It's the most wonderful time of the year if you are an LSU fan. It is baseball season once again. The defending national champion Tigers welcomed Milwaukee into Baton Rouge for a three-game series. LSU battled back to get a victory in Game 1.
Jay Johnson and the Tigers announced their weekend rotation prior to game one of the 2026 season. Casan Evans, William Schmidt, and Cooper Moore were chosen as the starting rotation.
Evans was chosen as the Friday night starter, aka the Ace. Evans had an incredible season as a Freshman for the Bayou Bengals. He finished the season with a 5-1 record and a 2.05 ERA in 19 total appearances. In 52.2 innings of work, Evans starred out of the bullpen while only starting three games. This season, that role has changed as he has been upgraded to a starter who is expected to eat a lot more innings.
His sophomore campaign started on the mound during game one against Milwaukee in front of a packed Alex Box Stadium. And with opening day, came some opening day jitters.
He started the game with a strikeout before walking the second batter he faced. Evans got a flyout for out number two before the next hitter singled to put runners on first and second with two outs. He then ended the inning the same way he started it, with a strikeout.
In the second inning, Evans settled in after allowing a single to start the inning as he struck out the next three hitters to keep a scoreless frame heading into the third inning. Evans walked the first hitter he saw in the third inning before getting a flyout and two strikeouts to end the inning with the Tigers leading 1-0.
In the top of the fourth inning, the wheels fell off for Casan Evans. The pitcher, who rarely struggled with command last season, hit the first batter he faced before surrendering a single up the middle and a bunt single. An RBI single with the bases loaded cut LSU's lead to 2-1.
Milwaukee then drove a two-run double to left field to take a 3-2 lead. An RBI groundout extended the advantage to 4-2, ending Evans day in the season opener.
In 3.1 innings, Evans allowed four runs on six hits. He struck out seven while walking two and hitting a batter. He threw 50 strikes on 75 pitches. Everything was going good until it wasn't.
It was only the first game of the season, so I am not putting a ton of stock into Evans' struggles. It is a long season, and we are just getting started. Evans was in a relief role last year -- the transition to being a starter could take some time to adjust to. Evans will be fine, just gotta knock off the rust.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU Baseball: Casan Evans falters in first start of 2026