LSU Baseball fall scrimmage notes: Thursday, October 22nd

Day 1 of week 3 of LSU fall ball got underway tonight at Alex Box Stadium. We saw the same two starting pitchers for the two sides that we’ve seen on Thursdays since the scrimmages started two weeks ago. Veteran William Schmidt started for the Purple home team and freshman Cooper Sides started for the Gold visiting team.

The more times that hitters get to see a pitcher, the better their timing gets and the more they’re able to get the barrel on the baseball. That was the case tonight, as both Schmidt and Sides, who had been completely dominant, surrendered a few hits, a piece.

Each lineup did a fantastic job of situational hitting, leading to a lot of runs driven in on both sides. Of the 18 starters in each lineup, 10 players accounted for at least one RBI tonight.

Before we get going, I’ll list off the lineups for each team and who pitched. Cumulative stats for Thursday night are included. We’ll then transition to some bullet point notes.

2.) DH1 – John Pearson (1-4, RBI)

3.) DH2 – Lucas Nawrocki (1-2, HR/2 RBI/2 BB)

6.) 1B – Mason Braun (1-2, RBI/BB)

7.) SS – Parker Loew (0-1, RBI/BB)

8.) CF – Nate Davis-Cleary (2-2, 2B/BB)

9.) LF – William Patrick (1-2, 2 RBI)

SP – Cooper Sides: 3.0 IP/3 H/1 R/3 K/1 BB

RP – Ethan Plog: 2.0 IP/0 H/1 R/2 K/HBP

3.) 3B – Malachi Washington (0-3)

4.) LF – Dominic Santarelli (0-2, RBI)

8.) 1B – Dylan Minnatee (0-0, BB/HBP)

SP – William Schmidt: 2.0 IP/3 H/3 R/3 K/1 BB

RP – Zion Theophilus: 2.2 IP/3 H/2 R/1 K/5 BB

RP – Jordan Martinez: 1.0 IP/2 H/1 R/1 K/0 BB

• William Schmidt got hit early tonight, but he was still throwing a lot of strikes. He was up to 97, as we’ve seen through his first two appearances, but the only difference was that the top of the Gold lineup got to him right off the jump. The first 3 hitters of the game went: Ruckert double, Pearson single, Nawrocki homerun. After that, he did not allow another hit and the only guy to reach base from that point on was his 1 walk.

• Cooper Sides started with his 3-pitch mix from the very beginning, throwing all of them to Jason Wachs, who led off for the Purple team. His velocities were the same, with his fastball up to 96, slider mid-80s, and curve mid-70s. In his third inning, his command and velocity did dip a little. His fastball was around 92-93, but that’s nothing that conditioning can’t fix even after the season starts in February. Tonight was the first time that he has looked human, which is obviously great for an incoming freshman.

• Lucas Nawrocki’s homerun was a 2-run blast to the Diamond Deck in right field. I missed what pitch it was, but he absolutely crushed it. That’s two Thursdays in a row with a homer for the 2-way freshman.

• Jason Wachs was playing the field and running the bases for the first time tonight. They had taken it slow with him through the first two weeks after a long summer ball stint, but they finally turned him loose tonight. He was in CF.

• Omar Serna gunned down Nate Davis-Cleary, which was a good sign for the sophomore catcher. I don’t believe Davis-Cleary will get thrown out very often on stolen base attempts in his college career.

• Dominic Santarelli came in to run the bases for Omar Serna after a 2-out single to allow him to get his catcher’s gear on and promptly stole 2nd base, which allowed Steven Milam to drive him in on the next AB to manufacture a “golden” which is what Jay Johnson calls 2-out RBIs. That’s the second week in a row that the big, strong Santarelli has flashed his deceiving speed on the bases. He’s super athletic for his size.

• Dylan Minnatee made a gold glove pick at 1st base, showing why his defense has been compared to Tre Morgan. Milam made a tough play up the middle and gunned a throw over, but it was a short hop in the dirt, which Minnatee fully stretched for and dug it out to secure the out. It was a beautiful defensive play on both sides.

• Malachi Washington had his first bad night since putting on the purple and gold. He went 0-3 with 3 Ks at the plate and made his first mistake on the infield when he tried to secure a double play after stepping on 3rd for a force out then throwing to 1st to get the hitter. He rushed and sailed his throw. The freshman has been phenomenal with his transition from the OF, so mistakes like this are excusable.

• Parker Loew made another fantastic play with his glove.

• Nate Davis-Cleary’s speed is absurd. He was almost all the way to 2nd base when the right fielder got to his double down the RF line. The only reason it didn’t end up being a stand up triple is because there was a runner in front of him that they held up.

• Ethan Plog was extremely efficient, filling up the strike zone. His stuff is never the issue, it’s throwing strikes, so it was good to see.

• Zion Theophilus’s command really struggled tonight, which is unlike him. He’s typically a strike-thrower, but he walked 5 in his 2.2 innings of work, 4 of which were in his final inning that Johnson called early.

