LSU baseball relievers Garrett Edwards and Chase Shores out vs. Kentucky, per Jay Johnson
BATON ROUGE – LSU baseball relievers Garrett Edwards and Chase Shores will not be available for this week's series against Kentucky, coach Jay Johnson said on Wednesday.
Johnson did not provide any other updates on Shores and Edwards. However, he did say that Wednesday was a big day to determine when reliever Nate Ackenhausen – who has been dealing with a hamstring injury since the Tennessee series – would be available to pitch again.
No. 1 LSU (27-5, 7-4 SEC) faces the Wildcats (27-5, 9-3) for a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium beginning on Thursday (6 p.m., SEC Network).
Shores has been dealing with an injury that has sidelined him since his last appearance against Tennessee on March 31. Edwards injured his throwing arm after tossing a wild pitch on Friday against South Carolina, a game the Tigers went on to win.
Edwards and Shores have emerged as top options out of the bullpen for Johnson this season. Edwards holds a 1.93 ERA in 23⅓ innings pitched, while Shores has a 1.96 ERA in 18⅓ innings.
Ackenhausen has only pitched 1⅔ innings against SEC competition but still has a 1.54 ERA this season.
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In their place, LSU will likely need to lean more on infielder/reliever Gavin Guidry, freshman Griffin Herring and Bryce Collins against the Wildcats.
All three have pitched well in recent outings. Guidry closed out the Tigers' comeback win against South Carolina on Friday, Herring has allowed just one earned run in 12 innings pitched this season and Collins has delivered a shutout in each of his last five outings.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball: Garrett Edwards and Chase Shores out vs. Kentucky
