LSU Athletics
By Hunt Palmer
As Vanderbilt’s walk of home run sailed over the right field wall on Friday, Zac Cowan‘s earlier effort faded.
The senior right-hander entered in the fourth inning with his team trailing 10-4. When he exited after the seventh, LSU lead 12-10. Through 3.1 shutout frames, Cowan struck out five, didn’t issue a walk and looked like the bullpen force he became in 2025 for the eventual national champions.
“I think I kind of got back to what makes me good,” Cowan said. “I executed a lot better. I landed a lot more offspeed pitches. When I’m getting ahead in counts, I tend to be a lot more successful.”
Prior to Friday, Cowan had yielded 12 hits and six earned runs over his first four innings of the season. It’s what relegated him to long relief in a lopsided game as opposed to a high-leverage spot like he’d pitched in for the last two seasons at Wofford and LSU.
“His last outing before Friday wasn’t great, but I had a conversation with him on Wednesday and had kind of seen what he had been doing, and I wasn’t surprised at all that he pitched well,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson.
Cowan manned Wofford’s Fridays as a starter in 2024. He was the ace of an NCAA Tournament team that pushed LSU to the brink in Chapel Hill. He posted a 10-2 record with 124 strikeouts and 29 walks in 110 innings. His ERA last year at LSU was 2.94.
Simply, he’s been excellent for two seasons. This year he’s stumbled out of the starting blocks.
“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows,” Cowan said. “I like to look at it from a good perspective, and I just like to stay ready and stay positive, supporting the guys around me. I like to think that will bring me around pretty good in the future.”
In a way, Cowan’s success a season ago and early struggles this year mirror the program. LSU rode a wave of positivity much of last season and finished on top. Cowan’s starting effort against a lethal Arkansas offense in Omaha was a big part of that.
Now it’s about battling through tough times.
“There’s always some sort of adversity,” Cowan said. “There was adversity last year that not everyone saw. People have definitely seen it a little more this year. But the vibes, the morale around the team are really good. Never lose faith in each other, always supporting each other. It’s a great group to be in this position with.”
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