I am going to start with the pitchers and I will try to get to the hitters later in the week:
We will start with their starters.
Zack Hess is their Friday night guy. The right-handed junior played on team USA last summer and was a Freshman All American in 2016. He has started 4 games in 2019 and is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA through 18.1 innings of work. He has given up 21 hits, 12 runs (10 earned) with 21 strikeouts and 11 walks. Opponents are hitting .280 against him. As a freshman Hess was pretty dominant. He appeared in 30 games and started 6. He had a 7-1 record and a 3.12 ERA while opponents hit just .182 against him. I’m not sure if he hit a sophomore slump in 2018 or if opposing hitters just figured him out, but he took a big step back with an ERA of 5.05. So far this year, he is obviously closer to the 5.05 mark than he is the 3.12. His best outing was probably this past Friday against California where he went 5.2 while giving up 2 earned runs off of 5 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. He probably isn’t the toughest pitcher UK will face this year, but the kid has proven that he has some good stuff.
After Hess things get shaky seemingly due to some injuries. Freshman right-hander Landon Marceaux started on Saturday in 3 of the 4 weekends, but last weekend he came out of the bullpen against California on Friday. Marceaux is struggling this season with a 1-1 record and a 7.90ERA. He has pitched 13.2 innings in his 4 appearances and given up 12 hits, 12 runs (all earned) with 9 walks and 11 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .235 against him. So, looking at those stats, it seems like the kid struggles with some control and walks too many hitters. He seems to have good swing and miss stuff and according to his bio he has a 4 pitch mix. I imagine that LSU will continue to try to lean on him even if he doesn’t get a starting nod this weekend.
Freshman two-sport athlete Jaden Hill is a right handed quarterback and pitcher for LSU that got the nod for the Sunday starts in the first two weekends. He was impressive with 1-0 record and a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work in his two appearances. He gave up 2 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits with just 3 walks and 11 strikeouts while opponents hit just .162 against him. The strange thing is that he hasn’t pitched since the second Sunday against Bryant. It is unclear whether he suffered an injury or what is going on with him. A quick google search doesn’t really dig up any dirt, so I honestly don’t know what to think.
Eric Walker is another candidate to start this weekend. He is a redshirt sophomore right hander that earned Freshmen All-America honors in 2017, but tore his ulnar collateral ligament near the end of the year and underwent Tommy John’s surgery and sat out all of 2018. The Tigers seem to be easing him back into things, but I know they are itching to get more out of him. He has appeared in 5 games and started in 3. He has a 1-0 record and has worked 13 innings with a 6.92 ERA. Walker has given up 11 hits and opponents have scored 10 runs (all earned) against him while Walker has walked 6 and struck out 7. Opponents are hitting .229 against him. The righty has a three pitch mix, which you have to imagine that hitters might get more comfortable with as the game progresses. He was a starter as a freshman appearing and starting in 17 games with a 3.82 ERA. In 95.2 innings he gave up 37 earned runs on 83 hits with 78 strikeouts, 23 walks and opponents hitting .233 against him. He started against both Texas and California, so it really wouldn’t surprise me to see him out there on the bump this Sunday for the Tigers.
Freshman right hander Cole Henry has also thrown his name in the ring for candidates to start on the weekend. Henry mixes in three pitches, a mid-90s fastball, a 12-6 curve and a fading changeup, and he has worked this to some early success this season. He is yet to record a decision, but he has appeared in 5 games and started 2. In 12.2 innings of work opponents haven’t had trouble hitting him and have done so 15 times (.288), but thanks to 11 strikeouts he has limited the damage and has only given up 5 runs (4 earned). His latest start came on Saturday against California where he went 4 innings while giving up just 2 hits, with no runs, and striking out one. I am not sure, obviously, but given his success, last weekend, I look for him to get a starting nod.
So… my guess (and it is just that) is that we will see Hess on Friday, Henry on Saturday, and Walker on Sunday. We may get a dose Marceaux as well, but I think it will be out of the bullpen. Not sure about Hill given that he hasn’t pitched in several weeks. We may know more after their midweek games.
Out of the bullpen UK will see a lot of junior righty Matthew Beck. Beck has a low 90s fastball and has always largely been a bullpen guy for LSU. He largely will come in for relatively short stints, but he has pitched 3 innings once this year. Overall, he has appeared in 7 games and is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA and 10.1 innings pitched. He has given up 5 hits while and 2 runs (all earned) while walking 10 and striking out 8. So, while Beck is walking a lot of hitters, opponents are hitting just .143 against him and the big deal is that all 5 hits he has given up were singles.
Devin Fontenot is the next most prevalent pitcher that UK will see out of the bullpen. Fontenot is a sophomore right-hander with an upper-80s fastball. The sophomore has appeared in 7 games this year and is 2-0 in 11 innings of work. He has given up 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), with 6 walks and an impressive 13 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .158 against him. This is a significant improvement over his performance a year ago where he appeared in 29 games, starting 2, and had a 6.18 ERA in 39.1 innings of work where he struck out 44, walked 15, and opponents hit .232 against him.
