LSU Explodes For 7-1 Win Over No. 7 Oklahoma Behind 15 Strikeouts By Casan Evans

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Maybe LSU ace Casan Evans was waiting for the Tigers’ first ranked opponent.

Evans, the sophomore right-hander who was a consensus first team freshman All-American last season at 5-1 with a 2.05 ERA and seven saves, returned to his 2025 form on Thursday night in beating No. 7 Oklahoma, 7-1, in front of 11,000 at Alex Box Stadium.

Evans struck out a career-high 15 with one walk and allowed one unearned run on three hits over seven and two-thirds innings to go to 2-0 on the season after throwing 110 pitches and 76 strikes. The last LSU pitcher to strike out 15 in a Southeastern Conference game was none other than Paul Skenes on May 5, 2023, in a 3-0 win at Auburn.

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LSU (16-7, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) took a 1-0 lead in the first and made it 5-0 in the second with only one hit. Oklahoma junior left-handed starter Cameron Johnson, who signed with the Tigers as one of the top pitchers in the country but pitched only briefly in 2023 because of control issues, walked six and hit a batter in an inning and a third. He allowed no hits with two strikeouts and only one earned run as the Sooners committed two infield errors with another one by the catcher.

LSU won its third straight game as Oklahoma fell to 17-5, 2-2 in the SEC and 0-2 in Louisiana as it lost at Southeastern Louisiana, 3-0, on Tuesday. The two teams meet again Friday at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

After one out in the first inning, Johnson walked Jake Brown, Derek Curiel and Omar Serna Jr. to load the bases. He struck out John Pearson, but walked Cade Arrambide to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead before striking out Zach Yorke looking.

Trent Caraway walked to lead off the second, reached second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by third baseman Camden Johnson off a grounder by Chris Stanfield, who later scored on a throwing error by catcher Deiten LaChance. After Steven Milam flew out to center, Johnson walked Brown, and Curiel drove in a run with a grounder to second baseman Kyle Branch, who committed a throwing error.

After Johnson hit Serna, Xavier Mercurius finally relieved him, but he allowed LSU’s first hit – an RBI single by Pearson for the 5-0 lead.

After Oklahoma got an unearned run in the sixth, LSU made it 7-1 in the seventh on a two-run single by Yorke.