THE STORY
Zac Cowan’s start sputtered, but the four hurlers who followed were locked in.
The Tiger bullpen combined for 6.2 hitless, scoreless frames to help LSU to a 12-1 win to move to 4-0 on the young season.
Reagan Ricken’s collegiate debut was dazzling. The lanky freshman efficiently mowed through the Nicholls lineup for three innings with a low 90s fastball and an array of offspeed pitches that make him a likely starter in his time at LSU. He was credited with the save on Wednesday.
Got ‘Em Swinging @ReaganRicken | SECN + pic.twitter.com/kk5YRZLV9X
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) February 18, 2026
Trent Caraway got a 3-0 green light with the bases loaded in the LSU first. He uncoiled for a grand slam into the second row of the left field seats that put LSU in front 5-1. John Pearson’s mammouth three-run blast in the eighth finish it in run-rule fashion.
Colonel’s two-hole hitter Nico Rijo-Berget lifted a solo shot to left off Cowan to start the scoring in the first. Though Cowan’s outing wasn’t strong, he did escape further damage in the damage after two singles and a throwing error by Caraway loaded the bases.
Cowan left the ball up too often, and Nicholls hit it hard.
The bullpen had no such issues.
Jake Brown drove in a run with a ground ball in the second and another with a flare single to center in the sixth that probably should have been caught but wasn’t by the Nicholls centerfielder who was positioned deep. A wild pitch later in the inning scored Steven Milam.
THE SCORECARD
Dax Dathe: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Zion Theophilus: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K
Santiago Garcia: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Reagan Ricken: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Steven Milam: 1-for-3, BB, 2 R
Jake Brown: 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R
Trent Caraway: 1-for-3, Grand Slam
Nicholls was 0-for-1o with runners in scoring position and 1-for-17 with runners on.
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU will travel to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Jax College Classic. LSU will play Indiana at 1:00 central on Friday, Notre Dame on Saturday and UCF on Sunday.
The games will be streamed by D1Baseball with Lyn Rollins and Ben McDonald on the call.
