JOURNAL SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. – The LSU baseball season made it until today.
After burning the midnight oil and getting a pleasant surprise from a struggling bullpen, the Tigers get to play again.
LSU and Oklahoma played until well after midnight in an SEC Tournament staredown that started Monday night. The 14th-seeded Tigers ousted the 11th seeded Sooners 6-2 at Hoover Met.
The Tigers (30-27) are set to face sixth-seeded Auburn (36-18) in the second round of the SEC Tournament tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 8 but as the fourth game of the day, is likely to be later, just like Tuesday night’s outing. The game will be streamed on SEC Network and available on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
The Tigers’ ailing pitching staff took another blow pregame when scheduled starter William Schmidt felt his back tighten in warmups and told coach Jay Johnson he wasn’t able to play. But a trio of Tigers combined to limit the Sooners (32-21) to six hits and held OU scoreless in the final five innings.
Grant Fontenot got the sudden start, and scattered three hits in 2 1/3 innings while giving up an opening run. Gavin Guidry earned the win with 3 1/3 innings pitched, allowing two hits, one run, issuing two walks, and recording six strikeouts. Deven Sheerin closed the contest, earning his fifth save, blanking the Sooners.
“Really proud of Grant, really proud of Gavin, really proud of Deven. That’s a tough spot to be put into,” said Johnson. “We felt we had a good plan mapped out for pitching, and William was not able to pitch.
“Grant did a great job. You only get 30 minutes when you walk on the field (after the previous game) and he gave us 2 1/3. Gavin got us off the field in a big spot and the pitch of the game was when Devin came in. We had a 4-2 lead with the bases loaded, and immediately got the fly ball to left field. He got better as he went along.”
The Tigers moved on top with a three-run fifth. Derek Curiel doubled in the first run and later scored, along with Omar Serna Jr., on an OU error for a 4-2 advantage.
Curiel went 3-for-6, adding another double and a single. Steven Milam cracked a two-run homer in the eighth that doubled LSU’s lead to 6-2, and Brayden Simpson had a pair of singles for the Tigers.
LSU did strand 15 baserunners despite getting 11 hits, and the Tiger defense made three errors.
The entire tournament is a single-elimination format. LSU needs four wins to secure an automatic NCAA Regional berth. Johnson said again postgame that is the only path his team has to defend its 2025 College World Series title.