Reece Bordelon
Podcaster
AKA “ReBoHustle” Born and raised in Laplace Louisiana. Is a CT Technologist by day but will give you the hottest take possible by night. Whether right or wrong he’ll make you believe he knows what he’s talking about. You can find him as OFF THE DOME SPORTS PODCAST’s Offensive Line and Basketball specialist.
Friday Evening Recap For the third consecutive game, the LSU Tigers decided to be the Cardiac Cats. That’s nothing new for an LSU baseball team, but considering the struggles of this team in 2026, the mid-game deficits have seemed scarier than normal. Tennessee’s new Friday night ace Landon Mack was phenomenal and he had the Tiger offense in a pretzel. Through 7 innings, he struck out 10 and was mowing LSU hitters down. They only mustered together 3 hits, one of which was a Jake Brown solo homerun, representing the only damage Mack allowed. He finished his outing by retiring 14 straight hitters, which makes Josh Elander’s decision to not send him back out in the 8th inning with 96 pitches that much more confusing. He was showing no signs of slowing down. Hindsight is 20/20, though, and the Tigers went full-on attack mode with the Volunteer bullpen. A 5-run 8th inning flipped the game on it’s head and LSU never looked back. Coming off of his strange outing vs Kentucky, Casan Evans was pretty good from the very beginning. It was two pitches and two swings that resulted in the only damage that he sustained. Both were mistake pitches that were left in hittable spots and Tennessee hitters deserve credit for taking advantage of them. Aside from that, Evans was very good, despite not making it through the 6th inning. There was some shakiness in the 7th from the bullpen, but Santiago Garcia ended up receiving the win to bring his record to 1-0. Deven Sheerin’s second save of the season closed out a massive victory on the road in Knoxville, as the Tigers took game 1 by a final score of 7-5. Pitching Casan Evans got off to a great start in the 1st. Despite a 2-out single to the open part of the field due to the shift, he struck out two for a pretty easy inning. A leadoff single in the 2nd was quickly erased by a 6-4-3 double play turned by Steven Milam and Seth Dardar. Another groundout to Milam would retire the side in order. Tennessee made their first dent in the 3rd when Levi Clark hit a belly-high fastball out to left-center to tie the game at 1-1. Evans would retire the next two hitters to end the inning. The 4th is where he would find the most trouble. After a flyout to start the inning, the Vols would get a bloop single, followed by a Reese Chapman bomb to right-center field to give them their first lead of the game. Another deep flyout and a strikeout would end the inning there. Evans walked the leadoff hitter in the 5th, but then struck out three in a row to prevent any further damage. The Friday night ace would see the end of his night in the 6th after a walk and single put two runners on with 1 out in the 6th. He hung in to get a lineout, but with 2 outs, Jay Johnson would walk out to make the change. Final line: 5.2 IP / 6 hits / 3 runs / 6 Ks / 2 BBs / 90 pitches (62 strikes, 69%) Danny Lachenmayer was called upon for the third time in the last four SEC games, showing the inflated level of trust that the coaching staff has found in him. He came in to face a lefty Tyler Myatt and struck him out on 4 pitches to do his job. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 0 BBs / 4 pitches (3 strikes, 75%) Mavrick Rizy entered to start the 7th and was in the strike zone immediately, recording a 4-pitch strikeout, but then lost it and walked the next hitter on 5 pitches. A jam shot would roll right in to no man’s land with Dardar playing up the middle, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Omar Serna would get charged with an inexcusable passed ball to allow both runners to move up. Rizy came through with a massive strikeout with the infield drawn in, but then allowed another walk after a 2-2 count to load the bases. Final line: 0.2 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 2 Ks / 2 BBs / 24 pitches (11 strikes, 46%) Jay would call upon Santiago Garcia with 2 outs and bases loaded and left-handed hitting Blake Grimmer coming to the plate. Four straight balls would walk in a run to extend Tennessee’s lead to 4-1. Garcia was able to find the zone against Chapman, striking him out to prevent further damage. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 1 BB / 10 pitches (4 strikes, 40%) A 5-run 8th inning for LSU took them from down by 3 runs to up by 2, Jay turned to Deven Sheerin to try and get the final 6 outs of game. He recorded back to back flyouts to Chris Stanfield to start the inning, but even those were nerve=racking as he temporarily lost both in the sunsetting sky. A single and a walk put the tying run on base with 2 outs, but the junior got his first strikeout and let out a primal yell afterwards. After Stanfield added an insurance run in the top of the 9th, Sheerin returned in the 9th to close out the game. Despite a 2-out solo homerun to make it 7-5, he struck out the side with two of them looking to slam the door and record his second save of the season. Final line: 2.0 IP / 2 hits / 1 run / 4 Ks / 1 BB / 41 pitches (28 strikes, 68%) Hitting Derek Curiel’s 8th inning grand slam was, to no one’s surprise, was the Magic Moment of the game. Just when it looked as if LSU was going to waste a huge opportunity, the star sophomore did what stars do and changed the game with his one swing. He also singled earlier in the game and was the only Tiger to record multiple hits tonight. Curiel finished 2-4 with the 4 RBI and scored that one time. Chris Stanfield hit his second homerun of the game to add insurance in the 9th, but that was not his biggest at bat of the night. He was up second in the 8th and after Mason Braun drew a walk to lead off the inning, the senior outfielder laid off a few good breaking balls to draw the second walk of the inning, which eventually led the bases. Not many players could have held back from chasing all of those pitches and that game would have been completely different if he struck out in that moment. Stanfield finished 1-3 with the homerun, walk, RBI on the homerun, and also scored twice. Jake Brown and Seth Dardar both finished with identical lines. They went 1-4 with solo homeruns. Brown hit his in the 3rd inning to start the scoring for either team. Dardar’s came immediately following Curiel’s grand slam for back to back blasts. His actually ended up being the difference in the game, as it made the score 6-4, because Tennessee hit the solo homerun in the 9th for their fifth run. Although he went hitless, Mason Braun deserves to be noted for 2 walks. He finished 0-2 and also struck out twice, but one of the walks was the only one that Landon Mack allowed and the other was to lead off the big game-changing 8th inning. Up Next LSU and Tennessee will return tomorrow evening for game 2. First pitch is for 5 pm central, as the Tigers look to follow up their first SEC series win with their first road SEC series win of 2026. With today’s win, LSU is now 21-10 overall and back to .500 with a 5-5 conference record. Tennessee drops to 19-11 overall with a disappointing SEC record of 3-7. William Schmidt (4-1) will take the mound for the Tigers to make his second consecutive game 2 start. He is coming off of the win vs Kentucky in which he threw 5.1 scoreless innings. The Volunteers will answer with Tegan Kuhns, who had been their Friday night ace up until last weekend. The potential 1st round pick in this July’s draft has not had the season he expected, but is still very talented. He’s off to a 1-3 start in 2026 with his 4.08 ERA. Although he’s struck out 46 hitters in 35.1 innings pitched, he’s allowed 34 hits. LSU would love to strike first, as the trajectory of Tennessee’s early conference season is in a tailspin at this current moment. If the Tigers can come out hot, they will put a lot of pressure on the Volunteers. Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr
