By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Casan Evans likes to do everything fast … pitch, get the ball back, pitch.
He got away from that in his previous start at Vanderbilt, and died a quick death slowly as he gave up six runs on five hits and five walks in just three innings of the Tigers’ 13-12 loss last Friday.
“Last weekend, personally, I was embarrassed by my performance,” Evans said Thursday night after a redeeming game against No. 7 Oklahoma at Alex Box Stadium in a 7-1 win.
In other words, Evans wanted to pitch Sooner, rather than later.
And he struck out 15 Sooners – the most by an LSU pitcher in a Southeastern Conference game since Paul Skenes at Auburn in 2023.
Evans allowed just one run on three hits and one walk to go to 2-0 on the season. The Tigers (16-7, 2-2 SEC) won their third straight going into game two against Oklahoma (17-5, 2-2 SEC) on Friday (6:30 p.m., SEC Network+).
“I just went out there and told myself to have fun,” Evans said. “I’m very happy with my performance.”
Evans decreased his time between pitches drastically.
“I wanted to speed the tempo up,” he said. “It was not mechanics. It was the tempo. Getting the ball back, going after the next batter. I’ve always pitched with a lot of tempo. I’m going to be carrying it into ever game.”
And he’s not sure why he slowed down last week. Was it all the country music in Nashville?
“Just sort of happened,” he said. “Wasn’t purposeful.”
LSU coach Jay Johnson views last weekend as an aberration.
“No surprise to me,” he said after this one. “Casan’s one of the best pitchers in the country, and he’s growing. He’s only going to get better. I felt like it was 0-and-2 to everybody.”
Evans threw 110 pitches with 76 strikes.
Skenes, the reigning Cy Young award winner and two-time All-Star game starter about to enter his third MLB season with Pittsburgh, threw the exact same 110 pitches with 76 strikes in his 3-0 win over Auburn three years ago also with one walk. He allowed six hits.
Johnson remembered that game and drew a parallel between Evans’ up tempo game and that of Skenes.
“Some guys are just wired that way,” he said. “I still have visuals of Paul throwing the ball right where he wanted to,” Johnson said. “Grab the ball, right back on the mound, good breath and then looking up at the hitter. I think it’s a good tribute to guys who know they’re really good. And Casan knows he’s good, and he’s really good.”
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