First Game At the Box (long)

TL:DR – So I finally got to watch an LSU baseball game in person at the Box. Too bad it was a 4-3 loss to Bama.

So, today was my first time ever watching the game at the Box (it was the second game of the doubleheader). The highlight of the game for me, obviously, was getting to watch the Tigers (and the Gumps) in person. The lowlight was, of course, the Tigers dropping another one to Bama.

I actually bought my ticket for $5 (originally priced $8) from a scalper outside the Box; he was selling all his tickets, it looked like. So I got field-level seats for pretty cheap.

Lots of interesting fans inside the stadium for sure. That familiar “GEAUX…TIGERS” chant was in full force tonight (is that you, Chris Guillot?). There was one guy behind us, in section 220, I believe, screaming something to the umpires about his “obviously getting your degree from the UNIVERSITY of ALABAMA!!” because he was so mad! I forgot exactly what he said and how that came about—the umpire obviously made a bad call. But, I mean, he wasn’t holding back!

What really got me about this game was that the Tigers outhit the Gumps 13 to 7, yet they could only put one run on the board through eight innings. In fact, if I remember correctly, they only had ONE run on 10 (!!!) hits in that span! That extra run scored by Bama in the ninth really hurt, because only after that did LSU try to make a game out of it. The game really wasn’t even that close.

Poché obviously struggled with command tonight. Didn’t give up too many hits, but hit the first batter he faced, walked quite a few, and gave up a home run to their catcher who was hitting below .250. On the flip side, Tigers were hitting Walters pretty well and had only one run to show for it. LSU must have had at least seven runners in scoring position tonight, and could only convert three times, twice in the ninth (once because of a wild pitch).

A few things I was impressed with from the game: Kramer swung a hot bat early on and made a nice leaping catch, but that error was another story. The Jordan twins were hitting the ball hard tonight: Beau’s 3-for-5 is pretty damn good, although I still think he shouldn’t have tried to stretch that one into a double; that’s a momentum-killer there. Oh, and that pinch-hit by Jordan Romero was pretty clutch. Would have been better if it was a homer (my naïve opinion).

All I can say is, this game was a pretty telling reminder of how much more work LSU has to do, both in pitching and in driving in runners in scoring position, especially with SEC play now in full swing. I have faith LSU can and will improve in those areas. They have to, otherwise this will be a long season.