LSU Holds On to Beat Missouri 7-6

Casan Evans slams the door on the Other Tigers

SEC games are never going to be easy, but LSU really had to hold on for dear life to win game two of its SEC opening series against Missouri 7-6 Saturday night at Alex Box Stadium.

Josh Pearson had a big first inning in both the field and at the plate. Pearson helped gun down Brock Daniels as he tried to extend a single into a double to end the top of the first, and then in the home half of the inning, he launched his third home run of the season to give LSU a 2-0 lead.

Jake Brown led off the bottom of the second with a triple and, after Luis Hernandez popped out behind the plate, LSU pushed across its third run of the contest thanks to a beautiful squeeze bunt courtesy of Michael Braswell.

But Missouri would respond in a big way with four straight runs to grab a 4-3 lead. The Other Tigers knocked Eyanson out in the fourth inning after Keegan Knutson took him deep for a three-run shot. The final line on Eyanson reads: 3.2 IP, four runs, seven hits, and five strikeouts.

Conner Ware came on in relief of Eyanson and was credited with the win. Ware went 1.1 innings, threw up a pair of zeroes and gave his offense a chance to reclaim the lead.

Just as they did in Friday’s game, LSU was able to even the score immediately. Every good rally starts off with a leadoff walk and that’s exactly what Milam did, coming all the way back down from an 0-2 count to reach base. Brown was hit by a pitch to get on and then Hernandez flew out to left to advance Milam 90 feet; then Michael Braswell laid down his second bunt of the evening and tied the game at 4.

Jared Jones is one of the veteran leaders of this 2025 LSU baseball team and Bear came through later on in the inning to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead.

Michael Braswell drove in his third run of the night with a single to left to give LSU a 7-4 lead. Braswell really needed a good night at the plate and hopefully tonight was a sign of a breakthrough: 2-3, three RBI, and also scored a run.

But just as it seemed LSU had things wrapped up, the Tiger bullpen tried its very best to give the game away.

William Schmidt came on in the sixth inning and while the prized freshman may end up being a first round pick in a couple of years, tonight it was obvious he was pitching in his first ever SEC game. Schmidt walked the first batter he faced but settled in and held Missouri scoreless in the sixth. The seventh inning, however, is when things spiraled for him.

Schmidt got taken deep by Knutson to lead off the seventh, and then Schmidt issued back-to-back walks. Schmidt threw 26 pitches, and only 12 for strikes. That was a theme throughout the night with the LSU bullpen.

DJ Primeaux came on to relieve Schmidt and he, too had control issues. Primeaux hit the first batter he hit to load the bases but was able to induce a 6-3 double play. Missouri, however, traded the two outs to make it a 7-6 game. Primeaux walked one final batter before Jay Johnson pushed all his chips in and turned to Casan Evans to get the seven-out save.

Evans really had to work for it Saturday night, but he got LSU across the finish line without giving up that lead. Evans threw a career-best 45 pitches across 2.1 innings and got his fifth save of the season.

He certainly didn’t make it easy on himself in the eighth inning. Evans loaded the bases in the eighth but ripped off back-to-back Ks to escape that jam, and he opened the ninth with a pair of punch outs as well. Evans did allow a base hit to end his consecutive strike out streak at four, but he was able to end the game with a grounder right back to the mound that he tossed over to Jones for the final out.

There’s still of course 28 more SEC games to be played before postseason play begins, but the LSU bullpen is starting to show some cracks and the absence of Gavin Guidry looms larger by the game. Nearly half of Ware’s pitches tonights were balls (11 strikes, 10 balls), while Schmidt and Primeaux each threw more balls than strikes. It’s great that Evans slammed the door, but he also issued a pair of free passes in that turbulent eighth inning. But, it’s better to learn these lessons in a win than in a loss and LSU’s 2-0 out the gate with a chance to sweep a conference series tomorrow.

First pitch for Sunday’s game is set for 1:00 P.M. Chase Shores will once again get the start and the game may be streamed via SEC Network+.