(Photo Credit: @LSUbaseball on X)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
If LSU hosts a Super Regional in Alex Box Stadium, we may look back at Saturday’s effort from Anthony Eyanson as a big part of the reason.
For the second game in a row, the Tiger offense didn’t do much of anything. It didn’t matter because Eyanson manhandled the Aggie lineup for nine innings in a, 2-1, win to split the doubleheader and even the series.
The junior right hander only allowed multiple baserunners once in an inning, the fifth.
Bear Harrison singled to lead it off, and Blake Binderup walked with one out. Eyanson immediately struck out Hayden Schott and got a swinging strikeout of Terrence Keil III on a bad call by the home plate umpire who should have appealed instead of ringing Keil up. In any event, that was really all the trouble Eyanson faced.
A struggling LSU offense mustered its only scoring of the game in the top of the sixth when Jared Jones doubled into the left field corner to open the frame, and Ethan Frey doubled him home. Derek Curiel bunted Frey to third. Daniel Dickinson walked, and Josh Pearson’s safety squeeze perfectly split the pitcher and first baseman for a run-scoring single.
That sixth accounted for half of LSU’s hits and all of its runs.
A&M answered with a solo homer from a red-hot Ben Royo in the bottom half. He got a hanging curveball from Eyanson and smoked it over the wall in left center.
From that point, Eyanson faced 14 hitters. He retired 12 of them, and one of the two who reached base was a strikeout on a wild pitch. Eyanson struck out seven of the last 13 he faced including all three outs in the ninth.
He was brilliant.
On his 100th pitch, Eyanson hit 95 mph. He finished the game with 112 pitches.
The Herculean effort allowed LSU to hold Casan Evans for Sunday’s start which completely tilts the series into LSU’s favor from a matchup perspective. The Tigers now have a win in College Station and can bid for the series Sunday afternoon.
The way Arkansas played this weekend against Texas, a loss in game two of the day would have really turned up the heat on the Tigers in terms of a top eight seed. Getting swept in College Station would have very much been on the table, and the Hogs won’t be an easy out at The Box.
That pressure still lingers, but this win really makes things look better on paper.
The Tigers offense simply wasn’t good enough all day on Saturday. LSU scored in two of 18 innings. LSU was retired in order in six of nine innings in the second game.
One early hallmark of the offense was putting the ball in play. Against mid-level Aggie pitching, LSU struck out 12 times in game two including four by Chris Stanfield who may not sleep great Saturday night.
Still, it doesn’t matter how you win them this time of year. It just matters that you do, and sometimes that means jumping on a pitcher’s back and riding him to the finish line. LSU did that, and now Jay Johnson has to feel great about the top two in his rotation moving forward.
THE SCORECARD
Anthony Eyanson’s line: 9IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 14K, 112 pitches, 80 strikes
Texas A&M was 3-for-31 (.097) for the game.
The Aggies were 0-for-10 with 2 out including the reaching of first on a strikeout.
The Aggies were 0-for-7 with runners on base and 0-for-2 with 2 strikeouts with runners in scoring position.
Eight of the nine Aggies struck out, and four struck out multiple times.
Ethan Frey: 3-for-4, R, RBI, 2B
Derek Curiel was 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. He did not reach base in either game on Saturday.
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU and Texas A&M conclude their three-game series Sunday at 1:00. LSU did not name a starter on Thursday, but all signs indicate that Casan Evans will get his second start after a masterful effort against Tennessee last week.
Lefty Miles Patton has been A&M No. 3 starter all season. He’s 1-2 in SEC play with a 6.62 ERA.
The Tiger bullpen should be ready to roll. After Evans, LSU has Conner Ware, Connor Benge, Zac Cowan, William Schmidt and others available.
Weston Moss and Kaiden Wilson will likely be available for Texas A&M as well, so plenty of good arms are on call.
