LSU shortstop Kramer Robertson is having a tough time in Omaha. The .413 hitter didn’t post a single hit in the Tigers’ opening night slugfest with Florida State, and even his mom was in attendance to cheer him on. That’s gotta sting.
LSU suddenly forgets how to play baseball during the College World Series
Just a disaster inning for the Tigers.
Against Oregon State, LSU was already smarting after starter Eric Walker essentially pulled himself at the top of the third after elbow soreness protruded on what had otherwise been a fine start for the righty. That brought in Caleb Gilbert, who up until the top of the fifth was throwing absolute gas and shutting down a potent Beavers lineup. And then the fifth.
Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Madrigal laced a hard grounder to the second-third base gap, and that’s the exact territory that Robertson’s responsible for covering. Let’s see how that fielding attempt went.
It appears he doesn’t even glove the ball cleanly before firing off a hasty throw to first that bounces some five feet in front of first baseman Nick Coomes, who can’t keep his right foot on the bag trying to scoop the ball in time. This is all a disaster.
To make matters worse, two Beavers runners crossed shortly after this debacle, when Trevor Larnach singled to center, scoring Madrigal and KJ Harrison. Suddenly the Beavers were on top of LSU, 3-0. How did they find themselves in scoring position? A wild pitch from Gilbert.
That ended Gilbert’s outing right there, who was spelled by Nick Bush. Some kind of funk seemed to permeate LSU’s pitchers, because immediately upon taking the hill, Bush was having trouble collecting throws from his catcher.
Bush walked a batter then struck out the next, and LSU was mercifully out of the inning. But the damage had been done: Oregon State leads, 3-0, in the bottom of the fifth.
