A picture perfect start to 2025
Chase Shores made his first appearance in nearly two years and the redshirt sophomore allowed one run over five innings of work as the Tigers won 8-1 to complete the sweep over Purdue Fort Wayne.
Shores (1-0) threw 67 pitches across five innings and limited Purdue Fort Wayne to three hits, while striking out seven versus no walks. it was his first time pitching since March 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery as a freshman.
“You’re not supposed to have favorites as a coach, but Chase is up there at the top,” Jay Johnson said after the game. “He’s a great person and a high-talent, hight-ceiling arm that chose LSU as the place he wanted to be. When he got hurt in 2023, that was a thunderbolt, and he’s been through a lot. Just seeing how he’s gone about his work has been impressive.
“I’m really happy for Chase and obviously ecstatic to have him back as a huge contributor to our team.”
The Mastodons actually struck first grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first. That lead would hold all the way until the bottom of the fifth inning before LSU erupted for five runs in the home half.
The fifth inning eruption was sparked by sophomore lefty Ashton Larson, getting the start at DH, went deep for the first time in 2025 and drove in three runs. Larson would tack on two more runs in the sixth inning. He ended the day going 3-4 at the plate, with a double, homer, and five RBI.
Larson Long Ball @Ashton_Larson11 | SECN+ pic.twitter.com/7DI2J8ZO46
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) February 16, 2025
The Tigers would score two more runs in the frame, one by way of a wild pitch that scored Monster Milam, the other coming from an RBI single by freshman left fielder Derek Curiel. In his first weekend wearing the purple and gold, Curiel went 4-11 with a homer and three RBI. He also scored a pair of runs, stole his first career base, and started all three games in left field.
Speaking of promising freshmen, William Schmidt made his LSU debut in the seventh and nearly closed the game out. Schmidt threw 2.2 innings and ended up facing the entire Purdue Fort Wayne lineup while only giving up one hit versus four strikeouts.
As a pitching staff, the Tigers combined to throw 45 strikeouts this weekend, which is the most against any single opponent over a three-game stretch on record (dating back to 1992).
“I thought we had a good weekend,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of our team, the pitching staff was excellent, and that takes a lot of pressure off the offense, and we have a good offense. So that’s a good thing. We did a lot of good things, and I like the fact we were able to get a lot of guys into the games.”