GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Well, so far, LSU freshman pitcher Casan Evans can close, pitch middle relief, set up a closer, and now start.
Mr. Everything Evans started the first game of his illustrious collegiate career so far on Sunday afternoon only against the defending national champion and No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers, who came in second in the nation with 98 home runs and fourth in slugging percentage at .590.
And Evans silenced the loud Orange, giving up just two runs in the first inning, no home runs, no walks and six hits for the win to improve to 3-0. He struck out six through a career-long six innings for a 12-2 victory and key Southeastern Conference series win, two games to one, in front of 11,847 at Alex Box Stadium.
WHY DID JAY JOHNSON START CASAN EVANS FOR THE FIRST TIME?
The game was called in the eighth-inning because of the 10-run rule as the Tigers scored three runs in the inning. Luis Hernandez drove in the last two with a double to end the game.
For the No. 4 Tigers (36-9, 14-7 Southeastern Conference), it was their biggest victory of the season because of the quality of opponent and the Super Regional feel to the series.
“It’s another Super Regional Sunday afternoon in the SEC,” Johnson said in the pre-game show.
Only this one, in particular, keeps LSU in excellent standing for a Super Regional host site with another top five series looming in two weeks when No. 3 RPI Arkansas (37-9, 14-7 SEC) comes to Alex Box. LSU plays at Texas A&M (24-18, 8-12 SEC) this weekend Friday through Sunday after hosting Southeastern Louisiana (6:30 p.m, Tuesday).
You can call him Mr. Efficient Evans, too, as he threw 61 strikes out of his 85 pitches, which beat his previous most pitches in a game by 13. He threw 72 pitches in his previous long outing of four innings for a save against Mississippi State on March 28. And did I mention zero walks?
From the second inning on, Evans struck out five, allowed two hits, no runs and no walks.
The powerful Vols went out in order in the second, fourth and sixth. Evans faced only four batters in the third and fifth. He was rarely behind in the count.
Meanwhile, LSU’s bats finally awoke after scoring zero runs until the ninth Friday in a 6-3 win and none until the seventh on Saturday in a 9-3 loss.
The Tigers pounded out 13 hits against eight pitchers with freshman Derek Curiel knocking Tennessee back to Knoxville.
Curiel finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs, two doubles and a solo home run.
Curiel’s home run to start the LSU first inning immediately cut Tennessee’s lead in half to 2-1 off right-handed starter AJ Russell, who didn’t make it to Curiel’s next at-bat. Curiel tied it 2-2 in the second with an RBI, two-out double off left-hander Michael Sharman that scored Hernandez, who had tripled with one out off Russell.
Jake Brown hit a three-run home run off reliever Tegan Kuhns for a 5-2 lead later in the second inning. And Evans, Curiel and LSU were just getting warmed up. After a Chris Stanfield triple in the fourth, Curiel singled in another run for a 6-2 lead. And Curiel’s two-run double in the fifth put the Tigers up 8-2.
Michael Braswell III’s solo home run in the seventh made it 9-2 LSU. Zac Cowan relieved Evans to start the seventh and allowed one hit and no runs with two strikeouts and one walk in two innings.
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