LSU Shuts Out ULM

LSU picked up their fourth shutout of the year Tuesday night with their 5-0 victory over ULM.

Will Hellmers pitched a solid three innings where he gave up three hits but no runs, issuing no walks and striking out one.

“Everything was working, I guess,” Hellmers said. “I was locating the fastball tonight. If you can locate your fastball in the outer and inner third, good things are going to happen. So I think locating the fastball and being able to back them off with the changeup a little bit played a big role.”

Hellmers will be unavailable to pitch against Grambling next week, so it stands to reason that between a low pitch count Tuesday night (29 pitches) and the scuffles of every pitcher LSU has used to try and fill the hole left by Jaden Hill that Hellmers will get the ball on Saturday’s finale.

“I don’t think there’s any different mindset (pitching in the SEC compared to midweeks),” Hellmers said. “Pitching is all about getting outs. That’s all you can do, you can’t be something that you’re not on the mound, so I’m going to be who I am. Whether that’s in the SEC or a midweek game, it’s still just getting outs.”

And the team effort by the bullpen behind him was just as solid as Hellmers’ outing, with seven pitchers coming in behind him to preserve the shutout, allowing just four hits and seven walks while also striking out seven.

“Really happy with the way a lot of guys threw tonight,” LSU head coach Paul Mainieri said. “A lot of guys really did a really nice job to shut them out.”

“It was a good victory for us, we did a lot of good things tonight. But when you shut a team out, you’ve got a pretty good chance to win, so that was a key for us.”

LSU (22-14) took the lead in the third inning when a double from Tre’ Morgan came around to score on a single from Cade Doughty. The Tigers scored another run the next two innings on singles from Alex Milazzo and Gavin Dugas, respectively.

In the sixth inning LSU picked up two more runs when the Tigers led off the inning with three straight hits from Jordan Thompson, Giovanni DiGiacomo, and Drew Bianco, with Thompson scoring on Bianco’s single and DiGiacomo scoring on a fielder’s choice from Milazzo.

DiGiacomo led LSU in hitting with a 3-for-4 night with two runs scores, the only Tiger with multiple hits on the night.

The Tigers will hit the road tomorrow for a crucial series against #12 Ole Miss that starts on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Game one will be broadcast on ESPNU.