Sunday Afternoon Recap LSU had to have it. They had to have this series, which meant they had to have this game. Putting themselves directly behind the 8-ball with a loss on Friday night set up an uphill battle. An uphill battle that appeared to be too tall to climb after a disastrous start to the game on Sunday. Since the postgame on Friday night, we had been saying that the importance of Casan Evans battling through 6 innings in game 1 would truly have. In their first weekend without Cooper Moore, the Tiger pitching staff was going to be challenged. The performances of William Schmidt and Zac Cowan in game 2 put them in about as good of a position as they could have hoped for, which allowed Jay Johnson to call upon Gavin Guidry to start on Sunday. There is no one on the roster that is trusted more by Jay, so it was no surprise to see his name listed as starting pitcher about 90 minutes before first pitch. It was surprising just how much Guidry struggled, though. Control was an issue from the very first pitch. It wasn’t much better for a few guys that came after him, either, putting LSU in a deep hole. The pitching rapidly improved with Deven Sheerin and the stabilization on the mound allowed the offense to get to work and complete the comeback. Following a horrid game on Friday night, the Tiger lineup showed signs of life yesterday in game 2. Despite only scoring in 3 innings, they put up crooked numbers in each of them and that was a step in the right direction. Well, today was a gigantic leap in the right direction, because the offense went crazy. Jay described the performance of his team after the game as “zero quit”. After just one hit in the first time through the order, they picked things up in a hurry during the second trip through. Once they got going, there was no slowing them down. LSU scored in 5 of their final 6 at bats, with three of those times being 4+ runs. It was big swing after big swing, something we have rarely seen this year. Time will tell if this was truly the breakout game that they had been looking for or just an anomaly, but either way, they showed up when they were needed the most. Pitching It could not have been a worse start for Gavin Guidry. Needing as much length as you can possibly get from every pitcher that stepped on the mound today, a 39 pitch 1st inning was less than ideal. After an infield single to start the game, followed by a stolen base, he recorded a flyout for the first out. Guidry then issued three straight free passes to give Kentucky their first run since Friday night. A strikeout and an 0-2 pitch count would get him just one pitch away from escaping with minimal damage, but he’d lose him to give up his 3rd walk and bring in another run. A wild pitch would make it 3-0 before Guidry recorded a strikeout to finally get out of the 1st. Jay sent him back out for the 2nd, but it wasn’t much better. He recorded a flyout to start the inning, but then the hit barrage from the Wildcat bats got started. Guidry gave up a single, double, and then a walk, and was out of the game with the score 4-0. Final line: 1.1 IP / 3 hits / 6 runs / 2 Ks / 4 BBs / 48 pitches (24 strikes, 50%) Santiago Garcia took over after Guidry and immediately gave up a base-clearing double that made the score 6-0. He fought back for a flyout and a groundout, but the Tigers were already in deep trouble. Back for the 3rd, Garcia would walk the leadoff hitter and then LSU nearly turned a rare double play that doesn’t involve Steven Milam, but Zach Yorke was unable to scoop Seth Dardar’s low throw. A 4-pitch walk would be the end of the junior LHP’s day. Final line: 1.0 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 0 Ks / 1 BB / 20 pitches (7 strikes, 35%) Connor Benge entered with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, coming off of a good outing on Tuesday where he put out a fire. His job got even tougher after a passed ball on Omar Serna allowed both runners to move up, which set up a sacrifice flyout to centerfield to make it 7-0 and that would be all for Benge. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 0 BBs / 5 pitches (2 strikes, 40%) Cooper Williams took over and was able to end the inning with a lineout. He returned in the 4th for another good inning. Despite a 1-out walk, the lefty struck out Kentucky’s 3 and 5-hole hitters, along with a nice defensive play by John Pearson on a slow roller. Final line: 1.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 2 Ks / 1 BB / 23 pitches (13 strikes, 57%) After a fantastic outing by Mavrick Rizy on Friday where he threw 80% strikes, it was the opposite story today. He struggled from the very beginning and walked two of Kentucky’s worst hitters in their lineup, as per batting average. Their 7-hole hitter Will Marcy came in with a .200 average, while 9-hole hitter Carson Hansen was at .227 and Rizy walked them both with a strikeout between them. Following the second walk, his day was over. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 2 runs / 1 K / 2 BBs / 18 pitches (8 strikes, 44%) Jay had to call upon Deven Sheerin far earlier he would have liked, especially considering that was the last of his “top” arms that was completely fresh for the weekend. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and only 1 out, Sheerin was being asked to come through in a huge spot with the Tigers having closed their deficit to 7-6. With the infield drawn in, Steven Milam took a ground ball and fired home to nab a potential run for out number to. Sheerin then had the next hitter down 0-2, but was struggling to finish him off with four straight foul-offs. Luke Lawrence eventually slapped a ball the other way off of the left field wall to drive in both runs. Bell followed with an RBI single and just like that, LSU was back down 10-6. From that point on, the big righty was nails. Sheerin struck out three in a row going in to the 6th, which ended up being the first 1-2-3 inning of the day for the Wildcats. After recording two outs to start the 7th, which made for 6 retired in a row, he hit a batter and that would be the end of the day. His ability to battle past the early hiccups played a massive role in bridging the gap to the end of the game for the bullpen. Sheerin earned the win to extend his record to 3-0. Final line: 2.1 IP / 2 hits / 1 run / 3 Ks / 1 BB / 1 HBP / 50 pitches (35 strikes, 70%) Danny Lachenmayer entered with two outs in the 7th for what was his second appearance of the weekend. This one was the biggest spot he has been in as a Tiger, though, and he delivered. He recorded a flyout to end the threat and preserve the 11-10 lead that LSU had just taken. He returned for the 8th, but gave up a base hit with to the open part of the field with the infield shifted. Final line: 0.1 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 0 BBs / 5 pitches (3 strikes, 60%) Grant Fontenot entered and despite his shaky performance on Tuesday, he has been pretty good for the past month. After recording a flyout, he initiated a 4-6-3 double play that was beautifully turned between Dardar and Milam. Back in the 9th and now pitching with a 7-run lead, Fontenot cruised. Despite a 1-out single, he struck out two, including the final hitter of the game to clinch the game and LSU’s first SEC series win of the season. Final line: 2.0 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 2 Ks / 0 BBs / 22 pitches (15 strikes, 68%) Hitting Set h Dardar was not only the offensive MVP of the day, but he was the best player at the plate for LSU all weekend. Today, his 6th inning 3-run homerun on to the roof of the Marucci hitting facility gave the Tigers their first lead after they fell behind 7-0 after the top of the 3rd. That wasn’t all for Dardar, as he also doubled and finished 3-5 with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. His defense was impeccable all weekend. Jay has been searching for someone to take over the second base position and, as of now, the local kid has done just that. The other giant swing of the day belonged to John Pearson. A 2-out grand slam in the 3rd brought the Tiger back to within just 2 runs and brought both LSU and Alex Box Stadium back to life. Speaking of players taking control of positions, the sophomore has done just that at 3rd base. He has also shown big