(Photo credit: Nate Bell)
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
Tennessee boasts one of America’s most talented pitching staffs. Through two games, LSU hasn’t had much of an answer.
In game one, the Tigers scored an improbably win. In Saturday’s game two, back-to-back homers in the seventh was all LSU could muster. Tennessee evened the series up, 9-3, in front of a record crowd of 13,376 at Alex Box Stadium.
Final from Baton Rouge pic.twitter.com/Vf33LTTCNh
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) April 27, 2025
The game was in the balance until the eighth when Tennessee struck for six runs against the end of the LSU pitching staff. Because the Tigers trailed all night, Zac Cowan and Casan Evans just watched.
LSU played from behind all night because Marcus Phillips was just as impressive as Liam Doyle the night before. He allowed just one hit through six innings before Steven Milam and Michael Braswell took him deep on two of the first three pitches of the seventh.
Prior to that, it was near domination.
Anthony Eyanson did everything he could to keep LSU in the game as the Tiger bats were chewed up early by Phillips.
He gutted through 5.2 innings of two run baseball. It felt like he walked a high wire for most of it.
Tennessee created traffic on the bases in every inning and broke through in the third for a pair.
Ashton Larson followed Milam’s double in the fifth with a one-out walk, and Milam advance to third on a wild pitch to put runners at the corners. Jay Johnson elected against a safety squeeze with Chris Stanfield. The Tiger centerfielder popped up, and Derek Curiel’s drag bunt was snuffed out by Phillips to extinguish LSU’s best early threat. It was really the only threat.
Johnson went to a bevy of relievers in the late innings to piece it together while holding Cowan and Evans.
Mavrick Rizy danced out of big trouble in the sixth by inducing a harmless ground out from the dangerous Gavin Kilen with the bases loaded.
The Vols loaded them again in the seventh off of Rizy and DJ Primeaux. After Primeaux got a strikeout for the first out, Chase Shores was summoned. He yielded a sacrifice fly for the third Tennessee run and then uncorked a wild pitch to put runners at second and third. Manny Marin then scorched a ball right at Milam at short.
Again, LSU hung in the game, down just three runs. That allowed the longballs from Milam and Breaswell to ignite the capacity crowd and draw within one in the seventh.
Then the Vols threw the knockout punch.
Shores hit the leadoff man Ariel Antigua in the eighth and surrendered a line drive hit by Kilen. Andrew Fischer was intentionally walked after Kilen stole second. That loaded the bases with one out.
Shores hit Hunter Ensley with a full count pitch to double the lead to 4-2.
Cooper Williams avoided the damage temporarily with a huge strikeout of Reese Chapman for the second out. Then Dalton Bargo’s topspin ground ball ate Jones up at first and got into the outfield to plate two more. It was ruled a single, but Jones played it off to the side and didn’t get a glove on it.
Cannon Peebles followed with a towering home run into the Baton Rouge night to make it 9-2 and send half of Alex Box Stadium home.
John Pearson continued his assault on left-handed pitching with a pinch-hit solo shot in the eighth.
THE SCORECARD
Marcus Phillips’ line: 6.2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 6K, 110 pitches, 60 strikes
Anthony Eyanson’s line: 5.2IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 8K, 111 pitches, 72 strikes
Cannon Peebles: 2-for-3, HR, 5 RBI
Steven Milam: 2-for-4, HR, 2B
Derek Curiel: 0-for-4, K. His season-long on base streak was snapped at 43 games.
Tennessee got the leadoff man on in six of nine innings.
Tennessee was 6-for-19 (.316) with runners in scoring position.
LSU had just five at bats with runners in scoring position. They were hitless.
LSU was 0-for-9 with runners on base.
Tennessee left 12 on base. LSU left six.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Tigers and Volunteers will play the rubber game Sunday at 2:00. Neither team has announced a starter as of the conclusion of Saturday’s game.
It would be a surprise not to see either Cowan or Evans take the ball for LSU. Cowan threw 13 pitches on Friday. Evans has not been used. Neither has started a game this year.
Conner Ware and Conner Benge are also available. Neither has pitched this weekend.
