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Special season for LSU middle infielders

For just the fourth time in the past 19 seasons, LSU had the first-team All-Southeastern Conference shortstop in Kramer Robertson.

For the first time since this recognition started in 2008, LSU had the SEC’s All-Defensive team second baseman in Cole Freeman.

Kramer Robertson turns a double play in the SEC tournament
Kramer Robertson turns a double play in the SEC tournament
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

The Tigers have never had their two middle infielders honored in any manner in the same season. Without a doubt, the performances of Robertson and Freeman were quite impactful in LSU winning 42 games and being selected one of the eight national seeds for the NCAA tournament.

After seven games, Robertson and Freeman were moved to these two positions by coach Paul Mainieri. Over the next 53 games, Robertson committed ten errors and Freeman made five miscues.

Alex Bregman, the second pick in the 2015 draft by the Houston Astros, made nine errors in 66 games last year. Jared Foster, LSU’s starting second baseman for 45 games in 2015, committed eight errors. Foster was a fifth-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Angels.

Quite surprisingly, Robertson and Freeman have been two of the key offensive producers for the Tigers. Robertson is hitting .316 with one homer and 36 runs batted in. Freeman is hitting .325 with one homer and 25 RBIs. In 2015, Bregman and Foster batted .323 and .278, respectively.

Robertson is averaging 1.47 runs produced per game (runs scored plus runs batted in minus home runs). Bregman averaged 1.50 runs produced per game last season. Freeman has a .425 on-base percentage which would have been the highest on last year’s College World Series team.

No one expected such batting numbers from either Robertson or Freeman. Robertson had a composite .212 batting average through his first two seasons at LSU. According to Freeman, he hit about .220 during the Tigers’ fall intrasquad scrimmages.

“It’s been a roller coaster for me at LSU,” Robertson said. “I have been on quite a roll right now. I am just trying to ride the wave. This year didn’t just happen. It has been a combination of hard work and dedication. I have weathered the storm and I have persevered.”

Freeman had an average freshman season at the plate at Delgado Community College when he hit .266. Freeman improved his batting average by almost 120 points in his second junior college campaign.

“Obviously, hitting was my one question,” Freeman said. “When I hit .385 my sophomore year, that opened up some people’s eyes. I was signed by LSU before I had that good year. I knew I had to elevate my game to get to a place like (LSU).”

Only freshman rightfielder Antoine Duplantis has a higher batting average than Freeman, who was anything but highly recruited coming out of Mandeville (La.) Lakeshore High School. His goal was always to play for LSU.

“I was 5-foot-1 and weighed 97 pounds as a freshman at Lakeshore,” Freeman said. “Kyle Beerbohm, who pitched at LSU, was an assistant at Lakeshore. I told him then I would play at LSU. One team talked to me – Spring Hill. I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere but LSU.”

Freeman was a two-year starter at Delgado. He improved to the extent where he became a starter for LSU right away. Freeman was the opening-night starting third baseman for the Tigers. After two games, he was shifted to shortstop. After five more games, Freeman was back at second base.

“It was an easy transition for me,” Freeman said. “Third base and shortstop were positions I had never played. Second base was my position. I knew all the plays I had to make there.”

Freeman has enjoyed his outstanding offensive season while batting ninth nearly every game. Freeman credits hitting coach Andy Cannizaro for much of his success.

“I knew I was going to have my struggles at the plate,” Freeman said. “Andy is as good as anybody. I am night and day as a hitter from fall to spring. He gave me a good approach. I worked on the bunt a lot. I have been walking. I was more of a free swinger. I am definitely drawing more walks here.

“Batting ninth, it’s like being the double leadoff batter. I take pride in that. I like hitting the fast ball. Against pitchers with better stuff, I try to hit early in the count. I am more of a contact hitter now. Things are starting to roll for us. I still wake up in the morning and can’t believe I am a part of all this.”

Like Freeman, Robertson had the chance to be a starter in his first year at LSU. However, Robertson couldn’t hold on to the starting second baseman job in 2014. Robertson, who made 30 starts as a freshman, hit just .200.

One year later, Robertson opened the season as the starting second baseman. Again, he wasn’t prepared to hold on to the job. Robertson made just 12 starts before giving way to Foster. At this time last season, Robertson was on the shelf with an arm injury.

Mainieri planned on Robertson being the starting second baseman in 2016. Seven games into the season, Robertson became the starting shortstop. At the end of the regular season, Robertson joined Bregman and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Aaron Hill as LSU’s first-team All-SEC shortstops since 1998.

“Maturity is the reason for my improvement,” Robertson said. “I realized what I didn’t do the past two years to be successful. I was a young guy who just wanted to impress a lot of people. I realized this year that you have to play within yourself.

“I started focusing one at-bat at a time. I had put a lot of pressure on myself in the past. If I didn’t get a hit in my first two at-bats, I panicked. I wondered if I would ever play again.”

Robertson sounds a lot like a coach, which should be expected since he is the son of Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. Robertson displays a fiery personality on the field like his mother does on the bench and sidelines.

“My mother doesn’t really talk to me about baseball,” Robertson said. “She is just happy for me. I show my emotions on my sleeve, but that’s not on purpose. I am completely different off the field. I am pretty laid back. When I cross the white lines, something different happens.”

Robertson didn’t perform like a coach’s son during the previous two years. He made mental mistakes which aggravate a head coach. Now, he is the leader of the LSU team – batting third and playing shortstop.

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t focused the last two years,” Robertson said. “I felt overwhelmed. There were so many things I worried about. I was all over the place.”

Robertson has the desire to keep surprising people throughout the postseason beginning with the Baton Rouge Regional tournament which starts Friday. LSU plays WAC tournament champion Utah Valley State in a first-round game.

“We’ve continued to get better,” Robertson said. “We have been proving people wrong. People said that we were too inexperienced to accomplish the goals of past LSU teams. We may have surpassed a lot of people’s expectations, but not our own.”

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