strides of improvement defensively, garnering praise from Jay after the game. Pearson finished 1-4 with the 4 RBI and a run scored, while also walking once. Derek Curiel had himself a huge day and was a part of every single big inning. He scored 3 runs and those came in the 3rd when LSU closed the deficit, in the 6th when they took the lead, and then in the 8th when they extended it way out of reach. He hit his second homerun of the year, a beautifully struck backside blast on a pitch that was on the outer half of the plate. Curiel finished 3-5 with 3 RBI, the 3 runs scored, and a walk. It wasn’t his first time leading off this season, but Chris Stanfield has not been in that position very much. Today, he may have shown why he should stay there. The senior went 4-5 and also drew a walk. He doubled and had two opposite field singles. One of those was immediately following when he fouled a ball right off of his knee and went down to the ground in major pain. Jay told us after the game that when he went out to check on his leader, Stanfield looked at him and said that he was ok and was going to come through. He did just that, lining a base hit to right field and driving in a run. He also walked and scored twice. Jake Brown didn’t drive in a single one of LSU’s 17 runs and the importance of that can not be overstated. I have mentioned multiple times in the past week that it is imperative that other players step up, because opposing teams are not going to allow Brown to beat them. Why would they? Pitchers have not given him much to hit and he’s had to work with what he’s given in many of these games. Despite the “quiet” day by his standards, Brown finished 2-5 with a couple of singles and scored 3 runs. Zach Yorke may not have driven in a ton of runs, either, but he was very active by getting on base four times. He finished 1-3, but he drew 3 walks and scored twice. Up Next LSU will stay home and welcome Southern for a midweek matchup on Tuesday. First pitch is for 6:30 pm central. The Tigers improved to 19-10 (4-5 SEC) with the win today. The Jaguars will come to Alex Box with a record of 10-16. They took 2 of 3 in a series with Prairie View A&M at home this weekend. Their common opponents with LSU include both Grambling, who Southern beat, and two games with McNeese, in which they split. Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr
Saturday Afternoon Recap Saturday was as much of a must-win game as you can find halfway through the season. After dropping game 1 of the series last night and having no defined starting pitcher for game 3 on Sunday, LSU simply had to have this game. Give credit to Jay Johnson and his squad, because they showed up and played like it. William Schmidt pitched in and out of trouble as he has all season. Kentucky did a fine job of making him work, a hallmark of pesky offenses like theirs. He refused to give in, though, shutting them down at every turn. Schmidt earned the win to improve his record to 4-1. Zac Cowan followed him and was just as magnificent, if not more. Jay said after the game that he believed that was Cowan’s best performance in his LSU career, which had plenty of them in 2025. He also explained just how important he is to their team, saying that Cowan was a top 5 reason that they won the College World Series a year ago. He earned his first save of the season. The offense was much better. Although they only scored three times in their eight at bats, they put up crooked numbers each time and never appeared satisfied. LSU recorded 9 hits as a team and only struck out 5 times, a far cry from last night. The most promising note is that they did their damage with only 3 combined hits from Jake Brown, Derek Curiel, and Steven Milam, the typical leaders of the team. Today, it was two freshman that delivered multiple times and that is something this team has been lacking. Pitching William Schmidt was looking to get off to a more efficient start and despite a 1-out infield hit off of Zach Yorke’s backhand attempt, he did just that. Things got interesting for a bit, as Omar Serna hesitated on a steal attempt and then threw the ball in to centerfield to put the runner on third base. Schmidt delivered back to back breaking balls to 4-hole hitter Hudson Brown to strike him out and end the threat. After a 3-pitch strikeout to start the 2nd, he allowed another 1-out single, but another fantastic play by Steven Milam and a pop out to Serna would lead to a quick 9-pitch inning. The 3rd inning was the stiffest test, yet, for the sophomore. After a leadoff infield single, Schmidt started the second hitter 3-0, but came back to record the big out. Kentucky executed a perfectly drawn up hit-and-run to put runners on the corners with 1 out with Tyler Bell coming to the plate. A 96 MPH fastball on the inside corner with a 3-2 count locked up the star shortstop for a massive second out. A fly out would keep the Wildcats off of the scoreboard, yet again. They got right back on the basepaths in the 4th, drawing a leadoff walk, but a beautifully turned 6-4-3 double play by Milam and Seth Dardar, followed by a one pitch flyout would quickly get Schmidt off of the field with an 8-pitch inning. Schmidt danced around more trouble in the 5th after hitting the leadoff hitter, despite starting him 0-2 and then throwing a wild pitch to allow him to second base. A 1-out single put runners on the corners and set up the defensive play of the game. On a shallow flyball to Jake Brown, Kentucky tried tagging up to score, but the former pitcher gunned him out at home to a raucous applause from the Alex Box crowd. The day would end for Schmidt in the 6th after allowing a walk and a single, with a flyout between. He finished with 88 pitches and battled throughout the day. Kentucky got at least one baserunner on in every single inning for the first 6 innings. Final line: 5.1 IP / 6 hits / 0 runs / 3 Ks / 2 BBs / 88 pitches (52 strikes, 59%) Zac Cowan was a name many considered as a possibility to fill Sunday’s TBA spot, but he was called upon with runners on 1st and 3rd and only 1 out with LSU holding a 5-0 lead. A quick stolen base put both runners in scoring position, but the senior struck out consecutive hitters to leave a Wildcat runner on 3rd base for the fourth time in the game. The 7th inning was the first 1-2-3 inning for the Tigers all day. In the 8th, Cowan had to pitch through some trouble, but as it was all day, it was no issue. The inning started with a very good play on a slow-roller by Dardar, but then a walk and a single put runners on 1st and 3rd with only 1 out. Like he did when taking over for Schmidt in the 6th, Cowan struck out back to back hitters to end the threat. Two more Ks in the 9th helped only the second 3-up, 3-down of the day and LSU closed out a 7-0 victory to even the series. Final line: 3.2 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 7 Ks / 1 BB / 54 pitches (39 strikes, 72%) Hitting Mason Braun made the start at DH and despite not playing as much recently as he did earlier in the season, he delivered multiple times today. His RBI double in the 2nd was just the first impact swing, but it wasn’t even his biggest. In his next at bat in the 4th, Braun launched a 3-run homerun through a strong wind that was blowing straight in. That swing pushed LSU’s lead to 5-0 and was the type of insurance that they have struggled to find at times this season. The freshman finished 2-4 with 4 RBI and a run scored. Omar Serna made his third consecutive start at catcher and continued to deliver in every facet. After throwing out a base-stealer last night, he followed up with a stellar job of blocking pitches in the dirt and preventing extra bases for Wildcat runners. At the plate, he went 2-4 and also drew a walk. Steven Milam only finished 1-4, but his one swing was huge. In the 6th, LSU had put runners on 2nd and 3rd base with 0 outs. A groundout with the infield drawn in and a pop out to the second baseman kept both runners in place and it appeared as if they may miss a giant opportunity. Milam stepped in and ripped a ground ball down the 1st base line to bring both runners home and extend the lead to 7-0. Jake Brown’s numbers aren’t going to