By Hunt Palmer
Last weekend was a step up, but it was the smallest step the SEC could offer.
This weekend will be more sizeable. LSU heads to Austin to take on the longhorns for the first time as conference foes. These three games will certainly offer the most hostile environment LSU has seen thus far and likely will present the toughest opponent to date, as well.
Jim Schlossnagle jarred the college baseball world when he bolted from Texas A&M for archrival Texas just hours after finishing the 2024 season runner-up in Omaha. It was his second move within the Lone Star State, and his track record suggests he’s going to win at Texas.
He took his first Aggie team to Omaha after making the trip five times at TCU. This Texas roster is not the most talented he’s ever had, but prior to Tuesday’s extra-inning loss against UTSA, the Horns had won 17 in a row including a conference-opening sweep at Mississippi State last weekend.
Disch-Falk Field should be rocking for three games, and that will be LSU’s first truly hostile environment. Frisco was a road trip, but Riders Park felt like a home game.
LSU has won 16 straight, the longest winning streak for the program since 2017. The 21-1 start for LSU is the best since 1986 when the Tigers reached the College World Series for the first time.
LONGHORN LEFTIES
LSU saw a trio of left-handed starters last weekend from Missouri, and that trend will continue this weekend. Texas will start left-handers Jared Spencer and Luke Harrison on Friday and Saturday.
Spencer is a transfer from Indiana State where he played with LSU catcher Luis Hernandez. He’s a 6-foot-3, 210 lbs., southpaw with a live arm and flowing red hair. Spencer’s fastball is 92-95 mph, but it doesn’t ride like a lot of modern fastballs. It won’t hold its plane and looks hittable. His slider is really firm at 88-89 mph and will miss bats. That’s his out pitch. Prior to last weekend, Spencer had worked 21 innings and allowed just two earned runs. However, Mississippi State hit him a little bit and hung five earned runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings.
Harrison dazzled Ole Miss in his season debut at a tournament in Arlington. He worked 6.2 innings of two-hit, shutout baseball against the Rebels. His stuff isn’t as firm as Spencer’s, but he changes speeds and generally commands his stuff well. That was certainly the case in his first three outings when he walked just three in 14.2 innings. The walks have piled up in his last two outing where he’s walked seven in seven innings. Last weekend at State he allowed two runs on two hits with four walks.
LSU has stuck with Michael Braswell and Ethan Frey in the lineup against left-handers, and it has paid off. Braswell was great at the plate last weekend whether it was laying down squeeze bunts or driving in runs with a two-out RBI hit. Frey clubbed a pair of homers in Tuesday’s win. I expect both to be in the lineup Friday and Saturday against these two quality lefties.
As a staff, Texas is 15th of 16 SEC teams in strikeouts.
LONGHORN LINEUP
Texas has just been okay on offense. It’s certainly been good enough to win, but it hasn’t been flashy. Here are some of Texas’s SEC standing at the plate.
- Batting Avg: .296 (10th)
- On Base %: .400 (13th)
- Runs: 7.5 per game (14th)
- Walks: 5.2 per game (15th)
- Strikeouts: 8.8 per game (4th most)
- Home Runs: 29 (10th)
There’s not an Ivan Melendez in this order. Rylan Galvan has seven homers including one in three of the last four games. Sophomore Ethan Mendoza is hitting .406. It’s a good lineup, but it hasn’t been great to this point. Still, in my opinion, it’s the best LSU’s arms have seen thus far.
Disch-Falk generally plays as a pitchers’ park. Home runs can be tough to come by.
For the LSU staff, it’s going to be about walks right now. Only three SEC teams walk more batters than LSU. Texas hasn’t taken them enough this year, but a loss of command on the road for LSU can create big innings and cost you games. Texas takes more first pitches than any team in the conference. LSU has to work from ahead.
BANGED UP BULLPEN
Texas may have some bullpen issues. We’ll find out this weekend.
Andre Duplantier II is second on the team lead in appearances. He would have tied for the team lead Tuesday, but he was pulled from the game before throwing a pitch. Schlossnagle said Duplantier “felt okay” during warmups, but pitchers “don’t throw on Tuesday if we’re just feeling okay.” His availability for this weekend is in question.
Duplantier boasts an opposing batting average of just .081. He’s an extremely imposing presence on the mound and fires a sinking fastball from a 3/4 arm slot.
The leader in bullpen appearances is Ruger Riojas. He threw four innings on Tuesday and fired 56 pitches. He’s likely ready to go, but that’s a heavy midweek workload. Riojas throws an overhand curveball and a fastball with some good life to it.
LSU’s goal is always to get into the bullpen, and the Tigers have done a great job of that thus far. Right now LSU sits atop the SEC in batting average and ranks second in on base percentage.
You can bet that Jay Johnson has eyes on working Spencer and Harrison hard on Friday and Saturday to get into the Longhorn pen.
SERIES SCHEDULE
- Friday: 7:00pm (SEC Network)
- Saturday: 6:00pm
- Sunday: 2:00pm
The Tigers open their first SEC road trip in Austin Friday night! pic.twitter.com/3Mb86TLC1V
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) March 20, 2025