Ma’Khail Hilliard is another that has made quite a few appearances early on. Hilliard is another right hander, this time a sophomore. A year ago he appeared in 17 games and started 12 of them while going 9-5 with a 3.79 ERA with 70 strikeouts, and 31 walks in 76 innings. Opponents hit .247 against him. He returns after being named a Freshman All- American and has appeared in 4 games with 1 start and has thrown just 5.1 innings. Opponents are batting just .111 against him. He has given up 2 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) while striking out 8 and walking 4. He will feature an upper-80s fastball as well as a 12-6 curve. Hilliard is practically perfect in his work, with his big blemish actually coming in his one start where he went 1.1, gave up the runs and one hit and walked 2. LSU also plays two midweek games this week (Northwestern State and Texas Southern), so we will get an idea of whether or not we will see him this weekend if he starts and goes a ways in either of these two games.
Trent Vietmeier is another sophomore righty that UK will see out of the bullpen. He has also appeared in 7 games this year and features an upper-80s fastball with a curve. He has thrown 6.2 innings this year and is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA while giving up 2 runs (both earned) on 6 hits with 7 strikeouts and a walk. Opponents are hitting .214 against him.
UK could also see Clay Moffitt (0.00 ERA with 1.2 innings of work), Riggs Threadgill (5.06 ERA with 5.1 innings), Aaron George (6.35 ERA with 5.2 innings), Todd Peterson (9.00 with 7 innings), Chase Costello (11.37 in 6.1) and Rye Gunter (27.00 in 1.1). All of these are righties.
Fun fact… UK will face absolutely ZERO left-handed pitchers this weekend. LSU features just one lefty on their entire roster and he is a freshman who has yet to see the mound in 2019. It is possible that changes this week, but given that it is week 4, I would think this young man is redshirting.
LSU as a team has an ERA of 5.05, which is now last in the SEC just below our very own Wildcats (4.50). The big problem for LSU is that they cannot seem to avoid the walks, having given up 78 free ones in 128.1 innings (UK has given up 66 in 132). LSU is also last in the league in strikeouts with 127. UK has 170. Opponents are hitting .235 against them (UK is .230), which is something like 3rd or 4th worst in the league. So, UK hitters need to be very patient and not fear the strikeout this weekend.
We will start with their starters.
Zack Hess is their Friday night guy. The right-handed junior played on team USA last summer and was a Freshman All American in 2016. He has started 4 games in 2019 and is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA through 18.1 innings of work. He has given up 21 hits, 12 runs (10 earned) with 21 strikeouts and 11 walks. Opponents are hitting .280 against him. As a freshman Hess was pretty dominant. He appeared in 30 games and started 6. He had a 7-1 record and a 3.12 ERA while opponents hit just .182 against him. I’m not sure if he hit a sophomore slump in 2018 or if opposing hitters just figured him out, but he took a big step back with an ERA of 5.05. So far this year, he is obviously closer to the 5.05 mark than he is the 3.12. His best outing was probably this past Friday against California where he went 5.2 while giving up 2 earned runs off of 5 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. He probably isn’t the toughest pitcher UK will face this year, but the kid has proven that he has some good stuff.
After Hess things get shaky seemingly due to some injuries. Freshman right-hander Landon Marceaux started on Saturday in 3 of the 4 weekends, but last weekend he came out of the bullpen against California on Friday. Marceaux is struggling this season with a 1-1 record and a 7.90ERA. He has pitched 13.2 innings in his 4 appearances and given up 12 hits, 12 runs (all earned) with 9 walks and 11 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .235 against him. So, looking at those stats, it seems like the kid struggles with some control and walks too many hitters. He seems to have good swing and miss stuff and according to his bio he has a 4 pitch mix. I imagine that LSU will continue to try to lean on him even if he doesn’t get a starting nod this weekend.
Freshman two-sport athlete Jaden Hill is a right handed quarterback and pitcher for LSU that got the nod for the Sunday starts in the first two weekends. He was impressive with 1-0 record and a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work in his two appearances. He gave up 2 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits with just 3 walks and 11 strikeouts while opponents hit just .162 against him. The strange thing is that he hasn’t pitched since the second Sunday against Bryant. It is unclear whether he suffered an injury or what is going on with him. A quick google search doesn’t really dig up any dirt, so I honestly don’t know what to think.