jump off of the page today with a 1-5 finish, but it is worth noting that his 8th inning single was his first time on base today and that makes it 27 of 28 games that the star outfielder has reached base in 2026. As I mentioned earlier, he also threw out a runner at home with a rocket of a throw that helped preserve the shutout. Seth Dardar followed up his 3 doubles night with a 3 walks performance. Officially, he finished 0-1, but he reached base at a .750 rate today and he also scored once. The senior also played excellent defense at 2nd base today, drawing praise from Jay Johnson in his postgame press conference. John Pearson and Zach Yorke each finished 1-2. Pearson had a double, walked twice, and also scored twice. Yorke drew a walk, scored twice, and drove in an RBI. Up Next LSU and Kentucky will return for a massive rubber match tomorrow. First pitch is set for 12 noon central. Jay Johnson told us after the game that they needed to sit down as a coaching staff and look at what options they have available to decide who they will start, as it is currently listed as TBA. Junior LHP Ben Cleaver will start for the Wildcats. He started game 1 for Kentucky last week at Ole Miss and went 3.2 IP and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 4 and walking 2 hitters. Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr
Friday Night Recap If it’s possible for a series to be a “must win” in week 3 of conference play, it felt like this one is just that for LSU. After dropping each of their first two series in SEC play, the Tigers are already a couple of games behind the 8-ball and the schedule gets even tougher when they leave Baton Rouge following this weekend. So, with Kentucky coming to town, a team that Jay Johnson has mostly controlled since becoming Head Coach, LSU has to have this one. Unfortunately, a 7-4 Friday night loss has them immediately on their heels. The Wildcats jumped on top from the very beginning and never looked back. Following his historic 15 strikeout performance against Oklahoma last week, Casan Evans crashed back down to Earth early tonight. He issued 8 free passes within the first 3 innings, making it nearly impossible to limit the damage. He was able lock in and prevent the night being a disaster, but the damage done early put the Tigers in a hole that they were unable to climb out of. Despite two half-hearted punches from the Tiger offense, Kentucky came in to Alex Box on a Friday night and cruised to a series opening win. Jaxon Jelkin showed why he is the ace of their staff for 8 innings, severely limiting an already limited offense. Although the 8 strikeouts is down from what that total had been in some recent games, drawing only 2 free passes is no where near how Jay Johnson wants to see his lineup operate. As a unit, they were searching for answers and unable to string together good at bats, which has been the case for the last 5 weeks. Pitching Casan Evans was off from the very beginning, walking the leadoff hitter on 4 pitches. A hit by pitch put runners on 1st and 2nd for Kentucky’s star sophomore Tyler Bell. The shortstop did Evans a favor, though, swinging at the first pitch and grounding in to a 6-3 double play to Steven Milam. A strike away from escaping the rough start, Evans through a wild pitch and put the Wildcats on the board first. He’d give up a walk and infield hit, but was able to get out with any further damage. The damage would come in the 2nd after Kentucky got their first two hitters on base, again. A fly out to advance the runner to third base would set up an RBI single. Back to back walks and a sacrifice fly would push the deficit to 4-0 for the Tigers. Evans would allow the first two hitters to reach base for the third straight time to start the game in the 3rd, but was able to retire the next three hitters to finish his first scoreless inning. That’s where he started to work ahead and settle in, retiring 12 up, 12 down. The ace only allowed one more base runner from that point forward and he was erased with the second 6-3 double play of the night. Evans through less pitches in his final 4 innings than he did in his first 2 of the game. As bad of a start that it was, his ability to lock in and stay in as long as he did saved LSU’s short-staffed bullpen for the rest of the weekend. Final line: 6.0 IP / 4 hits / 4 runs / 3 Ks / 6 BBs / 100 pitches (53 strikes, 53%) Ethan Plog entered for the 7th and was not as sharp as we’ve seen him be. A swinging bunt put him in a tough spot to start the inning, but he followed that with a walk. After a big first out with a strikeout looking, Ethan Hindle hit a ball deep to centerfield and despite the leaping attempt and the ball hitting his glove, Derek Curiel was unable to make the gold glove catch and Kentucky was on the scoreboard for the first time since the 2nd inning. Plog’s night was over, but the damage to his final line was not. Final line: 0.1 IP / 2 hits / 3 runs / 0 Ks / 0 BBs / 16 pitches (11 strikes, 69%) Mavrick Rizy entered with runners on 2nd and 3rd and only 1 out with LSU already down 5-2. For LSU to have any chance considering the state of their offense, it felt like the Wildcats simply could not score anymore, but certainly not twice. With the infield drawn in, a Trent Caraway fielded a ground ball way too far back to have a chance at making a play at home, but tried anyway. The runner was safe by a mile and the Tigers failed to record an out, which set up a sacrifice fly from the next hitter and both of Plog’s baserunners that Rizy inherited ended up scoring to make it 7-2. He returned in the 8th and was lights out, striking out two and recording a ground out to Ethan Clauss, who came in to the game as a defensive replacement. In the 9th, Rizy struck out the leadoff hitter, but a 1-out single would end his night. Final line: 2.0 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 3 Ks / 0 BB / 25 pitches (20 strikes, 80%) Seldom used Danny Lachenmayer would enter for his first ever SEC appearance. He threw 2 pitches, both in the strike zone, and recorded a flyout. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 0 BBs / 2 pitches (2 strikes, 100%) With 2 outs in the 9th, Jay Johnson would bring in Zion Theophilus. On his fourth pitch, Eddie Yamin, who came in for Omar Serna for the final inning, would throw out Bell trying to steal second base. Final line: 0.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 0 Ks / 0 BBs / 4 pitches (4 strikes, 100%) Hitting Seth Dardar was the only true positive for the offense tonight. After a couple games out of the starting lineup, the senior was back in there at DH and likely earned a spot for the rest of the weekend. Dardar finished 3-4 with 3 doubles and an RBI. His final double in the 9th inning was the hit that brought Alex Box to life and gave the team a sliver of hope to make the comeback. He also garnered praise from Jay Johnson after the game, as Coach noted the improvement that Dardar made with his plate approach. The only other big swing of the night came from Derek Curiel. In the 3rd inning when LSU was down 4-0, they loaded the bases with no outs. Omar Serna had a fairly uncompetitive strikeout, brining up Curiel. The sophomore was up in a similar situation last Friday against Oklahoma, albeit later in the game, and was unable to come through. Tonight, Curiel ripped a single through the infield to drive home the first two runs of the game for the Tigers. He finished 1-4 with those 2 RBI. Omar Serna, Zach Yorke, and Chris Stanfield each contributed 1 hit in tonight’s loss. Yorke and Stanfield each scored once. Up Next LSU and Kentucky will return tomorrow afternoon for a 2 pm central first pitch. William Schmidt (3-1) will make his first game 2 start of the season, moving up from his game 3 spot to fill the void following Cooper Moore’s triceps injury. Kentucky will answer with sophomore RHP Nate Harris. He holds a 4.97 ERA with his 3-1 record. In his start at Ole Miss last week, Harris only went 3.0 innings and gave up 5 runs on 4 hits, so the Tigers could have opportunities to get the offense on track. Follow me on X for much more @DCBilliotJr
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.
