(Photo Credit: @LSUbaseball on X)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) March 8, 2025
After four North Alabama hitters had come to the plate, the Lions led 2-0 with a pair of hits. After seven innings, the Lions still had two runs on two hits, and Anthony Eyanson had 15 strikeouts.
After three of the first four Lion hitters reached, Eyanson set down 20 of the next 21, 14 via strikeout. LSU’s offense used a titanic blast by Jared Jones and some late inning small ball to produce a 6-2 win.
Strikeouts were the story.
Eyanson fanned 15, the first Tiger to do that since Ty Floyd in the 2023 College World Series against Florida. Zac Cowan struck out five more in his two innings including all three he faced in the ninth.
All nine North Alabama starters struck out at least once.
For Eyanson, it was the second time in as many weeks he had to overcome a slow start. A line shot RBI double into the corner in left field and a sharp RBI single to centerfield felt eerily similar to last week’s bumpy beginning against Nebraska in Frisco.
Like last week, he rebounded with some exceptional work to steady things and allow his offense to go to work. The junior right hander really baffled the Lions with his sharp slider, using it to get ahead in counts and finish at bats. He snuck the fastball by them on numerous occasions. The stuff never slipped. Eyanson struck out the side in order in his last inning, the seventh.
North Alabama is a very poor offensive team. They entered the weekend hitting a putrid .211. That has to be factored into the outing. However, Eyanson’s command and velocity through his 95th pitch have to be considered a positive in his final tune up before SEC play.
Offensively, LSU was good, not great.
The Tigers failed to reach double digit hits for the first time since the loss to Omaha two weeks ago. They finished with just nine, but they drew four walks and pushed across six runs thanks to a great effort from Derek Curiel and Jones at the top. Those two went a combined 5-for-9 with four runs and three driven in.
Jones missed a first inning homer by a foot. It hit the top of the wall in left center and went for a double. He lined a missile into the gap in right center his second time up. That nearly plated Curiel were it not for a late stop sign from third base coach Josh Jordan. By the third time he saw soft-tossing southpaw Tripp Patterson, you could feel a big swing coming.
Luis Hernandez‘s bunt single and Chris Stanfield‘s successful suicide squeeze bunt in the eighth helped plate LSU’s sixth run. Josh Pearson was tagged out trying to score from second on the squeeze.
Cowan did a really nice job after issuing a leadoff walk. He’s emerging as a real threat in long relief to keep the fireballers toward the back end of the bullpen.
THE SCORECARD
- Eyanson’s final line: 7IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 15K, 95 pitches, 67 strikes.
- Jones went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and a HR. He drove in two and scored twice.
- Curiel went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs and an RBI.
- Steven Milam singled, walked twice and scored a run.
- LSU did not make a fielding error. Twenty strikeouts from the pitching staff helps that cause.
- North Alabama got two hits and struck out 20 times.
- LSU used 15 position players in a game that was never out of hand.
THE QUOTES:
Jay Johnson on Anthony Eyanson…
“One of the traits that I believe all great pitchers have is they don’t let small things bother them carry forward to the next pitch and the next inning and the next play. And he’s proven that obviously here through a couple of weeks, four weeks, whatever it is. I’m proud of him for that. I don’t know how many strikeouts he had, but it felt like a lot….Seven in a row after the mound visit. I’m going to go visit him in the bullpen so he just starts the game like that next time.”
On Jared Jones…
“Yeah, he had a good day today. He was working before the game very intently. He’s just a really good hitter now. It’s one of those, it’s not going to be down or off for long. And it hasn’t been. He lined out one time last night. It might have even been his last at bat. Just the quality of the at bats has been phenomenal. His evolution as a hitter and as a player is something I’m very proud of. From zone management to contact to hitting with runners in scoring position. Like today, that’s a great at bat. The homer. There’s an open base there, and he knows that, and they got a little greedy when they went 1-2. He made them pay. That’s a really good hitter knowing that he’s going to get pitched around, There’s an open base…he was on the one mistake that he got. Just a sign of how good a hitter he is.”
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU and North Alabama will play the final game of the three-game series on Sunday at 1:00. LSU will send Chase Shores to the mound. Every Tiger pitcher outside of Kade Anderson, Anthony Eyanson, Zac Cowan and Gavin Guidry will be ready to go.
Check out more of our LSU coverage here.
