LSU burned through 8 pitchers in 13-1 loss to Oregon State

It wasn’t supposed to be this way for LSU.

The six-time College World Series winners sported a 3.54 staff ERA in 2017, good for 21st-best in the country. But the Tigers gave up 11 hits and 13 runs in a crushing loss on Monday, a program record for their opponents, Oregon State. The Tigers needed eight pitchers to get through it.

LSU participated in perhaps the zaniest college baseball game of the year on Saturday with Florida State, where three Seminole blunders tanked FSU in a 5-4 loss. The Tigers and ’Noles should play every year.

So LSU and No. 1 overall national seed Oregon State sat down for a getting-to-know-you Monday in a high-expectations bout between tournament heavy hitters. Big time arms Alex Lange and Jared Poche were out of service, having thrown Saturday night in the Tigers’ opener. So meet they did. Thing is, only the Beavers came to play, or at least play well.

LSU’s starter, Eric Walker, had apparently weathered soreness in his pitching arm during a pre-tournament simulation game, but decided to march on regardless. He lasted just two innings Monday, taking the mound in the top of the third but immediately calling out a trainer after his warmup throws. Walker looked disgusted leaving the hill, and rightfully so: He’d given up just a single run in the first and downed the side in order in the second.

Pitcher No. 1 was done. Two innings pitched, two hits, one earned run, and seven batters faced.

Caleb Gilbert came in to handle the load from there, and he fared rather well to begin. He struck out two Beaver batters, surrendered a walk, then forced a groundout. His stuff was really cooking until the fifth inning, when Oregon State completely derailed his otherwise serviceable outing. The damn fifth.

Beginning with a fielding error by shortstop Kramer Robertson, the wheels came entirely off LSU’s bus for the rest of the night. Gilbert then gave up consecutive singles and a walk, which plated two runs. A wild pitch advanced Trevor Larnach to third, and that was all LSU skipper Paul Mainieri would need to see. Goodbye, Gilbert.

Pitcher No. 2 was done. 2 2/3 innings pitched, four hits, two runs, and 15 batters faced.

On came swing man Nick Bush, then, who could hopefully end the frame and push through the middle innings to put the Tigers in position to come back in this thing. He walked the first batter he faced but struck out the next and that ended the Beavs’ batting in the fifth.

Still, though, Bush was not long for this game, as Mainieri hauled up Todd Peterson to handle duties on the hill after Bush walked the first batter he faced in the sixth. That didn’t go so well.

Pitcher No. 3 was done. 1/3 innings pitched, no hits, one earned run, one strikeout, and three batters faced.

Peterson fell apart in a hell of a hurry. He walked two batters to start, then crossed a run on a sac grounder. Still, he accounted for the first two runs of the inning, but that couldn’t keep him in the game. Next up: Hunter Newman. Poor, poor Hunter Newman.

Pitcher No. 4 was done. 2/3 innings pitched, no hits, two earned runs, no strikeouts, and two batters faced.

Newman is a big-time arm. He owns a 2.73 ERA for the season and can routinely throw heat in the high 80s and low 90s. This game should have done better by him.

As it turned out, though, Newman got blasted right out of the park, inheriting two runners from Peterson then walking Larnach on four straight pitches to load the bases.

Then KJ Harrison came to the plate.

Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park doesn’t really allow for home runs. Its outfields are deep, and the wind generally blows in from direct center. Bring all the power hitting you want, but you’re going to have a tough time getting out of there.

But nobody apparently told that to Harrison, who proceeded to rock a wondrous smash out into the left-field bleachers, thus earning the first grand slam in TD Ameritrade’s College World Series history. That brought the score to 8-0, advantage Beavers.

But that wasn’t the end of Newman’s night, as he walked the first batter he faced in the seventh, advanced the runner on a wild pitch, allowed him to steal second, then bagged another on a wild pitch. In all, three Oregon State runners would cross, and suddenly the bloodbath was on. 11-0 and LSU facing down their first goose egg in CWS history.

Pitcher No. 5 was done. One inning pitched, two hits, five earned runs, one strikeout, and 10 batters faced.

Matthew Beck then took over and popped up the final out of the inning, an admirable feat considering the Tigers were hemorrhaging runs at that point. He threw a full inning, but after walking a guy and coughing up a double he got the ax with two outs in the eighth.

Pitcher No. 6 was done. One inning pitched, one hit, two earned runs, one strikeout, and five batters faced.

After Beck, Austin Bain entered and immediately gave up two runs, which owed to Beck, of course. Bain in fact had probably the best outing of the night for LSU — relatively speaking — since he forced only a single and recorded a strikeout. Never mind, though, since by the time he was sat down, the score was 13-1 Beavers, and there’s no coming back from that.

Pitcher No. 7 was done. 1/3 innings pitched, one hit, no earned runs, one strikeout, and two batters faced.

Finally, mercifully, Russell Reynolds came in to throw the ninth, and he quickly gave up a single to the shortstop, then that runner advanced to second on a throwing error. The next batter walked, then Nick Madrigal advanced to third on a pop fly. It seemed that Oregon State was building yet another threat, but Jack Anderson grounded into a double play and that was it for the top of the frame.

Pitcher No. 8 was done. One inning pitched, no earned runs, no strikeouts, and four batters faced.

LSU’s lone run came in the bottom of the seventh on a solo shot down the right field line. The score was 11-1 by then, but try as they might there was no comeback in these Tigers.

From a staff of 17 listed throwers, LSU required eight arms to lose a College World Series game, 13-1. In the same game Oregon State threw two pitchers. Starter Bryce Fehmel hurled eight full innings of stellar work — tallying two hits and one earned run on 107 pitches — then closer Sam Tweedt mopped up the ninth, gaining two hits on four batters faced.

That’s how good Oregon State is.