By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Sophomore Casan Evans will start the No. 1 LSU baseball team’s season opener on Friday against Milwaukee (2 p.m., SEC Network+), LSU coach Jay Johnson announced at a press conference Thursday morning.
Evans was 5-1 with a 2.05 earned run average and seven saves through 19 appearances in 2025 for the national champion Tigers. He struck out 71 in 52 and two-thirds innings with just 19 walks and a .228 batting average allowed.
Junior Kansas transfer Cooper Moore, who was 7-3 with a 3.96 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 88 and two-thirds innings in 2025, will start Saturday’s 1 p.m. game also on SEC Network+.
And sophomore William Schmidt will start the Sunday at 1 p.m., also on SEC Network+. Schmidt was 7-0 with a 4.73 ERA last season with 41 strikeouts in 32 and a third innings for the Tigers as a freshman last season.
Schmidt pitched mainly in non-conference games last season. In the Southeastern Conference, he struggled, going 0-0 with a 27.00 ERA in five relief appearances. He gave up six runs on three hits with two home runs, 11 walks and a .375 batting average with one strikeout. But he has showed some promise in recent scrimmages.
“I think he (Schmidt) gives us the best chance to win that game on Sunday,” Johnson said. “He struck out nine guys in a row last week – pretty good performance.”
Johnson left his Monday starter open. The Tigers host Kent State at 3 p.m. Monday.
“We’ll see where we’re at for Monday,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of good options. The starters are important obviously, but the bullpen is the key in college baseball. Everybody has a job on the team. All of them are really important.”
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