Friday Night Recap With their first opportunity to clinch an SEC series tonight, LSU fell just short with a 4-2 loss to Oklahoma to even the series. The night belonged to Casan Evans on Thursday, but Friday belonged to Sooner pitching. L.J. Mercurius wasn’t quite as magical as Evans, but he still rolled through the LSU lineup, retiring 10 in a row at one point. He was on the ropes early with back to back singles to start off the game, but was able to shut the opening rally down. After John Pearson homered to leadoff the 2nd inning, it was all Mercurius. His record improved to 5-1 with the victory tonight. The trio of arms out of the Oklahoma bullpen delivered big pitch after big pitch, despite some very tense moments with Alex Box coming to life late in the game. Cooper Moore is the story on the LSU side and not for good reason. After a perfect first 2 innings, the Sooners began making him pay for his few mistakes and scratched a few runs across in the 3rd and 4th. But the story comes in the 5th, as Moore spiked his first pitch of the inning and Jay Johnson immediately went out to the mound. Jay told us after the game that it was Moore’s tricep that was bothering him and that’s all of the info he had by the time he did his post game press conference. He did say that he believes Moore will “be ok”, but has no idea if he may miss a week, two weeks, or a month. The initial concern was that it was the elbow, which is devastating for pitchers, but according to Jay, he did not believe that was the case as of now. It’s a tough ask to have your bullpen cover 5 innings in an SEC game, but LSU’s did a great job by only allowing two more runs the rest of the way. They simply just did not get the help they needed from the Tiger bats. Pitching Cooper Moore wasted no time trying to rebound from back to back losses after starting his season with three straight wins. He attacked the Sooner lineup right from the start, getting a 2 pitch ground out to leadoff hitter Trey Gambill, who’s best attribute is getting on base. He followed that up with back to back strikeouts, picking up right where Casan Evans left off. It was another quick 10 pitch inning in the 2nd, which included a strikeout and another play deep in the 6-hole that Steven Milam makes look way too easy. Moore hadn’t made any mistakes through the first 2 innings, but he left a few balls up in the zone in the 3rd and Oklahoma made him pay. It started with a leadoff double, then after a sacrifice bunt, had 9-hole hitter Jason Walk down 0-2, but gave him a hittable pitch and Walk tied the game with a single. The damage was nearly worse when Gambill got a hanging breaking ball that he ripped in to right-center, but as he has done all year, Derek Curiel made a phenomenal diving catch to rob a sure extra base hit. The mistakes continued in the 4th, as Moore allowed back to back 1 out singles, the first of which was another 2-strike Sooner hit. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch gave Oklahoma their first lead of the series. He was able to escape without further damage, but after 21 pitches through 2 innings, Moore racked up 40 between the 3rd and 4th innings alone. Things got scary in the 5th, as he threw one pitch, a spiked fastball and Jay Johnson and head trainer Isaac Trujillo immediately came out. They spoke to Moore for about 5 minutes, but pulled him out without the junior throwing a single warmup pitch. Final line: 4.0 IP / 4 hits / 2 runs / 4 Ks / 0 BBs / 62 pitches (43 strikes, 69%) Following Moore’s early exit, Cooper Williams came in following back to back great outings. He threw 3 straight pitches out of the zone to allow the leadoff walk and then got a groundball, but it was hit too slow for a double play and Milam had to get the out at 1st base. Not being able to get the lead runner out immediately came back to bite the Tigers, as a single to left field scored the runner from 2nd to make it 3-1. After a stolen base and a groundout back to Williams, Jay would make his walk out to the mound for another pitching change. Final line: .2 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 0 Ks / 1 BB / 16 pitches (10 strikes, 63%) Mavrick Rizy came on with 2 outs and the runner on 3rd and despite starting the hitter off with a 3-0 count, battled back to record the strikeout to end the inning. That would be the only out he recorded, as he returned in the 6th and gave up yet another Sooner 2-strike hit and then walked another. Final line: .1 IP / 1 hit / 0 runs / 1 K / 1 BB With runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out and already down two runs, Grant Fontenot entered in his biggest spot of the season. The senior delivered, going strikeout, groundout, strikeout to end the threat. The final strikeout came on the next pitch after John Pearson dropped a pop up in foul territory. Fontenot returned for the 7th after recording a big first out on a bang-bang play at 1st base, he walked the next hitter on 4 pitches and that would be the end of his night. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for that performance in the 6th inning to keep it a 1-run game. Final line: 1.1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 2 Ks / 1 BB Santiago Garcia entered following the 1-out walk and quickly did his job, as he has done for the past few weeks. A fly out and a strikeout left the runner stranded at 2nd base. He returned for the 8th and recorded a quick 1-2-3 inning, including strikeout of Sooner leader Jaxon Willits to start things off and then another highlight play by Steven Milam on a slow roller, assisted by a beautiful pick out of the dirt by Zach Yorke. Garcia returned for the 9th and wasn’t able to keep a 1-out Sooner double from adding an insurance run, as Gambill singled to deliver his second RBI of the night. He would get caught stealing to end the top of the inning. Final line: 2.2 IP / 2 hits / 1 run / 3 Ks / 0 BB Hitting Chris Stanfield was the only Tiger to record multiple hits on Friday night, finishing 2-4. It looked like he had scored the tying run in the 7th inning on a ball to the backstop, but it barely grazed Milam and was a dead ball. Omar Serna continues to find himself in big spots with these extra opportunities in the starting lineup and he seems to come through at least once per game. His RBI single in the 6th inning