GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
One of these weekends, LSU freshman right-hander William Schmidt is going to pitch like it’s a Tuesday night.
Schmidt improved to 7-0 on the season on Tuesday night by striking out seven, including five in a row, in just three and a third innings in No. 2 LSU’s 15-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana at Alex Box Stadium in a game called after seven innings by the 10-run rule.
LSU PITCHER WILLIAM SCHMIDT GOT OFF TO HOT START IN FRISCO, TEXAS
A highly recruited prospect out of Catholic High in Baton Rouge who was projected to go in the Major League Baseball Draft first round last summer before taking his name out to go to LSU, Schmidt allowed four hits, including a home run, and two runs, but with no walks. And that has been his problem. The last time he pitched without a walk was on March 11 when he beat Xavier to go to 3-0 on the season. And yes, that was on a Tuesday.
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It was Schmidt’s fifth win on a Tuesday night in all. The other two were also non-conference victories right next to Tuesday – on a Monday and a Wednesday. Through 14 appearances and 30 and two-thirds innings, Schmidt has a 4.11 ERA, which is high for a 7-0 record, and has 38 strikeouts with 18 walks, which is first among full-time relievers on the team.
His weekends in the Southeastern Conference have been rough – against Missouri on Saturday, March 15, at Texas the next Saturday, and against Alabama on April 19. Schmidt has allowed five earned runs in the SEC on three hits, including a home run, with eight walks and one strikeout in two total innings for a 22.50 earned run average.
But he keeps showing what he can do on Tuesdays as he picked up his fourth straight Tuesday night win since April 1. And this was one of his better performances. His five straight strikeouts came in the first two innings before he allowed a lead-off home run to Dane Watts in the third. It was Watts’ sixth homer of the season and fifth that Schmidt has allowed.
“The real story for me tonight was I really liked what William did on the mound and the execution of the pitches,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “We met with him for a long time on Monday – coach Yeskie and I, and laid out what we felt like he needed to do. And he went out and did it. And that’s a big lift for us.”
Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie want to use Schmidt and his 98 mph fastball and breaking ball in critical short relief in the SEC.
“If you talk about how this team can accomplish some special things, it’s him continuing his development as we go along here and being another real weapon for us,” Johnson said. “So, I love that.”
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Schmidt threw 69 pitches with 43 strikes. If Schmidt or someone else can develop into a short relief option on weekends, then Johnson and Yeskie can keep starting freshman Casan Evans as the starter in the third game of SEC weekends. Evans did that with great success in his first college start on Sunday against one of the nation’s best hitting teams in Tennessee.
LSU (37-9) also got good relief appearances from DJ Primeaux, Jaden Noot and Conner Ware with no walks, which has been an issue in the bullpen overall. Primeaux allowed one hit through an inning and a third with three strikeouts. Noot also struck out three in an inning and a third with no hits, and Ware allowed one hit with a strikeout.
“The pitching was great,” Johnson said.
The offense continued its onslaught started in a 12-2, 10-run rule win over Tennessee on Sunday. The Tigers collected 11 hits in all. LSU opened the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back home runs by Derek Curiel and Jared Jones for a 2-0 lead. It was Curiel’s sixth homer and Jones’ team-high 15th. And Ethan Frey ended it with a grand slam home run in the seventh for the the 10-run deficit at 12-2 and three more for good measure. Frey has eight home runs and is not a regular starter.
Curiel went 2-for-2 and walked twice after going 4-for-4 with a home run and a walk on Sunday. So he is 9-for-9 at reaching base over his last two games after his 43-game streak of reaching base safety ended on Saturday. He also has three lead-off home runs in LSU’s last five games.
“Well, I told everybody he’d probably just start a new streak after Saturday,” Johnson said. “They didn’t know I was talking about a streak of never getting out.”
LSU opens a three-game series at Texas A&M (25-19, 8-13 SEC) on Friday at 6 p.m.
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