Cade Beloso or Jared Jones? 4 takeaways from LSU baseball's series vs. Butler, CCSU

BATON ROUGE - No. 1 LSU baseball was nearly flawless this weekend, dominating Central Connecticut State and Butler in a four-game series at Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers (11-1) defeated Butler on Friday, 12-2, and Monday, 11-0. They also beat Central Connecticut State 26-4 on Saturday and 13-0 on Sunday.

Here are five takeaways from LSU's dominant performance.

Cade Beloso or Jared Jones?

Cade Beloso had a big weekend. He blasted two home runs in consecutive days off the bench against Central Connecticut State, also hitting a two-RBI double in Game 1 against Butler.

His success at the plate earned him the start at first base over Jared Jones in the final game of the series vs. Butler. Jones, who started in the first three games at first, had been struggling at the plate, going just 1-for-9 and striking out six times.

Beloso's success and Jones' recent struggles create a tricky dynamic for coach Jay Johnson. Jones may be the uber-talented freshman with enough power to knock out a light tower, but no hitter has made more out of his opportunities this season than Beloso.

"There are more guys than spots," Johnson said on Monday. "... I don't think there's really any finality to our team."

If Beloso continues to perform and Jones gets back to where he was at the plate a week ago, Johnson will probably rotate between the two for the foreseeable future. That's at first base, for now. Once Tre Morgan returns to first base and Tommy White is healthy enough to play third base, Jones and Beloso will likely battle for at-bats at designated hitter.

Ty Floyd enters the rotation

Given how dominant he had been through his first two appearances, it was odd that Ty Floyd started the season in the bullpen.

But Floyd's stint in the bullpen came to an end when he earned the start on Saturday over Riley Cooper against the Blue Devils. Floyd made the most of his opportunity, surrendering just one earned run in 5⅔ innings pitched and striking out six batters.

Once again, his slider was sharp and his fastball sat in the mid-90s, showing the same command and confidence that he displayed out of the bullpen.

"Grant (Taylor) getting hurt kind of threw a wrench into what we were going to do (with the rotation) at the outset," Johnson said on Saturday. "But we had his pitch count built up to where it wasn't really a big deal for him to (start)."

Take your base

At the plate, LSU wasn't afraid to work the count during the four-game set.

The Tigers walked 27 times during the series, outwalking their opponents in each matchup by a wide margin.

Against SEC competition, patience at the plate will be key. LSU showed that consistently throughout this series.

LSU BASEBALL UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY:LSU baseball analytics: What technology, data do the Tigers use?

WES JOHNSON AND LSU BASEBALL TECH:LSU baseball analytics: How ex-MLB pitching coach Wes Johnson has bolstered Tigers

HOW TECH SHAPRES LSU BASEBALL PITCHERS:LSU baseball analytics: How Tigers use technology to get the most out of pitchers

Tommy 'Tanks' White and Thatcher Hurd are living up to the hype

Tommy White and Thatcher Hurd were two of LSU's three biggest additions from the transfer portal this offseason.

But both got off to slow starts to begin their LSU careers. White injured his shoulder sliding back into first base on opening day, while Hurd didn't make the opening weekend rotation and struggled in his first start against Southern.

However, both high-profile additions have lived up to the hype ever since.

White blasted two home runs against Central Connecticut State on Saturday, looking as healthy as he looked prior to the injury.

Hurd – after allowing no runs in his second start against Texas – struck out the first six batters he faced against Butler on Monday and finished the night striking out 11 batters and allowing no runs in six innings pitched.

"I think if you go look at my first outing, I was missing a lot ball side and I think that probably comes down to probably being amped up and trying to throw with a little too much effort, maybe doing too much," Hurd said.

On Monday, he threw all of his pitches with excellent control and command, featuring a fastball that sat in the mid-90s and a slider in the mid to upper-80s with sharp movement.

"I think when you look at pitch sequences and how to set guys up, it's (about) the fastball down and away sets (the slider) up and then the curveball sets up elevating (the fastball)," Hurd said. "It's all about tunneling and setting hitters up in that way."

Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball: Tommy 'Tanks' White, Cade Beloso star vs. Butler, CCSU