Game 1 was not looking to go in LSU baseball’s favor entering the late innings versus Tennessee on Friday evening.
Laced balls were going right to defenders. Runners were being left on base. Pitchers were throwing strikes that were just hit all over the ballpark.
That was until the top of the eighth inning. After trailing 4-1 since the fourth inning, sophomore center fielder Derek Curiel hit a long pop-up into the left field bleachers to give the Tigers a late-inning lead. Prior to that at-bat, he was 0-for-3 on the night.
LSU would later go on to win the game 7-5.
He said before the season started that he put a lot of effort into mentally slowing the game down, and he showed exactly how important that was for him as a ballplayer.
“We work on that stuff with our mental coach here, having your mental cues and your breathing cues and just being focused because we work our butts off all year to be able to play this game,” Curiel said in January. “So when we get out there, it’s kind of like playing a children’s game. That should be the reward: playing baseball.”
The entire game for the Tigers was lukewarm before Curiel’s home run. Pitching was decent throughout the contest, but it easily could’ve been better. The defense showed up enough, not making an error, and the bats weren’t even cold. The ball was just laced to the wrong people.
But this team fought enough to put themselves in a winning position. Junior shortstop Steven Milam hinted at this earlier in the season after a pitcher’s dual win versus Milwaukee.
“When it gets tough, we stay together and just keep grinding at bats out,” Milam said in February. “We just keep trying to find ways to manufacture runs.”
Casan Evans started on the mound for the Tigers, and he loaded the zone well. He only allowed two free passes and struck out six in his 5.2 innings pitched. He threw 90 pitches, and 67 were strikes.
His splits showed he did well, but on a night like Friday, where few things went the Tigers’ way, the amount of strikes he threw only contributed to the number of Volunteers that found barrels.
Evans was responsible for three earned runs during his time on the bump.
Even though his outing wasn’t as sharp as he would’ve hoped, the hodgepodge pitching from the midweek games came up clutch for the Tigers after Evans’ fairly early exit from the game.
Danny Lachenmayer would come in to close the fifth inning and shut down Tennessee’s offense before giving way to Mavrick Rizy.
But it would be Devin Sheerin who slammed the door shut on the Volunteers. He has shown great potential all season, and on Friday he showed just how valuable he would be to this Tigers team if a late run were to happen.
Earlier in the season, he said he was disappointed to not be able to compete in the title run in 2025, and he’s taken it to heart.
“It’s just one of those things that you can’t simulate getting in front of 10,000 fans and pitching,” Sheerin said. “I think just getting on the mound every time I get out there, and I’m just gonna get sharper.”
This team really turned around what looked like a rollover loss. If it can continue doing that, it might be the time the Tigers get hot late.
Baseball is a game of streaks, and LSU might finally be getting its hot streak.
The Tigers will try to continue the momentum to secure the series win in Game 2 on Saturday. First pitch will be in Knoxville at 5 p.m. CT.