• Dawson Park is a great defender, but I’m noticing that he’s going to have to quicken up his process a little to adjust to SEC speed. He let Malachi Washington beat out a routine ground ball last week because his gather took just a little too long and something similar happened tonight. Coming from Texas State, the speed of the game at LSU is much higher and it’s clear that he’s still getting used to it. There are no concerns for him to be able to adjust, but just something I’ve noticed.

• Jordan Martinez had a much better outing than he did last week. He allowed back to back singles to Davis-Cleary and Patrick to start his inning, but bounced right back to retire a few of the hottest hitters the past few weeks in Ruckert, Pearson, and Nawrocki.

William Schmidt got hit early tonight, but he was still throwing a lot of strikes. He was up to 97, as we’ve seen through his first two appearances, but the only difference was that the top of the Gold lineup got to him right off the jump. The first 3 hitters of the game went: Ruckert double, Pearson single, Nawrocki homerun. After that, he did not allow another hit and the only guy to reach base from that point on was his 1 walk.

Cooper Sides started with his 3-pitch mix from the very beginning, throwing all of them to Jason Wachs, who led off for the Purple team. His velocities were the same, with his fastball up to 96, slider mid-80s, and curve mid-70s. In his third inning, his command and velocity did dip a little. His fastball was around 92-93, but that’s nothing that conditioning can’t fix even after the season starts in February. Tonight was the first time that he has looked human, which is obviously great for an incoming freshman.

Lucas Nawrocki’s homerun was a 2-run blast to the Diamond Deck in right field. I missed what pitch it was, but he absolutely crushed it. That’s two Thursdays in a row with a homer for the 2-way freshman.

Jason Wachs was playing the field and running the bases for the first time tonight. They had taken it slow with him through the first two weeks after a long summer ball stint, but they finally turned him loose tonight. He was in CF.

Omar Serna gunned down Nate Davis-Cleary, which was a good sign for the sophomore catcher. I don’t believe Davis-Cleary will get thrown out very often on stolen base attempts in his college career.

Dominic Santarelli came in to run the bases for Omar Serna after a 2-out single to allow him to get his catcher’s gear on and promptly stole 2nd base, which allowed Steven Milam to drive him in on the next AB to manufacture a “golden” which is what Jay Johnson calls 2-out RBIs. That’s the second week in a row that the big, strong Santarelli has flashed his deceiving speed on the bases. He’s super athletic for his size.

Dylan Minnatee made a gold glove pick at 1st base, showing why his defense has been compared to Tre Morgan. Milam made a tough play up the middle and gunned a throw over, but it was a short hop in the dirt, which Minnatee fully stretched for and dug it out to secure the out. It was a beautiful defensive play on both sides.

Malachi Washington had his first bad night since putting on the purple and gold. He went 0-3 with 3 Ks at the plate and made his first mistake on the infield when he tried to secure a double play after stepping on 3rd for a force out then throwing to 1st to get the hitter. He rushed and sailed his throw. The freshman has been phenomenal with his transition from the OF, so mistakes like this are excusable.

Parker Loew made another fantastic play with his glove.

Nate Davis-Cleary’s speed is absurd. He was almost all the way to 2nd base when the right fielder got to his double down the RF line. The only reason it didn’t end up being a stand up triple is because there was a runner in front of him that they held up.

Ethan Plog was extremely efficient, filling up the strike zone. His stuff is never the issue, it’s throwing strikes, so it was good to see.

Zion Theophilus’s command really struggled tonight, which is unlike him. He’s typically a strike-thrower, but he walked 5 in his 2.2 innings of work, 4 of which were in his final inning that Johnson called early.

Dawson Park is a great defender, but I’m noticing that he’s going to have to quicken up his process a little to adjust to SEC speed. He let Malachi Washington beat out a routine ground ball last week because his gather took just a little too long and something similar happened tonight. Coming from Texas State, the speed of the game at LSU is much higher and it’s clear that he’s still getting used to it. There are no concerns for him to be able to adjust, but just something I’ve noticed.

Jordan Martinez had a much better outing than he did last week. He allowed back to back singles to Davis-Cleary and Patrick to start his inning, but bounced right back to retire a few of the hottest hitters the past few weeks in Ruckert, Pearson, and Nawrocki.

There wasn’t one standout player tonight, but Jack Ruckert and Nate Davis-Cleary each had multiple base hits, including doubles. Davis-Cleary reached base 3 times, including his walk. Lucas Nawrocki’s only hit was the 2-run HR off of Schmidt, but he also walked two more times. All three of those players were the top players of the night.

LSU returns for another intra-squad tomorrow at 6 pm, but it is a private scrimmage with entry for members of the Coaches Committee and the players’ families only. Media is permitted to attend, so I will be there with coverage, as usual. The next opportunity for fans to see some action at Alex Box is on Sunday at 1 pm central. That will possibly be the final intra-squad scrimmage of the fall ball calendar, as next weekend is the annual trip to Biloxi for exhibitions against Samford on Saturday, October 31st and Sunday, November 1st.

Below is my video recap that I do after every single game. Follow me on X @DCBilliotJr for much more!