LSU Baseball Wins Opener By 10-Run Rule Behind 3 Homers, And Gavin Guidry Is Back

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

No. 1 LSU started slowly, but finished with crushes for a 15-5 victory in eight innings by the 10-rule over Milwaukee to open the 2026 season on Friday afternoon in front of 11,582 at Alex Box Stadium, and that included new LSU football coach and part-time tourist Lane Kiffin.

Welcome To The Box @Lane_Kiffin pic.twitter.com/HGIaJ0BjKq

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) February 13, 2026

The Tigers (1-0) trailed Milwaukee, 5-2, until the bottom of the sixth inning when transfer third baseman Seth Dardar hit a pinch-hit two-run home run to cut the lead to 5-4. Then in the seventh inning, LSU struck for six runs and a 10-5 lead. Catcher Cade Arrambide delivered a three-run home run to break a 5-5 tie for an 8-5 lead. Right fielder Jake Brown added an RBI double.

The Tigers scored six more in the eighth inning. Steven Milam hit a two-run single to end the game as the Tigers went up by 10. New transfer first baseman Zach Yorke hit a home run in his first at-bat as a Tiger to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted to, but we kept on playing,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “That’s what we talked about before the game. We got the nerves out.”

Casan Evans started on the mound for LSU and appeared a tad rusty as well as he allowed four runs on six hits with two walks in three and a third innings. He did strike out seven, though.

Redshirt junior reliever Gavin Guidry received a standing ovation when he took the mound to start the seventh inning. The former Barbe High star from Lake Charles had not pitched since the NCAA Regional at North Carolina in 2024 because of a back injury suffered just before last season. And he did not pitch all year. He returned triumphantly as he struck out five and allowed one hit in two innings and got the win.

Guidry was a key LSU reliever in 2023 and ’24, going 3-0 with three saves and a 3.77 ERA and 2-0 with three saves and a 2.59 ERA, respectively.

“I thought Gavin would us a lift and pitch very well, and he did both,” Johnson said.

The Tigers and Milwaukee (0-1) meet again Saturday and Sunday in 1 p.m. games on SEC Network+.