LSU Collapses Late, Drops Series to OU
David Billiot Jr • March 22, 2026
Oklahoma - 4, LSU - 3
Saturday Afternoon Recap
It’s impossible to say just how catastrophic a loss on March 21st is with their being 8 more weeks to the season, but as of today, this one feels pretty dang catastrophic. For the third time in their 4 SEC losses, LSU found themselves on the losing side of a game decided by 1 or 2 runs. After opening the series with a massive win on Thursday night behind a special performance from Casan Evans, the Tiger lost the final two games and lose their second consecutive series to start SEC play. William Schmidt and the pitching staff was fantastic, but it was the same old story of being let down by the offense. Despite the sophomore starter only making it through 4.0 innings, he still threw well. Oklahoma’s offense did a fantastic job of making him work, particularly in the back half of his outing. Gavin Guidry and Deven Sheerin did their jobs, but one of the biggest questions of the day was regarding Jay Johnson’s decision making. He’s the best college baseball coach in the country, but choosing to send Guidry back out for the 8th inning and refusing to take him out at the first, second, or even third sign of trouble was quite perplexing. The veteran was fantastic through his first 3 innings, but fatigue seemed to set in and he remained out on the mound. Although Sheerin wasn’t perfect, he made the pitch he needed to for what should be a routine play for any team in the SEC, but as things have gone through 25 games in 2026, the play wasn’t made.
The offense was bad, yet again. The only 3 runs that the Tiger lineup put on the board came on two swings. Homeruns by Omar Serna and Chris Stanfield were the entire offense on Saturday. LSU only recorded two hits other than those. After striking out 13 times on Friday night, Jay’s lineup only struck out 5 times today. In the post-game press conference, he attributed the lack of hits to poor quality of contact. Recording only 4 hits in game 3 of a series is, quite frankly, abysmal. It’s the game that is widely considered high scoring, because college pitching staff’s are rarely equipped to run quality arms out on to the field for 3 straight games. There’s just no excuse for what is going on with this LSU lineup right now. For the third weekend in a row, this team ends the weekend with more questions than it entered with.
Pitching
Although he struck out 2 in the 1st, William Schmidt had a few mistake pitches and Oklahoma made him pay for one of them. After a leadoff strikeout of Sooner leader Trey Gambill, who had two RBI hits last night, the sophomore stud left an 0-1 breaking ball up in the zone and Camden Johson drove it the other way in to the Left Field Landing for a solo homerun. Following a second strikeout, Schmidt hung another breaking ball to Jaxon Willits in a 1-2 count, but got away with it with a deep flyout to right field. The 2nd inning was far more clean, going 1-2-3 on only 11 pitches. He got in to trouble in the 3rd, mostly due to himself. After striking out the leadoff hitter, a swinging bunt and back to back walks loaded the bases with just 1 out for Oklahoma’s 3 and 4-hole hitters. Schmidt struck them both out to a loud applause from the packed Alex Box. After two quick outs in the 4th, back to back singles by the Sooners set up another massive spot for the sophomore. After a first pitch ball, Schmidt got three straight swing and misses on his breaking ball and struck out Jason Walk to escape once again. With his pitch count already at 83 through 4 innings, back to back singles to start the 5th were enough for Jay Johnson to make the call to the bullpen. Schmidt threw the ball well, but the Sooner lineup deserves credit for making him work hard, despite only scoring 1 run off of him.
- Final line: 4.0 IP / 6 hits / 1 run / 7 Ks / 2 BB / 90 pitches (59 strikes, 66%)
Gavin Guidry entered in a tough spot as he often does. With runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out and LSU clinging to a 2-1 lead, the veteran was entering in boiling water. With 3-hole hitter Brendan Brock up in a big spot, again, he squared around to try and bunt the runners over. A wild pitch did the job for him, moving both the tying and go-ahead runs in to scoring position. Guidry struck him out on a full count, then Steven Milam snagged a line drive right at him and made another routine 6-3 groundout to end the inning and make it 7 Oklahoma runners stranded in the past 3 innings. Guidry returned in the 6th and struck out the side, despite a 2-out walk. He’d return for the 7th and go walk, strikeout, walk, strikeout with a wild pitch mixed in to set up runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. The tying run would likely score on anything through the infield and Deiten LaChance came close to making that happen, but Steven Milam made yet another monster play with a backhand deep in the 6-hole to gun him out by a few steps. With 59 pitches, Guidry surprisingly returned for the 8th. Another 4-pitch walk to leadoff the inning seemed like a sign that he was out of gas, but Jay left him in. Oklahoma singled in the next two at bats to make it 3-2 and runners were still on 1st and 2nd with no one out. A sacrifice bunt would move them in to scoring position and that’s where Guidry would finally be taken out of the game.
