GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
The LSU baseball team is No. 1 in the nation and won its eighth straight game Wednesday over North Dakota State to go to 13-1 on the season.
The Tigers are 12th in the 16-team Southeastern Conference in home runs with 15, but they are third in batting average (.333) and in on-base percentage (.466) and fourth in runs scored (140) and first in doubles (37).
The weekend starting pitching has been very good as junior ace Kade Anderson is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA, redshirt sophomore Chase Shores is 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA and junior transfer Anthony Eyanson is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA. Freshmen pitchers William Schmidt (2-0, 1.46 ERA) and Casan Evans (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 saves) have looked like aces in the making, and junior transfer Zac Cowan has been among LSU’s best pitchers at 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA.
Some of the strikeout-to-walk ratios are phenomenal with Anderson at 26 to six, Eyanson at 20 to three, Cowan at 14 to one, Evans at 16 to two, Schmidt at 15 to three and Shores at 18 to five.
“Yeah, they’re special,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said of freshmen Schmidt and Evans. “They’ve got a lot ahead of them, but those guys don’t show up all the time. When I say ‘those guys,’ you get talented guys, but talent can’t make up for the character and competitiveness, feel and athleticism that they have. That’s why there’s been no delay. I mean, the training wheels was opening weekend, and then they went flying off.”
Johnson has used 17 pitchers in all. Ten have a 3.18 ERA or lower.
“Yeah, we have a lot of good arms,” he said. “The young pitchers being ready to go has really elevated that. Like, that’s not how this thing goes all the time as we’ve seen. Schmidt’s 12 innings have been very efficient. Evans’ strikeouts per inning (16 in just nine innings) jumped out at me for the first time the other night. That’s real contributions from two first-year players. And Zac Cowan, too. We’ve been able to next man up.”
And all that without Lake Charles junior reliever Gavin Guidry, who is the most experienced returning pitcher on LSU’s staff with 53 innings over the previous two seasons. He was 2-0 with a 2.59 ERA and three saves last season in 24 and a third innings through 22 appearances. He struck out 36 with 18 walks. In 2023, he was 3-0 with a 3.77 ERA and three saves in 28 and two-thirds innings in 23 appearances. He struck out 42 with 12 walks.
“Now, I think we need him,” Johnson said.
Guidry has not pitched all season and has not been available to pitch since the first weekend because of a back/mid-body injury. He is not expected to pitch this weekend in a three-game series against North Alabama at home (6:30 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday).
“Hopefully, next week,” Johnson said.
After North Alabama, LSU hosts Xavier on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., then opens SEC play at home against Missouri next weekend.
“Kade is the only experienced pitcher on this pitching staff right now,” Johnson said, meaning previous experience at LSU. Anderson was 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA last season in 18 appearances with 59 strikeouts and 20 walks in 38 and a third innings after coming on significantly in the postseason.
“And Gavin is the other one,” Johnson said. “I have a ton of faith in him. I like the guys who have the biggest guts that have out pitches in relief – Gavin Guidry and (previously) Riley Cooper and Griffin Herring. It’s not a secret who I’ve put in when it really matters. Gavin’s in that group. He’s been a big part of a lot of our wins, so we need him to come back. That’s why we have to do this right, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Johnson is being careful not to bring him back too soon so he doesn’t have a reinjury or aggravation.
“He made some good strides, but what I don’t want to do is have a setback that’s going to lengthen getting him out there,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’re really on track.”
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