LSU Defeats Omaha 4-2, Sets Up Saturday Doubleheader

BATON ROUGE, La. – In a tightly contested game, second-ranked LSU improved to 5-0 on the season with a 4-2 victory over Omaha at Alex Box Stadium on Friday. Sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson delivered a career-long 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits as he notched his second win of the season.

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Anderson (2-0) struck out eight batters while walking two and facing 23 batters over 79 pitches. His performance drew comparisons to former LSU star Paul Skenes, with coach Jay Johnson stating, “Kade was dominant tonight. It seemed like he was 1-2 to every hitter, and then he was finishing them off with a strikeout or getting weak contact.”

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Omaha’s starting pitcher Brayden Curtis (0-1) suffered the loss after yielding three runs, one earned, over 3.1 innings pitched, with three walks and two strikeouts. Omaha now stands at 1-4 for the season.

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The Tigers struck early, plating two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Right fielder Jake Brown initiated the scoring with an RBI single, followed by a second run that crossed the plate from a double-play groundout. Catcher Luis Hernandez added to the tally with a line-drive double in the fourth, bringing the score to 3-0. A sacrifice fly from shortstop Steven Milam in the fifth extended the lead to 4-0.

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Omaha managed to challenge LSU in the sixth, scoring two runs to cut the deficit to 4-2. With the bases loaded and one out, Anderson was replaced by Connor Benge, who was instrumental in escaping the jam without further damage, retiring the side on just seven pitches. Johnson praised the bullpen efforts, saying, “Those guys out of the bullpen were outstanding. I’m super proud of all of them for the way they performed on the mound tonight.”

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Casan Evans secured his first career save by pitching 2.0 shutout innings, striking out five of the seven batters he faced. “We have total faith in Casan,” Johnson remarked. “That’s a pretty big spot for a guy pitching for just the second time in college, and he looked like he had been doing it for years.”

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With the weekend series against Omaha set to conclude on Saturday with a doubleheader, the first game will commence at Noon CT and the second at 5 p.m. CT. Both games will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed live on SEC Network +. Johnson looked forward to tomorrow’s games, stating, “We’re going to continue to find out more about our team this weekend.”

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Following the series against Omaha, LSU will host Nicholls at 6 p.m. CT on Monday.