By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU’s Seth Dardar came within a few feet of a walk-off home run, but the ball was caught on the warning track in left field in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium.
And the No. 1 Tigers will not go through the non-conference season undefeated as they lost to McNeese State, 7-6, for their first setback of the season. The Tigers were off to an 8-0 start and were 16-0 going back to last season.
Steven Milam singled with one out in the LSU ninth off McNeese reliever Brady Corcoran, who then walked Zach Yorke. But Corcoran struck out Omar Serna Jr. before Dardar stepped up to the plate.
Was it the Tiger Rag jinx in reference to the below story published Monday?
The Tigers (8-1) got within 7-6 in the eighth inning on a solo home run by John Pearson, who has two on the season.
LSU could have had got something going in the bottom of the seventh when Milam walked to lead off, but Yorke hit into a 3-6-1 double play before Omar Serna Jr. struck out.
The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run home run by Yorke – his fourth of the season. But the Cowboys (3-5) scored four in the second inning off freshman starter Marcos Paz, who only allowed one hit, but walked two and hit a batter in taking the loss to go to 0-1 on the season.
Tiger Rag Exclusive – LSU coach Jay Johnson on revenue sharing and his LSU future: “There are some schools that are all in on baseball. And we need to be one of those schools. We’re not there yet.”https://t.co/UEMFlHzZdF
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 24, 2026
Jairus Miller (1-0) got the victory in relief, allowing no runs and one hit from the second through fourth innings. He struck out five and walked one. Corcoran picked up his first save of the season. LSU struck out eight times on the night and managed only eight hits.
McNeese got only seven hits, but collected six walks off 10 LSU pitchers, who hit five batters.
“No point in belaboring it – we gave up too many free bases,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “We walked guys. We hit several guys. I don’t even want to look at how many. We just gave away a little too much and just dug ourselves too big a hole. It’s not rocket science. We lost ourselves a little bit, and we can learn from that.”
McNeese stretched its lead to 7-2 in the fourth off relievers Dax Dathe and Mavrick Rizy. Dathe gave up one hit and two runs in two-thirds of an inning with two strikeouts, while Rizy allowed one run and a hit and a walk.
LSU drew within 7-4 in the fifth with two runs. Jake Brown hit an RBI single, and Derek Curiel walked and scored on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly by Curiel in the sixth cut McNeese’s lead to 7-5.
LSU next plays four games from Friday through Sunday – Dartmouth at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Sunday and Northeastern at 2 p.m. Saturday and 6:30 p.m. Monday.
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