GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
For the first time this season, LSU coach Jay Johnson did not replace anyone other than pitchers as he found himself in a Southeastern Conference type game Friday evening against upstart Omaha at Alex Box Stadium and enjoyed a close shave, 4-2, in front of 10,343.
The Tigers (5-0) will play Omaha (1-4) in a doubleheader Saturday with the first game starting at noon and the nightcap at 5 p.m. The originally scheduled Sunday game was moved to Saturday because of bad weather in the forecast.
AFTER SO MANY LSU TRIPS TO OMAHA, OMAHA COMES TO LSU
The Mavericks scored two off LSU starter Kade Anderson in the top of the sixth to cut their deficit to 4-2 and had the bases loaded with one out when junior transfer Connor Benge of Dallas Baptist came on in relief. Benge retired the side on just seven pitches with no further damage.
“Connor came in in a tough spot, really the first defensive adversity that we’ve had for the year,” Johnson said. “Got weak contact twice and got us out of that.”
It was too close for the wholesale substitutions Johnson enjoyed in the opening four games.
Then 6-foot-9 freshman Mavrick Rizzi threw a perfect seventh with a strikeout.
Anderson (2-0) struck out eight and got the win after allowing three hits and two walks.
“He was dominant,” Johnson said. “We all saw Paul Skenes (National League Rookie of the Year in 2024) two years ago, and those first five innings were very reminiscent of that in terms of the domination, the strikes. It seemed like it was 1-and-2 to every hitter, and then he was finishing them off with a strikeout or getting weak contact. So great outing again by Kade.”
Freshman Casan Evans of Houston struck out five over the last two innings with one walk for the save after throwing only 34 pitches.
“Super proud of him,” Johnson said of one of his top recruits. “He visited everywhere, and you can see why with the talent. And then getting him through the draft. Just total faith in him. You think about it, that’s a pretty big spot for a guy that’s only pitched one time in college. He looked like he’d been doing it for years.”
LSU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a Jake Brown RBI single and on Luis Hernandez’ double-play grounder. The Tigers made it 3-0 in the fourth on an RBI double by Hernandez. A Steven Milam sacrifice fly in the fifth put LSU up 4-0.
Freshman Derek Curiel, Brown and Hernandez each had two hits. Brayden Curtis (0-1) took the loss for Omaha after allowing just one earned run on five hits in three and a third innings.
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