LSU baseball loses to Little Rock: What went wrong?
LSU baseball loses to Little Rock: What went wrong?
After cruising through the first two games of the Baton Rouge Regional, it looked like LSU was going to do the same on Sunday night as the Tigers got off to a 3-0 lead vs. Little Rock.
But from there, it was all Trojans. A two-run homer from Angel Cano in the second inning put Little Rock on the board. Little Rock followed it up with a four-spot in the third inning. Just for insurance, Little Rock scored four more in the eighth to close it with a 10-4 final score.
Now, LSU finds itself in a winner-take-all game on Monday night. With a win, LSU is off to the Super Regional. A loss, and LSU will go down in history on the wrong side of a historic upset. Little Rock was 19-32 at one point and had to win its conference tournament to get here. The Trojans have exceeded all expectations in Baton Rouge.
Let's take a look at what went wrong in LSU's loss to Little Rock.
LSU struggled without its aces on the mound
LSU has the luxury of two aces on its pitching staff. The Tigers were set on Friday and Saturday with Anthony Eyanson and Kade Anderson. The two combined for 14.2 innings of shutout baseball. There was no doubt about what LSU had on the mound.
After Eyanson and Anderson, LSU's pitching was inconsistent in 2025. That issue reared its head on Monday. Jaden Noot pitched well in the SEC Tournament vs. Ole Miss, delivering four innings of one-run baseball. That left LSU feeling confident on Sunday, but Noot couldn't get out of the second inning.
Chase Shores appeared in relief. Shores was inconsistent in SEC play, but his stuff usually plays vs. less talented teams. That wasn't the case as Shores was tagged for four runs. Noot and Shores combined for five walks in 2.1 innings.
Copper Williams held the Trojans scoreless for 3.2 innings, but Jacob Mayers let it get away in the eighth, walking four batters in 1.1 innings.
LSU wasn't expecting Noot, Shores, and company to match the outings of Eyanson and Anderson, but LSU needed more. Little Rock isn't the 1927 Yankees. But LSU struggled to throw strikes, and Little Rock made the Tigers pay.
"Some guys on the mound didn't perform, probably, the way that they want to or maybe to the point where they're capable of," Johnson said.
How bad did the walks hurt LSU?
Little Rock scored 10 runs. Of those 10, seven reached base with a walk. LSU didn't make the Trojans earn it on Sunday.
Inning How Little Rock scoring runners reached base 2nd Chaplain (walk → scored) 2nd Cano (HR) 3rd Rhoades (walk → scored) 3rd Martin (walk → scored) 3rd Chaplain (walk → scored) 3rd Cano (double → scored) 8th Harris (walk → scored) 8th Willbanks (walk → scored) 8th Seguine (walk → scored) 8th Blalock (walk → scored)
Little Rock took the lead after three walks in the third loaded the bases for Angel Cano. A double-scored all three runners and Cano would later cross himself.
In the eighth, the game was still within reach, but Mayers' walk allowed the Trojans to blow it open. With Cowan and Evans set to pitch on Monday, LSU hopes to keep the walks under control.
LSU didn't have the power stroke
LSU's performance at the plate wasn't terrible. LSU hit .297 overall, .316 with runners on, and .333 with runners in scoring position. LSU was 3-9 leading off the inning, better than the 1-8 mark posted by Little Rock.
But LSU didn't have the power, despite out-hitting the Trojans with 11 knocks; LSU scored just four runs. The Tigers didn't homer and had two extra-base hits.
The middle of the lineup came up empty, with LSU getting one total hit from the No. 3-5 spots. Derek Curiel reached base four times, but only scored once. LSU needed Jared Jones and Daniel Dickinson to produce runs behind Curiel.
LSU's offensive letdown came as a surprise after the Tigers' bats played a complete game in the win over Dallas Baptist.
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On Ethan Frey and Luis Hernandez "You look at the offensive performance by Ethan, that's arguably the best game I've ever seen any one of my players play, considering the situation," Johnson said. "Luis, clutch. I mean, absolutely clutch. Sometimes you look at a player in the eye in the on-deck circle, and you go, this is about to be good. And special night tonight, great toughness catching four games in a row, really proud of him for that, and maintaining massive offensive production," Johnson said of Hernandez. On the environment of Alex Box Stadium "I want to echo what the players said about the environment tonight was special. Like, maybe the super regional a couple of years ago, I don't ever remember it like that. And it's been great. I mean, that was like another bar. And the thing I'm most grateful for is maybe in those nervous moments for them, I felt like they really lifted the team," Johnson said. "They kept going. You know, they kept supporting the players. 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