dailynewsnblog
Boy it’s good to be back isn’t it?
The defending national champion Tigers kicked off its title defense with an emphatic 15-5 win in eight innings over Milwaukee Friday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, and LSU has now won 25 straight season openers.
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As a team LSU collected nine extra base hits—six doubles and homers by Zach Yorke, Seth Dardar, and Cade Arrambide—while the Tiger pitching staff struck out 17. Yorke, the Grand Canyon transfer, gets credit for the first LSU run of the season when he launched a solo shot in his very first at bat as a Tiger.
LSU’s second run came in an entirely different fashion. Chris Stanfield, batting leadoff today, led off the third with a walk and was able to come around and score despite LSU not getting a single hit. Stanfield moved to second by way of a balk, got to third off a wild pitch, and scored off of a Steven Milam groundout.
Despite the lopsided score, Milwaukee made the Tigers earn this one. The Panthers knocked Casan Evans out in the fourth inning and led LSU 5-2 going into the bottom of the sixth.
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Evans first time out as a Friday starter had some good and bad. On the one hand, Evans had seven strikeouts in just 3.1 innings, but he also gave up six hits and four earned runs. Milwaukee tagged Evans for four runs in the top of the fourth, and the Panthers opened up the frame by letting five straight batters reach base. Evans plunked catcher Joey Spence, and then Milwaukee strung together three straight singles to get on the board. Tristan Ellis then followed with a two-run double to give Milwaukee a 3-2 advantage. An RBI groundout by Dylan O’Connell pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 4-2 and that would be the end of Evans’ outing.
Cooper Williams was the first one out of the pen and pitched well but for one crucial mistake. Williams gave up a leadoff home run to Milwaukee cleanup hitter, Charlie Marion, to increase the Panthers’ lead to 5-2. But aside from one bad pitch, Williams was flawless: 2.2 innings of relief, just that one hit surrendered, and five strikeouts.
Innings 1-5 were a completely different game than innings 6-8 on both sides. LSU only had three hits through the first five frames as Milwaukee pitching frustrated the Tigers, but Jay Johnson went to his bench in the sixth inning and found some offense.
Cade Arrambide led off the sixth with a double down the line, and with one on and one out, Johnson called on Kansas State transfer/Louisiana native Seth Dardar to pinch hit. In his first at-bat for the hometown Tigers, Dardar went deep to right-centerfield to get the Tigers back to within a run.
Working with new life in the seventh, Cooper Williams took the mound to start the seventh inning, but hit Milwaukee first basemen Grant Ross on a full count and for the first time in over a year Johnson handed the ball to Gavin Guidry.
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Guidry was nothing short of excellent, striking out the first five batters that he faced. Guidry did surrender a two-out double in the eighth inning, but promptly erased it with a first-pitch pop out in foul territory to Dardar, now playing third base.
Dardar’s homer was the first of 13 unanswered runs scored by LSU. The Tigers would then plate six runs in the seventh, highlighted by an RBI double by Jake Brown to tie the game, and Cade Arrambide’s three-run home run to left to break the 5-5 tie. The sophomore catcher had a great first day as the Tiger’s No. 1 option at catcher: 3-4, a double, a homer, three RBI, scored three runs, and also drew a walk.
Derek Curiel was able to reach on an error and that mistake allowed the Tigers to push across two more runs and increase the LSU lead to 10-5.
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LSU called game in the eighth inning with a five-spot. Yorke and Arrambide opened up the home half of the eighth with back-to-back walks, and then true freshman Omar Serna, getting his first AB as a Tiger, delivered a run-scoring double to give the Tigers an 11-5 lead.
Dardar drove in his third run of the evening with an RBI groundout that scored Arrambide, while Serna was able to score off a wild pitch.
Leading 13-5, Jay Johnson went deep into his bench and let other new faces make their LSU debuts. Freshman infielder Jack Ruckert bunt singled his way aboard, John Pearson ripped a single through the left side of the infield, and JUCO transfer Daniel Harden took one for the team to load the bases. Ruckert came home off another wild pitch by Milwaukee, and then Steven Milam ended the game with a knock to right field that scored Pearson.
Tomorrow afternoon LSU will try to take the opening series of 2026, with Cooper Williams set to make his LSU debut. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 P.M. and the game may be streamed via SEC Network+.