pulled LSU within a run to make it a 3-2 game. He also walked once, finishing 1-3. John Pearson’s solo homerun to leadoff the 2nd inning was his third of the season. It was his 4th consecutive start, making the most of his recent chances to make an impact. He finished 1-4. After pinch hitting in the 7th inning, Seth Dardar finished 1-2. His 1-out single in the 9th inning allowed the Tigers to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, Stanfield hit a hard ground ball to Camden Johnson at 3rd base and the Sooners turned their second 5-4-3 double play of the night. Quiet nights for Jake Brown pretty much look like this one. He went 1-2 with 2 walks and scored once, continuing to make an impact even when he’s not driving in a ridiculous amount of RBIs. Up Next LSU and Oklahoma will square off in the rubber match tomorrow afternoon. First pitch will be for 2 pm central. William Schmidt will take the mound for the Tigers with his record of 3-1. He entered the weekend as the team leader in strikeouts with 39, but has since been passed by Casan Evans. The sophomore is coming off of his early exit at Vanderbilt where he was experience back tightness, so that is something to keep an eye on, although Jay Johnson has said he’s good to go and did not appear on the injury report. Oklahoma will counter with freshman LHP Cord Rager, who will make his 6th start of the season. He is 2-1, with back-to-back no decisions in his last two starts. In his first SEC start last week vs Texas A&M, the freshman struggled. He only went 3.0 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits, while striking out 6 and only walking one. LSU falls to 16-8 (2-3 SEC), while Oklahoma improves to 18-5 (3-2 SEC). For much more, follow me on X @DCBilliotJr
The Sun Belt Conference announced its "set" 2026 football schedule today, which includes the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Normally, it does not take this long for the Sun Belt to release their annual football schedule. But ongoing issues between Louisiana Tech and Conference USA has complicated the process and delayed the schedule releases for both conferences. That said, I would take this "set" schedule release with a grain of salt (with heavy emphasis on the quotation marks). A few days ago, reports surfaced that the Sun Belt would indeed release its football schedule today and that it would include Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs have already accepted an invite to join the Sun Belt last July, and is pushing to make the move this summer, pending a court ruling next week. Late Thursday night, however, Conference USA unexpectedly released its own "set" 2026 football schedule out of nowhere, which also includes Louisiana Tech as one of its member schools. The timing itself raised eyebrows, making it seem like the conference did it out of pettiness to release their version of the schedule with the Bulldogs included prior to the Sun Belt's scheduled Friday release, which was also set to include the Bulldogs. As a result, Louisiana Tech is technically listed as a member of both conferences according to the newly released schedules. Of course, the Bulldogs cannot play in two conferences at once, which is why both schedule releases should be viewed as tentative for now. A court ruling between the UL System (which oversees Louisiana Tech) and Conference USA is currently rumored to take place on Thursday next week (March 19th). The decision at this rumored hearing is expected to have a solution on whether Louisiana Tech can move to the Sun Belt in the summer or remain in the Conference USA for one more year before making the move in the summer of 2027. Until then, it is a wait-and-see game for members of both the Sun Belt and Conference USA. Ultimately, one of these newly released schedules will be right, while the other will be forced to change. But it is in the best interest that both sides have their backup non-Louisiana Tech schedules ready to go in case the ruling swings one way over the other. Here is the 2026 Sun Belt Football Schedule, per the Sun Belt Conference: TEAM-BY-TEAM SCHEDULES SUN BELT EAST DIVISION APP STATE 9/5 Maine 9/12 at East Carolina 9/19 Charlotte 9/26 at North Carolina State 10/10 Old Dominion* 10/16 at Coastal Carolina* 10/22 James Madison* 10/31 at Georgia Southern* 11/7 Georgia State* 11/14 at Marshall* 11/21 ULM* 11/28 at South Alabama* COASTAL CAROLINA 9/5 at West Virginia 9/12 Fordham 9/19 at Delaware 9/24 Liberty 10/3 Georgia Southern* 10/10 at Marshall* 10/16 App State* 10/31 at Georgia State* 11/7 Old Dominion* 11/14 Arkansas State* 11/21 at Louisiana* 11/28 at James Madison* GEORGIA SOUTHERN 9/5 Charleston Southern 9/12 at Clemson 9/19 at Jacksonville State 9/26 Houston 10/3 at Coastal Carolina* 10/10 James Madison* 10/15 at Old Dominion* 10/31 App State* 11/7 Marshall* 11/14 at Georgia State* 11/21 at Troy* 11/28 Louisiana Tech* GEORGIA STATE 9/5 North Carolina A&T 9/12 at Kennesaw State 9/19 at UCF 9/26 Northern Illinois 10/3 Old Dominion* 10/17 at James Madison* 10/24 at Arkansas State* 10/31 Coastal Carolina* 11/7 at App State* 11/14 Georgia Southern* 11/21 at Marshall* 11/28 Louisiana* JAMES MADISON 9/5 Liberty 9/12 Wagner 9/19 at San Diego State 9/26 at Old Dominion* 10/3 Marshall* 10/10 at Georgia Southern* 10/17 Georgia State* 10/22 at App State* 10/29 Troy* 11/5 at Southern Miss* 11/14 at UConn 11/28 Coastal Carolina* MARSHALL 9/5 at Penn State 9/12 Middle Tennessee 9/19 at Missouri State 9/26 Gardner-Webb 10/3 at James Madison* 10/10 Coastal Carolina* 10/20 South Alabama* 10/31 at Old Dominion* 11/7 at Georgia Southern* 11/14 App State* 11/21 Georgia State* 11/28 at ULM* OLD DOMINION 9/5 Norfolk State 9/12 at Virginia Tech 9/19 East Carolina 9/26 James Madison* 10/3 at Georgia State* 10/10 at App State* 10/15 Georgia Southern* 10/24 at Louisiana Tech* 10/31 Marshall* 11/7 at Coastal Carolina* 11/21 at UConn 11/28 Southern Miss* SUN BELT WEST DIVISION ARKANSAS STATE 9/5 at Memphis 9/12 West Georgia 9/19 at TCU 9/26 Kennesaw State 10/3 at Louisiana* 10/8 South Alabama* 10/17 at Southern Miss* 10/24 Georgia State* 11/7 ULM* 11/14 at Coastal Carolina* TBA^ at Louisiana Tech* 11/28 Troy* LOUISIANA 9/5 Lamar 9/12 at USC 9/19 UAB 9/26 at Charlotte 10/3 Arkansas State* 10/10 at Louisiana Tech* 10/17 Troy* 10/24 at Southern