I admit it, I was getting a little tense! I'm happy Mainieri gutted it out and stuck with it. We need our closers to have confidence and that's about as good of a way to build it as there is. Here's to sweeping things up on Sunday!
Mainieri on Eades: “Ryan was not on the top of his game because his command was not as good as it normally is,” Mainieri said. “Not so much with walks but he just was elevating his pitches a little bit. He couldn’t put hitters away with the regularity that he normally does. But then he kind of got a second wind about the middle of the game.”
State starter Nick Routt was pulled after surrendering three runs in 3.2 innings. Evan Mitchell went the rest of the way for the Dogs and gave up just one run. this is what Baseball America wrote about the two pitchers LSU faced yesterday: On Saturdays, Cohen said he likes to start senior lefthander Nick Routt (1-1, 3.31) and follow him up with another explosive arm, sophomore righty Evan Mitchell (1-0, 3.00). Routt's velocity has climbed into the 90-92 range, his breaking ball has improved, and his once-devastating changeup is finally starting to return to form now that he is a year and a half removed from ulnar nerve displacement surgery in his elbow. But Mitchell is electric, with a fastball that reaches 92-93 and a dramatically improved breaking ball. "We feel like it's such a diverse look when you go from Routt to Mitchell," Cohen said. "Evan might have the best arm on our club—just a dominant type of breaking ball, gives you a different look after Routt." “Nick comes out and just has quality stuff and when you put Evan Mitchell behind him with that breaking ball, it is tough,” Cohen said. The Bulldogs have plenty of experience and talent on the mound. "I love our club," Cohen said. "We can really pitch." "That's how we tried to build it, around our ballpark and what our conference demands," Cohen said. "In the SEC, if you can't make people swing and miss, you can't compete at the highest level. I think we've averaged nine or 10 strikeouts a ballgame; that's something the Vanderbilts, Floridas and South Carolinas have been able to do. "I love the depth of our pitching." The Bulldogs have used 17 different pitchers so far, and Cohen says 13 of them have thrown a fastball 91 mph or better in a game this spring.
Baseball America on the pitcher LSU faces today: on Sundays, the Bulldogs call upon junior righthander Kendall Graveman (1-0, 2.82), whose calling card is the incredible sink on his 89-91 mph fastball. he has an 8-4 career record for State, and he hasn't lost a game since he was a freshman. he was #1 on the team with a 5-0 record last year as a sophomore, and he is undefeated again this year. opposing batters are only hitting .198 against him and he's a smart one... Mechanical Engineering major, SEC Academic Honor Roll every year, National Honor Society in high school, etc
