LSU Baseball Is Rock Solid In 1 Area As The SEC Season Approaches – Weekend Starting Pitching

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The LSU baseball team has a lot of issues right now – hitting, defense, the infield, catcher and some second line pitching.

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But the No. 2 Tigers’ weekend starting rotation and short reliever are locks at the moment – one week away from the Southeastern Conference season starting on Friday, March 12, at Vanderbilt.

That foursome features sophomore Casan Evans (0-0, 5.27 ERA, 21 strikeouts, 13.2 innings), junior Cooper Moore (3-0, 2.33 ERA, 27 strikeouts, 19.1 innings), sophomore William Schmidt (3-0, 1.65 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 16.1 innings) starting Friday through Sunday against Sacramento State and junior relief ace Gavin Guidry (3-1, 2.38 ERA, 1 save, 18 strikeouts, 11.1 innings).

LSU (11-3) and Sacramento State (3-9) open the three-game series on Friday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+) with the Saturday and Sunday games at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m.

Evans’ numbers are not great now or close to last season (5-1, 2.05 ERA, 7 saves, 71 strikeouts, 52.2 innings), but he has improved with each outing. He struck out 10 around two runs on two hits last week against Dartmouth through five and a third innings.

LSU loses 2nd straight ugly – 7-2 at ULLhttps://t.co/di5fMEx58p

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) March 5, 2026

“What I do like is the three guys who will pitch the next three games,” LSU coach Jay Johnson after suffering his second straight loss on Wednesday night – 7-2 at Louisiana-Lafayette after a 13-10 home loss to Northeastern at home on Monday night.

“I know the four guys I’m going to go to for now at this point,” Johnson said. “And a little bit of an old Skip Bertman style of – you only have eight (pitchers).”

One of the first things Bertman, LSU’s baseball coaching legend in residence with five national titles from 1991-2000, told Johnson when Johnson first got the coaching job in the summer of 2021 centered on pitching.

“No matter how many pitchers you think you have, you really only have eight,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean we only have seven or eight,” Johnson said. “But I know where we’re headed, and I feel really good about that piece of it.”

Figuring the other three or four pitchers contending for the Bertman 8 gets a little tricky. Senior Zac Cowan is off to a rough start (1-0, 13.50 ERA, 8 strikeouts, 4 innings, .462 batting average) after a great 2025 when he was 3-3 with a 2.94 ERA and six saves with 60 strikeouts in 42 innings and a .226 average.

Sophomore Mavrick Rizy (0-0, 2.16 ERA, 12 strikeouts, 8.1 innings, .077 average) will be in the mix. Sophomore Deven Sheerin has been effective after missing all of last season with an injury (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 6.1 innings, .000 batting average). There is junior Jaden Noot (0-0, 5.06 ERA, 7 strikeouts, 5.1 innings, .167 average).

The returning left-handed options are struggling – sophomore Cooper Williams (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 8 strikeouts, 5.1 innings, .292 average) and junior DJ Primeaux (0-0, 13.50 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 1.1 innings). But junior college transfer Ethan Plog has been impressive (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 6 strikeouts, 3.1 innings, .286 average).

As for the infield other than shortstop Steven Milam, look for some situational substitutions, though transfers Trent Caraway, Seth Dardar and Zach Yorke have played played most of the season at third, second and first, respectively, so far. Dardar is only hitting .265 with two homers and three errors, while Yorke is at .256, but with four home runs. Caraway is hitting .310 with two home runs and 15 RBIs.

Freshman designated hitter/outfielder Mason Braun is fourth on the team with a .281 average.

“The position player side – we’re going to have to continue to mix and match a little bit,” Johnson said.

Catcher Cade Arrambide is hitting .279 with three home runs and nine RBIs and has been struggling at times as a receiver. Backup freshman catcher Omar Serna Jr. is hitting .250 with five RBIs.

LSU is hitting a shocking .209 (39 of 186) over its last six games.

“I believe we have good players that can play better offensive baseball than they are,” Johnson said. “Offensively, we just need to help make some of those pitching decisions a little easier by helping them out (with more hits and runs). Since we’ve been here, a five-game offensive scuffle is probably as long as we’ve had. We’ll be okay if the players bring the right attitude. We want to score more runs, and then (as a defense), we have to stay out of the big innings.”

With Sacramento State and Creighton (3-6) on Tuesday, LSU has four more test runs before the exhibition season is over. And the games really count when SEC play begins.