- Final line: 3.1 IP / 2 hits / 3 runs / 6 Ks / 4 BBs / 70 pitches (39 strikes, 56%)
Deven Sheerin entered in a spot desperately needing a strikeout with LSU’s defense playing back and conceding the tying run. He was in a great spot to get it after starting 0-2, but after Gambill fouled off 4 pitches, he was hit in his foot to load the bases. Sheerin then induced the double play ball that he needed, but an error on Jack Ruckert prevented a single out from being recorded and the game was tied. A sacrifice fly to right field gave Oklahoma their first lead since the 1st inning. Sheerin would find a way out of the 8th without further damage following an intentional walk and a flyout. Aside from the hit batter, the hard-throwing righty did his job, but was let down by his defense. He’d stay in for the 9th and pitch around a walk with a couple of strikeouts to hold the deficit at 1.
- Final line: 1.2 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 2 Ks / 2 BBs / 45 pitches (29 strikes, 64%)
Hitting
For the second game in a row, Omar Serna was the most productive LSU hitter. His 2-run homerun in the 1st inning immediately put the Tigers in control, which they’d have until the 8th inning. Jay had told us last night that Serna wouldn’t be coming out of the lineup anytime soon or possibly ever and further emphasized that point after today’s game. The freshman started at 1st base today and held his own with a few nifty plays. Serna finished 1-4.
Chris Stanfield carried on the production that he has delivered since returning from his hand injury, hitting his 1st homerun of the season. His solo shot in the 5th extended the Tigers lead to 3-1. He finished 1-4.
Derek Curiel and Trent Caraway each went 1-3. Curiel wasn’t as productive as we know he’s capable of, but he did get an infield hit, along with a walk. The sophomore scored once to finish 1-3.
Following a tough night with a few strikeouts, Cade Arrambide moved back to catcher and found his way on base a few times. In the 9-hole, he only saw 3 at bats, but drew walks in two of them and finished 0-1. His defense behind the plate was better, particularly with blocking up pitches in the dirt with runners on base. Oklahoma very well could have scored a few more runs if not for the job Arrambide did back there.
Up Next
LSU will return on Tuesday for midweek action vs Louisiana Tech. First pitch will be for 6:30 central. The Bulldogs currently hold a record of 15-8 with two games remaining in their weekend series at New Mexico St tonight and tomorrow afternoon. They took game 1 on Friday night with a score of 13-8. The top competition they have faced was Southern Miss at home in Ruston, in which they were swept and outscored 25-5 in three games. LSU now sits with a 16-9 record and falls to 2-4 in the SEC. After LA Tech, the Tigers will remain home to welcome Kentucky next Friday.
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Team Stats (Hawks at Pelicans) Final Score: 99-121 Rebounds: 36-49 Assists: 20-27 Blocks: 4-4 Steals: 11-15 Turnovers: 19-23 Stat Leaders Scoring Leaders: CJ McCollum, 14; Saddiq Bey, 25 Rebound Leaders: Onyeka Okongwu, 10; Karlo Matkovic, 10 Assist Leaders: Kingston Flemings, 6; Jeremiah Fears, 7 My Player of the Game: Saddiq Bey Chrissy's Key Takeaways * The Hawks average 142 points per game, but because of the Pelicans stifling defense, the Hawks didn't score even 100. * Saddiq Bey finished the game with 25 points, six rebounds, and four steals -- all around huge night for him . * Dejounte Murray did not play as he is recovering from the birth of his child, and Jordan Poole and Yves Missi are still on the injured list . * Jeremiah Fears needs to be the only starting PG going forward. * The Pelicans will play the Memphis Grizzles on Monday, and that team is 6-0 on the season. Follow @TheKneaux on X, and follow me there too, @SportsChrissy.
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