LSU baseball passed its first big test with flying colors as it swept through the Jax College Baseball Classic, winning each of its three games.
The hot bats and timely pitching performances were all present in Jacksonville as LSU extended its strong early-season record to 8-0, the best under head coach Jay Johnson. The well-handled adversity faced against Indiana and Notre Dame and the domination of UCF showed that this team is incredibly fortuitous.
Now that LSU has navigated a weekend of power conference opponents, the team can be viewed through a clearer lens. Here are some takeaways from the Tigers’ winning weekend away from home.
Ability to shine in adversity
Johnson has spoken at length about the character of his team. He said it will help them keep fighting when they’re down by a few runs or in a tight situation defensively. Character came through a few times this weekend.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, in a low-scoring game, Indiana plated two to take the lead by one. LSU grabbed its bats to start the eighth. The Tigers sent 14 to the plate and scored nine, blowing a gaping hole into the game and essentially taking the win at that point.
The pitching also faced many adverse situations where it excelled. Casan Evans had two great innings, followed by a rough third, and still bounced back to end with two more great innings.
Ethan Plog came in with a runner on second and two outs in the sixth inning against Notre Dame. He got a clutch strikeout to limit the Fighting Irish’s runs to one in that inning.
He went back out in the seventh but faced trouble, allowing a hit and a walk before recording an out. Deven Sheerin came in to pitch in an ugly situation and walked two straight, scoring another.
Instead of letting it get the better of him, Sheerin buckled down and got a three-pitch strikeout and a lineout to Steven Milam at shortstop to leave the bases loaded. It was an electric outing for Sheerin, who was making his third appearance for LSU.
Sheerin has started to find himself as a go-to guy for Johnson in high-leverage situations. He’s been living up to his needs so far in 2026.
Offense will lead this team
After the first week, it’s clear that this team’s speciality was offense. After LSU’s first venture into games against power conference teams, the offense still turned heads.
In the three games LSU played in Jacksonville, it scored a total of 34 runs in 24 innings. The Tigers loaded up the basepaths, suffocating opposing pitchers with their plate discipline and the pressure of their bats.
LSU recorded 40 hits and 29 walks during the tournament. The Tiger hitters were almost as threatening with the bat on their shoulders as they were when they were swinging. Opposing pitchers only went three up, three down in three of the 24 innings. It was sweltering.
Seth Dardar is leading all hitters with at least 10 at-bats in walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He gets on base almost 60% of the time and is consistently making life hard for pitchers who face him on the mound.
Derek Curiel and Milam started catching heat while Zach Yorke and Jake Brown kept nursing their own fires.
Yorke’s three-run home run was the highlight of LSU’s nine-run slogging of Indiana in the eighth inning to take the lead and ice the win.
Starters are getting comfortable
Sunday’s starter, William Schmidt, earned the MVP award for the tournament due to his lights-out performance against UCF. The sophomore threw 91 pitches over five innings of work and only allowed three hits and no runs. He notably struck out seven batters while only walking one.
It was a novel improvement from his performance the previous Sunday against Milwaukee, where he threw the same number of pitches in four innings. He struck out nine in that game but allowed three runs, all of which were earned, and walked three.
Evans was promoted to the ace of the Tigers’ staff and bounced back against Indiana after a rough opening day start. To start the year, Evans only lasted 3.1 innings against Milwaukee, giving up six hits and four runs in that outing. He came out differently in Jacksonville.
Evans retired the first six Indiana hitters in order. He had a rough third inning, allowing three hits and three runs while also walking two batters. He ended that inning by striking out two straight to leave two Hoosiers on base.
Most importantly, he didn’t let it shake him. Evans came out and once more retired six straight to end his day with four of five innings being scoreless.
Saturday starter Cooper Moore didn’t need to improve much statistically after his first start, where he struck out 11 over six innings, all while never reaching a three-ball count. He still went out and gave a great performance against Notre Dame.
He allowed eight hits and three runs but struck out six batters, proving that he can still compete in tough situations. His pitch mixing deceived Notre Dame’s hitters and allowed him to throw 62 strikes on 78 pitches. His performance versus a solid ACC team is not much of a worry, as Moore is still getting used to the expectations of wearing the purple and gold.