Miss* 11/7 South Alabama* 11/12 at ULM* 11/21 Coastal Carolina* 11/28 at Georgia State* ULM 9/5 at Mississippi State 9/12 at UAB 9/19 Southeastern Louisiana 9/26 Florida Atlantic 10/3 at South Alabama* 10/17 Louisiana Tech* 10/24 at Troy* 10/31 Southern Miss* 11/7 at Arkansas State* 11/12 Louisiana* 11/21 at App State* 11/28 Marshall* LOUISIANA TECH 9/5 Northwestern State 9/12 at LSU 9/19 at Baylor 10/3 Army 10/10 Louisiana* 10/17 at ULM* 10/24 Old Dominion* 10/31 at South Alabama* 11/7 at Troy* 11/14 Southern Miss* TBA^ Arkansas State* 11/28 at Georgia Southern* SOUTH ALABAMA 9/5 Southeastern Louisiana 9/12 at Tulane 9/19 Ohio 9/26 at Kentucky 10/3 ULM* 10/8 at Arkansas State* 10/20 at Marshall* 10/31 Louisiana Tech* 11/7 at Louisiana* 11/14 Troy* 11/21 at Southern Miss* 11/28 App State* SOUTHERN MISS 9/5 Alcorn State 9/12 at Auburn 9/19 UConn 9/26 at Tulane 10/6 at Troy* 10/17 Arkansas State* 10/24 Louisiana* 10/31 at ULM* 11/5 James Madison* 11/14 at Louisiana Tech* 11/21 South Alabama* 11/28 at Old Dominion* TROY 9/5 Sam Houston 9/12 Alabama State 9/19 at Missouri 9/26 at Utah State 10/6 Southern Miss* 10/17 at Louisiana* 10/24 ULM* 10/29 at James Madison* 11/7 Louisiana Tech* 11/14 at South Alabama* 11/21 Georgia Southern* 11/28 at Arkansas State* * Sun Belt Conference Game ^ TBA as 11/19, 11/20 or 11/21
When: Saturday, October 18th, 2025, 11:00 AM Where: FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, TN Channel: ABC Spread: Vanderbilt -2.5 O/U: 47.5 The Tigers will be playing Saturday morning in Music City. This matchup will tell us a lot! Vanderbilt, 5-1 (1-1), is entering into this contest coming off of a bye week. Vandy does appear to be a little beat up. Keep an eye out for this. The Commodores have the 4th best rushing offense in the SEC as well as the 5th best total offense in the SEC. Diego Pavia is the leader of this team. Pavia has over 1400 passing yards, over 300 rushing yards, and 16 total TDs. Sedrick Alexander and Makihilyn Young are the leaders in the running back room. The leading pass catchers are Eli Stowers, Junior Sherrill, and Tre Richardson. The defense is led by safety CJ Heard, edge rusher Miles Capers, and Bryan Longwell. This isn't your grandpa's, your dad's, nor your Vanderbilt. This is a high strung team. The Tigers are in for a fight. LSU, 5-1 (2-1), enters the contest coming off of a big win against South Carolina. Garrett Nussmeier appears to be healthy. The ball really jumped off of his hand last week. The Tiger signal caller will look to cut back on the interceptions. Caden Durham and Ju'Juan Johnson will take care of the backfield duties for the Tigers. Both Durham and Johnson had solid games last week. The offensive line will look to build off of the momentum from last week. Trey'Dez Green had a great game last week. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers use Green. Kyle Parker has stepped up big time in recent weeks. I would like to see Parker continue to be involved. Aaron Anderson appears to be good to go for this one. This is huge for the Tigers. The Tiger defense is a solid unit with talent at all 3 levels. Jacobian Guillory is the leader on the line. Whit Weeks, who is a bit dinged up, is the leader in the linebacker room. Tamarcus Cooley and AJ Haulcy are the leaders in the defensive backfield, but this defensive backfield is LOADED with talent! KEYS TO THE GAME - The Tigers shut down Diego Pavia last year. This defense had practice last week facing LaNorris Sellers. Let's see if the Tigers can make Pavia one dimensional. - Can the Tiger defense get off the field on 3rd down? - Can the Tigers keep the running game going? This will be a perfect way to start the day, Tiger fans. This looks to be a great game. Fun Fact: The 1st time these teams met was in 1902. LSU finished the season 6-1 with the only loss being to Vanderbilt. The Tigers went on to capture a co-conference championship. Follow me on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) @eazytro
The Tigers move to 5-1 on the season, 2-1 in SEC play. LSU goes 3 and out on the opening drive of the game. LaNorris Sellers fumbles on the 1st play of South Carolina's opening drive. Tigers recover the fumble. LSU goes on a 4 play 7 yard drive that is capped off by a Damian Ramos 28 yard field goal. LSU 3-0. South Carolina puts together a 9 play 46 yard drive, but William Joyce misses a 47 yard field goal. LSU puts together a strong 13 play 71 yard drive, but Ju'Juan Johnson fumbles. South Carolina recovers the fumble. South Carolina takes advantage by going on a 3 play 80 yard drive that was capped off by a Matt Fuller 72 yard rushing TD. SC 7-3. LSU punches back with a 6 play 72 yard drive that was capped off by a Trey'Dez Green 6 yard receiving TD. LSU 10-7. The teams trade punts. Then the quarterbacks trade interceptions. The teams trade punts again. South Carolina runs out the 1st half. South Carolina opens the 2nd half with an 11 play 46 yard drive that was capped off by a William Joyce 47 yard field goal. Tied 10-10. LSU responds with a 4 play 75 yard drive that was capped off by a Kyle Parker 43 yard receiving TD. LSU 17-10. South Carolina goes 3 and out. Garrett Nussmeier throws an interception. The teams trade punts. South Carolina turns the ball over on downs. LSU takes advantage by going on a 10 play 64 yard drive that was capped off by a Damian Ramos 22 yard field goal. LSU 20-10. South Carolina turns the ball over on downs. LSU kneels out the clock. Tigers win! LSU 20, South Carolina 10. Takeaways - The turnovers, especially in the end zone, have to be talked about. - This defense will keep LSU in games. This offense has to pull their weight. - TREY'DEZ GREEN!! Awards - Offensive MVP - Trey'Dez Green - This guy stepped up big time tonight. Hopefully this is a preview of things to come! - Defensive MVP - AJ Haulcy - This guy is climbing draft boards every week. Take it in, Tiger fans! The Tigers travel to Music City to take on Vanderbilt Saturday morning. Thank you for checking out my article. Follow me on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) @eazytro
