A little rain never hurt nobody
Despite a near-three hour delay, playing well into the night, and finishing past midnight Friday night/Saturday morning, LSU (25-3, 6-2) won its second SEC weekend by taking game two of the Mississippi State (16-11, 1-7) series 2-1.
LSU got solo home runs from Ethan Frey and Luis Hernandez. Frey put LSU on the board in the second inning, and Hernandez broke the 1-1 tie in the fifth with his fourth home run of 2025.
A 2-1 final score is a classic pitcher’s duel and that’s what fans at The Box were treated to last night. Because this weekend is a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series, Mississippi State purposefully pitched off and held its ace Pico Kohn for Friday’s game. He went up against Anthony Eyanson who got to extend a little bit more than he has in his first two SEC starts.
Eyanson pitched five full innings, giving up five hits, one run, and had 12 strikeouts against three walks. He was credited with the win and improved to 4-0 on the year.
“Anthony has great competitive character and make-up about him,” Jay Johnson said. “Little things don’t bother him, so he was able to navigate the weather delay situation.”
Much has been made so far that LSU only has two reliable arms, Zac Cowan and Casan Evans, currently in the bullpen. Thursday night, Jay rode Cowan for four innings to secure the win, and he adopted the same strategy in game two and the results were the same.
Evans picked up his fifth save of 2025 after pitching the final four innings. He may not have been as dominant as Cowan was Thursday night, but he did what any good closer does: throw up zeros.
“Casan is one of the best pitchers in the country,” Johnson said. “He gave us an incredible performance tonight. He really navigate the lineup; I thought he pitched very smart, because there are a few hitters in that Mississippi State lineup that if you make a mistake, they’re going to tattoo it. He showed his poise, his talent and his competitiveness tonight.”
Evans only gave up a pair of hits, but did issue three walks. He also struck out six. He ran into trouble in the eighth inning by loading the bases and put the go-ahead run on in the ninth, but Evans was able to dodge both bullets and get LSU the series win.
First pitch for Saturday’s game has been pushed back to 6:00 P.M. because of inclement weather in the area. Chase Shores will take the mound and pitch against State’s Karson Ligon.