(Photo Credit: Michael Bacilagupi)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
Jay Johnson pushed a bunch of buttons on Thursday night. It paid off.
With LSU trailing 5-1 and in a two-week offensive funk, Johnson saw an opportunity. Or was desperate.
Either way, he pinch hit freshman John Pearson for Michael Braswell with one on and one out. Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn countered with a right-handed pitcher, so Johnson went to John’s brother Josh, a left-handed hitter. Josh smoked a single to right field on the first pitch he saw.
So, with two on Johnson pinch hit Ashton Larson whose last hit came on March 11 in a midweek game against Xavier. Larson launched a three-run shot into the seats in right to cut the lead to one and shock Alex Box Stadium back to life.
After Jacob Mayers hit the Alabama leadoff hitter in the top of the next inning, Johnson did something he hasn’t done in SEC play yet. He went to Casan Evans while trailing an SEC team. Evans flirted with trouble, and he may have gotten some help to evade it.
Evans walked Bryce Fowler to put runners at first and second with two outs for superstar Justin Lebron. Evans spiked a 2-2 slider to the wall to put runners at second and third. Johnson could have called for an intentional walk with Kade Snell and his two Thursday night home runs on deck. He let Evans pitch, and a 3-2 slider that appeared well low was called strike three. Multiple Alabama coaches were ejected for arguing the call. I loved the decision to throw the breaking ball 3-2 as opposed the putting the best hitter in the conference on base.
At that point LSU, down one at stretch time, had momentum.
The offense finally woke up.
After Ethan Frey singled and Jared Jones walked, Steven Milam eviscerated a baseball deep into the right field bleachers for a three-run blast that put the Tigers on top 7-5.
After Jake Brown singled, Josh Pearson grounded to first, the throw to start a double play deflected into right left field, and Brown never slowed down. He bolted home and was initially called out, but it was quickly overturned by replay.
Frey’s opposite field homer and Brown’s safety squeeze in the eighth both added to the lead and gave the Tigers an 11-5 advantage. That made 10 unanswered.
Johnson pulled Evans after and out in the ninth. He threw 35 pitches and should be available for Saturday. Zac Cowan did have to enter the game when Connor Benge walked three and hit another to plate a run. Cowan got the last out on four pitches.
Kade Anderson’s start was a familiar Anderson start. He made a ton of good pitches. That’s why he struck out 10 in 5.2 innings. He got too much plate too often. That’s why he gave up four homers. That’s also been a theme. He gave up two to Kansas State and three to Mississippi State. Both of those were before the 135-pitch outing. He’s just got to keep the ball out of the middle of the plate.
The 10 runs in the final three innings certainly made up for LSU’s poor at bats with runners in scoring position early on. Jared Jones struck out twice with a runner on third base. Frey did, too.
That had been an issue for two weeks, but when you erupt for 10 in the last three, that softens the hurt.
THE SCORECARD:
Casan Evans line: 2.1IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 2K, 35 pitches, 22 strikes.
Kade Anderson line: 5.2IP, 6H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, 10K, 96 pitches, 62 strikes.
Derek Curiel: 3-for-5, RBI, R
Ethan Frey: 2-for-4, HR, 2R, BB
Steven Milam: 1-for-5, HR, 3 RBI
Ashton Larson: 1-for-1, HR, 3 RBI
Kade Snell (hitting behind Lebron): 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Alabama was 1-for-9 (.111) with runners on base. LSU was 7-for-23 (.304) with runners on base.
Alabama made three errors. LSU did not commit one.
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU needed that one. Alabama’s most talented arm, Riley Quick, gets the ball for the Tide. He’s got a fastball up to 100 mph and was excellent against Mississippi State last week. Anthony Eyanson struck out 15 Mississippi State hitters last time he pitched at The Box.
That’s the matchup tomorrow at 6:00.
It’s A Great Day To Be Alive pic.twitter.com/s21Of3D4Z7
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) April 18, 2025