Eric Walker is another candidate to start this weekend. He is a redshirt sophomore right hander that earned Freshmen All-America honors in 2017, but tore his ulnar collateral ligament near the end of the year and underwent Tommy John’s surgery and sat out all of 2018. The Tigers seem to be easing him back into things, but I know they are itching to get more out of him. He has appeared in 5 games and started in 3. He has a 1-0 record and has worked 13 innings with a 6.92 ERA. Walker has given up 11 hits and opponents have scored 10 runs (all earned) against him while Walker has walked 6 and struck out 7. Opponents are hitting .229 against him. The righty has a three pitch mix, which you have to imagine that hitters might get more comfortable with as the game progresses. He was a starter as a freshman appearing and starting in 17 games with a 3.82 ERA. In 95.2 innings he gave up 37 earned runs on 83 hits with 78 strikeouts, 23 walks and opponents hitting .233 against him. He started against both Texas and California, so it really wouldn’t surprise me to see him out there on the bump this Sunday for the Tigers.
Freshman right hander Cole Henry has also thrown his name in the ring for candidates to start on the weekend. Henry mixes in three pitches, a mid-90s fastball, a 12-6 curve and a fading changeup, and he has worked this to some early success this season. He is yet to record a decision, but he has appeared in 5 games and started 2. In 12.2 innings of work opponents haven’t had trouble hitting him and have done so 15 times (.288), but thanks to 11 strikeouts he has limited the damage and has only given up 5 runs (4 earned). His latest start came on Saturday against California where he went 4 innings while giving up just 2 hits, with no runs, and striking out one. I am not sure, obviously, but given his success, last weekend, I look for him to get a starting nod.
So… my guess (and it is just that) is that we will see Hess on Friday, Henry on Saturday, and Walker on Sunday. We may get a dose Marceaux as well, but I think it will be out of the bullpen. Not sure about Hill given that he hasn’t pitched in several weeks. We may know more after their midweek games.
Out of the bullpen UK will see a lot of junior righty Matthew Beck. Beck has a low 90s fastball and has always largely been a bullpen guy for LSU. He largely will come in for relatively short stints, but he has pitched 3 innings once this year. Overall, he has appeared in 7 games and is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA and 10.1 innings pitched. He has given up 5 hits while and 2 runs (all earned) while walking 10 and striking out 8. So, while Beck is walking a lot of hitters, opponents are hitting just .143 against him and the big deal is that all 5 hits he has given up were singles.
Devin Fontenot is the next most prevalent pitcher that UK will see out of the bullpen. Fontenot is a sophomore right-hander with an upper-80s fastball. The sophomore has appeared in 7 games this year and is 2-0 in 11 innings of work. He has given up 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), with 6 walks and an impressive 13 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .158 against him. This is a significant improvement over his performance a year ago where he appeared in 29 games, starting 2, and had a 6.18 ERA in 39.1 innings of work where he struck out 44, walked 15, and opponents hit .232 against him.
Ma’Khail Hilliard is another that has made quite a few appearances early on. Hilliard is another right hander, this time a sophomore. A year ago he appeared in 17 games and started 12 of them while going 9-5 with a 3.79 ERA with 70 strikeouts, and 31 walks in 76 innings. Opponents hit .247 against him. He returns after being named a Freshman All- American and has appeared in 4 games with 1 start and has thrown just 5.1 innings. Opponents are batting just .111 against him. He has given up 2 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) while striking out 8 and walking 4. He will feature an upper-80s fastball as well as a 12-6 curve. Hilliard is practically perfect in his work, with his big blemish actually coming in his one start where he went 1.1, gave up the runs and one hit and walked 2. LSU also plays two midweek games this week (Northwestern State and Texas Southern), so we will get an idea of whether or not we will see him this weekend if he starts and goes a ways in either of these two games.
Trent Vietmeier is another sophomore righty that UK will see out of the bullpen. He has also appeared in 7 games this year and features an upper-80s fastball with a curve. He has thrown 6.2 innings this year and is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA while giving up 2 runs (both earned) on 6 hits with 7 strikeouts and a walk. Opponents are hitting .214 against him.
UK could also see Clay Moffitt (0.00 ERA with 1.2 innings of work), Riggs Threadgill (5.06 ERA with 5.1 innings), Aaron George (6.35 ERA with 5.2 innings), Todd Peterson (9.00 with 7 innings), Chase Costello (11.37 in 6.1) and Rye Gunter (27.00 in 1.1). All of these are righties.
Fun fact… UK will face absolutely ZERO left-handed pitchers this weekend. LSU features just one lefty on their entire roster and he is a freshman who has yet to see the mound in 2019. It is possible that changes this week, but given that it is week 4, I would think this young man is redshirting.
LSU as a team has an ERA of 5.05, which is now last in the SEC just below our very own Wildcats (4.50). The big problem for LSU is that they cannot seem to avoid the walks, having given up 78 free ones in 128.1 innings (UK has given up 66 in 132). LSU is also last in the league in strikeouts with 127. UK has 170. Opponents are hitting .235 against them (UK is .230), which is something like 3rd or 4th worst in the league. So, UK hitters need to be very patient and not fear the strikeout this weekend.
