could point to."

It was just about everything, but Mainieri seemed most concerned with the starting pitching.

"We had another very average start from a starting pitcher," he said. "It all starts with pitching. You've got to throw the ball over the plate. We gave up too many free passes, wild pitches, stolen bases. It was just very, very sloppy. Start with the basics. There's no defense against a base on balls."

Nothing worked. 

"We didn't hit well. Everything we did today was just short for what it takes to compete at this level," Mainieri said. "We've just got to get back to work, work hard and keep our confidence, stay positive and just know that it's a work in progress. We've got a lot of new guys. Guys are just going to have to keep working through those moments."

And it does not get any easier next weekend after the former No. 9 Tigers host the University of New Orleans on Wednesday. No. 20 Texas, which took two of three at home against Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend (3-0, 5-3 before a 2-1 loss), will be at LSU this weekend for games at 7 p.m. Friday, 6:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Texas was the last team to beat LSU at home in a season opening series in 1999 in similar fashion. The '99 Tigers, who advanced deep into the College World Series in 1998 much like LSU did last year, beat Texas 7-5 in the opener before collapsing for 16-4 and 10-4 losses. That LSU team recovered to win seven straight and 13 of its next 14 but did not reach Omaha, losing in the Super Regional at Alabama.

LSU's schedule will lighten up after Texas before SEC play so the Tigers will have time to get themselves together.   

"That doesn't lighten the pain that we feel right now, and I know the LSU fans were so disappointed over the last couple of games as well," Mainieri said. "But the reality is when there are first time players, there's a big adjustment. There's just no avoiding the fact that there are going to be some speed bumps along the way."