LSU baseball dropped Game 2 of the three-game set to Florida 11-1 on Friday. It solidifies a series loss to the Gators. On both sides of the ball, the Tigers struggled.
Following Friday’s contest, head coach Jay Johnson explained the decision to pitch Casan Evans in relief for nearly two innings.
“It was always the plan to have him throw tonight, around 40 pitches, two innings,” Johnson said. “I thought his stuff looked good. [I] thought he threw some really good change-ups, which is a signature for him.”
Following Thursday’s loss, Johnson said neither Evans nor fellow regular weekend starter William Schmidt would see the bump. He clarified on Friday that neither would get a start against the Gators, but he didn’t mean to say Evans was unavailable.
Evans went 1.2 innings in relief on Friday, He surrendered three runs on a home run and allowed two hits while picking up two strikeouts. Johnson confirmed that Schmidt won’t play in the regular season finale on Saturday, but both he and Evans will be available for the SEC tournament.
Here is what Johnson said about both starting pitchers following Thursday’s contest.
“I make these decisions all the time,” Johnson said. “Do I love not having William Schmidt and Casan Evans against Florida? No. I hate it. It makes me sick to my stomach.”
Johnson knows LSU’s only path to the NCAA Tournament is somehow winning the SEC. With that in mind, LSU is saving its bullets for Hoover, rather than emptying the tank in the final regular-season series.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU’s Jay Johnson explains why LSU used Casan Evans in Game 2 vs Florida