Tigers Defeat UNO Sunday In Fall Baseball Scrimmage

LSU Baseball Report

For Immediate Release – November 7, 2021

TIGERS DEFEAT UNO SUNDAY IN FALL BASEBALL SCRIMMAGE

BATON ROUGE, La. – Catcher Tyler McManus went 3-for-5 with a towering home run to left field Sunday to lead the LSU baseball team to a 13-5 win in their first fall scrimmage against the UNO Privateers at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

The scrimmage against the Privateers was the first chance head coach Jay Johnson had to see his team in action against an opponent not wearing the purple and gold. The teams competed in two 10-inning sessions with a 30-minute break in between.

“It was great,” Johnson said. “One of the reasons you do this is so you get some type of feel for the real thing, and it’s good for our players.”

Game No. 1
LSU wins 13-5

In the first session of the day, which got underway at Noon, UNO jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning after a double down the left-field line and an RBI single. Junior Cade Doughty led off for the Tigers in the bottom of the first and smoked a double to the right-centerfield gap, but LSU was unable to capitalize.

For the remainder of the game, UNO scored four runs, while the Tigers scored 13. In the bottom of the second inning, DH Brayden Jobert reached on an infield single and McManus brought him in with a home run to left. After a walk to sophomore Brody Drost, transfer Jack Merrifield doubled down the left-field line to put two runners in scoring position for Doughty. He would bring in Drost with a single up the middle, and sophomore Tre’ Morgan would knock a run in on a sacrifice fly to center.

With the score 4-1 in LSU’s favor, the Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the third after senior Gavin Dugas led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. A base hit up the middle from Drost would plate Dugas, and a throwing error by the Privateers allowed LSU to tack on another run.

In the fourth, the Tigers added three more runs, all coming with two outs. After Dugas drew a walk, Jobert collected a base hit. Senior Cade Beloso would step up to the plate with a runner on and smoke a two-run homer into the right-field bleachers to make the score 9-1.

“(Cade Beloso and Tyler McManus) are just mature hitters,” Johnson said. “They have a good number of at-bats under their belts. They separate balls from strikes; both of them have worked extremely hard since we got rolling at the end of August. Made a couple of swing adjustments, and they’re carrying them into their games and at-bats very nicely.”

LSU would plate two more in the bottom of the fifth, scoring a run for the fourth straight inning. The Tigers capitalized on Privateer mistakes, scoring on two wild pitches. Neither team would score again until the bottom of the ninth when Merrifield, Morgan, and Dylan Crews tallied base hits. Merrifield crossed home plate on Morgan’s double, and Morgan scored on Crews’ single to left field.

UNO added four runs in the top of the 10th after a walk, three doubles, and a wild pitch.

On the mound, LSU went to five different pitchers including transfer right-hander Eric Reyzelman. He finished the day with two innings pitched, retiring the side in both frames with three strikeouts.

“(Reyzelman)’s got a great arm,” Johnson said. “His fastball is getting up to 97, he’s pitching at the bottom of the zone, and he’s aggressive. I really liked his demeanor. I thought he pitched with a lot of confidence, a lot of conviction, and his stuff is plenty good enough. When he does that, he’s going to get outs.”

To start the day off, sophomore Javen Coleman pitched three innings, tallying four strikeouts, while only giving up one run. Following Reyzelman in the middle innings, sophomore Blake Money toed the rubber, pitching three solid innings. He gave up no runs on three hits and struck out two. Grant Fontenot and Jacob Hasty closed out the first session in the ninth and 10th innings.

NOTABLE STATS FROM GAME 1 VS UNO
Tyler McManus 3-5, HR, BB, 2 RBI
Brayden Jobert 3-6, 2B
Tre Morgan 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 RBI
Cade Doughty 2-5, 2B, BB, RBI
Blake Money 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 Ks
Eric Reyzelman 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 Ks

Game No. 2
LSU wins 6-1

Just like in the first session, UNO got off to a good start in the first inning. The second batter of the session hit a home run to right field that put the Privateers ahead 1-0 early.

While the Tigers couldn’t get their bats going, UNO struggled to scratch any more runs across. LSU turned their fortunes, though, in the bottom of the fourth when Doughty smashed a double to straightaway centerfield. Morgan smoked a triple to the right-centerfield gap to score Doughty and tie the game.

Both teams remained at a stalemate until Beloso launched his second home run of the day halfway up the right-field bleachers to give LSU a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh. After Giovanni DiGiacomo reached on a base on balls, Brennan Holt and Will Safford bunted their way on base, showing off impressive speed.

Freshman Blaise Priester widened the lead with a double down the left-field line, scoring DiGiacomo and Holt, making the score 4-1. Safford scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.

After giving up the first-inning home run, the Tiger pitching staff was able to effectively limit the Privateers. Ty Floyd threw three innings and picked up six strikeouts, while only giving up the solo dinger.

Left-hander Bryce Collins came in to face one batter before freshman right-hander Cale Lansville took over. Lansville went 3.2 innings and tallied six strikeouts while allowing no runs on one hit. Right-hander Paul Gervase replaced Lansville in the top of the eighth and sat the Privateers down on strikes in order.

The Tigers tacked on another run in the bottom of the ninth after a single from Jobert and a double from Beloso to make it 6-1.