When: Saturday, October 11th, 2025, 6:45 PM Where: The Real Death Valley, Baton Rouge, LA TV: SECN Spread: LSU -8.5 O/U: 44.5 LSU and South Carolina will meet for the 24th time on Saturday. LSU leads the series 18-2-1. LSU had 2 wins vacated. South Carolina South Carolina comes into this game with a 3-2 record (1-2 SEC). LaNorris Sellers is the leader of this offense. He is a dual threat quarterback, who LSU fans are very familiar with. Rahsul Faison is the leader in the running back room. The leading pass catchers are Vandrevius Jacobs and Nyck Harbor. This offense ranks last in total yards in the SEC and rushing offense. Sellers has been sacked the 3rd most in the SEC (14). The Gamecock defense is led by Fred Johnson; the linebacker has 25 total tackles on the season. Dylan Stewart is a very good edge rusher. Stewart has 3.5 sacks this season. The leader in the defensive backfield is Gerald Kilgore. Kilgore is tied for 1st in the SEC with 2 interceptions. The Gamecock defense is tied for 3rd in the SEC with 6 interceptions. This defense ranks 116th in 3rd down defense. Hopefully the Tigers can expose this. LSU LSU enters this matchup with a 4-1 record (1-1 SEC). LSU is led by Garrett Nussmeier. Hopefully Nussmeier was able to get healthy during the bye week. Caden Durham will likely be back for this contest. Durham leads the Tigers with 52 carries for 213 yards and 2 TDs. Aaron Anderson will likely be back for this one as well. Anderson has 23 catches for 305 yards. Barion Brown has 25 catches for 239 yards and 1 TD. The Tiger defense ranks 2nd in the SEC with 7 interceptions. Linebacker West Weeks leads the Tigers with 31 total tackles. Jacobian Guillory II leads the defensive line with 6 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. DaShawn Spears leads the defensive backfield with 2 interceptions, which is tied for 1st in the SEC. KEYS TO THE GAME Can the Tigers expose the Gamecock 3rd down defense? Can the Tigers expose the weak Gamecock rush defense? Can the Tigers contain LaNorris Sellers? This will be a solid matchup on Saturday night! Fun Fact: The 1st time these teams played was 95 years ago to the day. Thank you for checking out my article. Follow me on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) @eazytro
LSU drops one against Ole Miss. It is time to talk about this LSU offense. The teams trade punts to open the game. Ole Miss goes 3 and out. LSU goes on a 5 play 67 yard drive that was capped off by a Nic Anderson 7 yard receiving TD. LSU 7-0. Ole Miss answers with an 18 play 83 yard drive that was capped off by a Lucas Carneiro 25 yard field goal. LSU 7-3. Garrett Nussmeier throws an interception on LSU's next drive. The teams trade punts. Ole Miss fumbles the ball away on the following drive. LSU goes 3 and out. Ole Miss goes on a 5 play 70 yard drive that was capped off by a Kewan Lacy 15 yard rushing TD. Ole Miss 10-7. LSU punts on the next drive. Ole Miss goes on a strong 9 play 69 yard drive that was capped off by a Cayden Lee 2 yard receiving TD. Ole Miss 17-7. LSU kneels out the half. The teams trade punts to open the 2nd half. LSU goes on an 8 play 33 yard drive that was capped off by a Damian Ramos 39 yard field goal. Ole Miss 17-10. Trinidad Chambliss throws an intercept on Ole Miss' next drive. LSU takes advantage by going on a 6 play 16 yard drive that was capped off by a Damian Ramos 48 yard field goal. Ole Miss 17-13. Ole Miss responds by going on an 11 play 75 yard drive that was capped off by a Logan Diggs 6 yard rushing TD. Ole Miss 24-13. LSU punches back by going on a 15 play 80 yard drive that was capped off by a Harlem Berry 6 yard rushing TD. Ole Miss 24-19. Ole Miss runs out the clock on the Tigers. Ole Miss wins. Takeaways - On opening drives, LSU has run 19 plays for 62 yards and has thrown 1 interception. Something needs to change here. - No, Brian Kelly, LSU fans are not spoiled. This offense is yet again near the bottom of the SEC in rushing offense. - Brian Kelly's comments about practicing are getting old quick. You make too much money to not take accountability. Awards - Offensive MVP - Harlem Berry - Harlem was able to score a TD for the Tigers in a big game. His future is bright! - Defensive MVP - A.J. Haulcy - What more can you say about this guy?! A true leader on the field who FLIES to the football. The Tigers will look to heal up during the bye week. Thank you for checking out my article. Follow me on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) @eazytro
When: Saturday, September 27th, 2025, 2:30 PM Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS Channel: ABC Spread: Ole Miss -1.5 O/U: 55.5 This will be a battle in Oxford. This game features 2 teams with postseason dreams! Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss comes into this game with a 4-0 record. The Rebels are looking to go 3-0 in SEC play. Trinidad Chambliss will get the start at quarterback. The former Ferris State star is a dual threat quarterback. Kewan Lacy and Logan Diggs are the leaders in the running back room. Lacy has 7 TDs on the season. Harrison Wallace III, Deuce Alexander, and Dae'Quan Wright are the leading pass catchers on this team. Zxavian Harris and Will Echoles are the leaders on the defensive line. Jaden Yates and TJ Dottery are the leaders in the linebacker room. Wydett Williams, Jr. and Antonio Kite are the leaders in the defensive back room. LSU Tigers LSU enters this contest with a 4-0 record. The Tigers are trying to move to 2-0 in conference play. Garrett Nussmeier will look to keep the momentum rolling in this game. Running back Caden Durham is a bit banged up. Ju'Juan Johnson and Harlem Berry will look to lead the running back room if Durham cannot play. Aaron Anderson is the leading pass catcher on this team. Bauer Sharp, Zavion Thomas, and Barion Brown are the other leading pass catchers on this team. West Weeks and Dahvon Keys are the leading tacklers on this Tiger defense. Tamarcus Cooley and AJ Haulcy are the leaders in the defensive back room. Jack Pyburn and Jacobian Guillory II are the leaders on the defensive line. KEYS TO THE GAME - Can the Tiger defense contain Trinidad Chambliss? - Can the Tiger offensive line hold up against this Ole Miss defensive line? - Can the offense stay balanced in this one? This will be a great game in this storied rivlary! Fun fact; The last time these 2 teams met while being undefeated was on Halloween night in 1959. Billy Cannon took care of it for the Tigers! Follow me on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) @eazytro