The LSU baseball team completed the series victory on Friday night with a 2-1 victory over Mississippi State. Starting pitcher Anthony Eyanson bounced back after a rough outing at Texas to help carry the Tigers to the win.
Anthony Eyanson bounces back
In last weekend's start against Texas, Eyanson got bounced around the diamond in what was one of his worst starts of the season. Going just over four innings, Eyanson gave up four earned runs on 78 pitches–pushing his earned run average to 4.50. Eyanson came back in a big way against the Bulldogs in a series-clinching game. Throwing 103 pitches, Eyanson gave the Tigers five scoreless innings to go along with 12 strikeouts. This was the first scoreless outing for Eyanson since his six-inning performance against Omaha on Feb. 22.
A pair of home runs fuel the Tiger offense
The LSU bats did a complete 180 following their eight-run performance on Friday night. This time around, the majority of the offense came from a pair of solo home runs.
Designated hitter Ethan Frey started the party in the second inning, pumping a deep fly ball to left field for the fifth time this season.
The bigger long ball came in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Mississippi State tied up the game in the fourth inning after an Eyanson wild pitch, the Tiger team was looking to counter.
Catcher Luis Hernandez answered the bell for LSU. After working a 2-0 count, Hernandez put juice behind a ball that hugged the left field foul pole and escaped the yard.
The rest of the offense totaled just five hits.
Casan Evans was great in middle relief
Casan Evans entered the season with high expectations for his freshman year. And so far, the right-hander has proved to be a solid option for the Tigers out of the bullpen. He entered today with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings of work. Evans continued his dominance on Friday night in a four-inning relief performance to seal the door on the Bulldogs. In what was his longest outing of his young Tiger career, Evans struck out six batters and allowed just two hits. Time and time again, Evans has proved to head coach Jay Johnson why he deserves to have the ball in his hands during the game's most stressful situations.
