GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
No. 9 LSU snapped a losing streak and a winning streak, and may have found another key weekend reliever on Tuesday night in a 10-3 win over McNeese State at Alex Box Stadium.
The Tigers (32-6) broke their three-game skid, as the Cowboys (27-6) saw the nation’s longest active winning streak end at 12 games.
LSU freshman right-hander Mavrick Rizy, an intimidating, 6-foot-9 power pitcher from Fiskdale, Massachusetts, threw the best game of his young career. He struck out six and allowed one hit and no walks in a shutout of two and two-thirds innings out of the bullpen.
Rizy came on in the fifth inning and shaved his earned run average from 4.50 to 3.77 with his 14th appearance. He was efficient, throwing 41 pitches with 31 strikes and will be available for this weekend’s home series against No. 15 Alabama (30-8, 8-7 SEC). That series starts on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. Rizy will likely not be available until the Friday (6 p.m., SEC Network +) or Saturday game (5 p.m., SEC Network).
He pitched last weekend at Auburn, allowing one run and five hits in two innings with two strikeouts and no walks.
“He was dominant tonight,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “And he’s going to be. We believe in his talent immensely.”
Freshman right-hander William Schmidt started and got the win to go to 6-0 on the season. He allowed five hits and two earned runs, though, in just three and a third innings with four strikeouts and a walk. Schmidt threw 63 pitches with 40 strikes.
LSU pitching totaled 15 strikeouts. The Tigers’ five relievers – Connor Benge, Conner Ware, Rizy, Cooper Williams and Jacob Myers – allowed only one hit and one run with two walks and 11 strikeouts.
The Tigers had all the runs they needed by the second inning as they took a 4-0 lead. Jared Jones, who was 1-for-13 over the weekend sweep at the hands of Auburn on the road, put LSU up 2-0 in the first inning with a two-run home run. Jake Brown added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.
Jones’ RBI single made it 4-0 in the second. After McNeese cut it to 4-2 in the fourth on a two-run home run by Larry Edwards, LSU answered with four runs in the fourth for an 8-2 lead. Ethan Frey, Steven Milam and Luis Hernandez all had RBI singles, and another run scored on an error.
A Mack Brousseau sacrifice fly got McNeese within 8-3 in the fifth. A Daniel Curiel sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Tigers a 9-3 lead. Curiel singled An RBI double by Frey made it 10-3 Tigers in the eighth.
GAVIN GUIDRY OUT FOR THE SEASON
LSU junior reliever Gavin Guidry is done for the season, Johnson said after the game.
“Unfortunately, Gavin will have a back procedure on Friday and will be out for the rest of the season,” Johnson said. “But the good news is it’s only a three-to-four month recovery. We expect him back next season.”
Guidry, who was one of LSU’s top relievers in the 2023 and ’24 seasons, did not pitch this season. He suffered the back injury early in the season.
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