April 22, 2008

Baton Rouge, LA (UWIRE) -- LSU sophomore Blake Dean stepped up to the plate Saturday in the eighth inning with two outs and teammate senior Michael Hollander on third base.

The Tigers (23-16-1, 6-11-1) had just completed a seven-run comeback to tie the game at 8 against No. 7 Georgia.

Dean finished 3-for-4 at the plate, but his eighth-inning at-bat was the one he could not convert. He stranded Hollander and made it possible for Georgia (27-12-1, 14-3-1) to win the game in the ninth inning, 9-8.

While LSU has hit .310 (46 hits in 150 at-bats) with runners in scoring position this season in 18 Southeastern Conference games, LSU coach Paul Mainieri described clutch hitting as "feast or famine" this season.

"We are getting some hits with runners in scoring position, but so many times this year we have come up just one hit short," Mainieri said. "It makes the difference between winning and losing."

The .310 batting average is higher than LSU's .264 average in SEC play - the lowest in the league.

LSU has driven in 61 runners in scoring position while stranding 63.

The Tigers entered the weekend series hitting .280, but a 12-for-29 performance with 16 RBIs against Georgia raised the average 30 points and accounted for nearly one third of the Tigers' RBI production in clutch-hitting situations.

"[Clutch hitting] was a lot better against Georgia," Mainieri said. "Experience can't be bought. [We] have to go through it. The more times [we] are put in a situation, the better off [we] are going to be in the long haul."

The batting lineup features five players in their first season of SEC play and three in their second season in the league.

Mainieri said the low total batting average - .264 - could explain the lack of opportunity LSU has had with runners in scoring position.

"When you don't have many opportunities, and you don't come through when you have the chance, it is magnified," he said.

Sophomore second baseman Ryan Schimpf said pitchers throw different types of pitches with runners in scoring position as opposed to empty bases.

"[I] generally see more off-speed [pitches] - change-ups, curves - with runners in scoring position as opposed to more fastballs with no runners," Schimpf said. "The coaches have been talking to us about not having a different mindset in that situation, but you really have to focus on bringing [the runner] in."

Freshman Leon Landry said his approach differs depending on how many runners are on base.

"If [I am] going up first with no runners, I just try to reach base," Landry said. "With runners on second and third base, [I] try to hold down and hit the ball hard in the gap somewhere. It isn't about really getting a triple but about getting ball on the right side to get guy home from third base."

HITTING THE LONG BALL

The Tigers have shown the ability to score from long distance, recording 29 of 90 RBIs without runners in scoring position in SEC play.

LSU is No. 9 in the SEC with 90 RBIs, but the team is No. 4 with 20 home runs and leads the conference with eight triples in SEC play.

Mainieri said a significant number of those home runs are with solo shots, meaning they generate less runs than with runners on base.

"It is not so much that I am upset that hitters are not on base," Mainieri said. "We have had opportunities with base runners on to hit those home runs. We want to see guys swinging aggressively when runners are on base. That's how you get multiple-run home runs."

LSU is in last place with a .335 on-base percentage and No. 11 with 165 SEC hits.

Despite the strong offensive effort against Georgia, the Tigers struggled against Ole Miss in the clutch two weekends ago - recording three hits in 19 attempts and six RBIs.

After mustering only two combined runs in the first two games of the series, LSU exploded in the series finale with eight runs - five RBIs with runners in scoring position.

"[The Rebels'] Friday and Saturday starters and their closing relief pitcher have pretty good chances to be first-round draft picks," Mainieri said. "We have had really good games, but [the first two games] we didn't have very many opportunities. When you are facing a great pitcher, you just don't have that many opportunities."

(C) 2008 The Daily Reveille via UWIRE