Second-ranked LSU kicked off its 2025 Southeastern Conference campaign with an impressive 12-5 victory over the University of Missouri baseball team on Friday evening at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers extended their win streak to 13 games, improving their record to 18-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.
LSU’s offense came alive with a five-run fourth inning that broke open a 2-2 tie, highlighted by Derek Curiel’s bases-clearing triple down the right-field line. Curiel’s clutch hit set the tone for LSU’s string of nine unanswered runs over the next five innings. Daniel Dickinson’s RBI grounder and Jake Brown’s run-scoring single capped the fourth-inning rally.
Luis Hernandez sparked LSU’s comeback with a two-run homer in the second inning, his team’s first hit of the night, erasing Missouri’s early 2-0 lead that came from Jackson Lovich’s two-run blast in the top of the inning.
Jake Brown, coming off the bench, contributed four RBIs, including a two-run double in the sixth and a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Steven Milam’s two-run homer later in the eighth inning sealed the win for LSU.
Kade Anderson delivered a dominant performance on the mound, recording 11 strikeouts over a career-long 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander allowed just three runs on four hits, marking his third consecutive double-digit strikeout game.
Missouri (8-9, 0-1 SEC) showed resilience, scoring on back-to-back home runs by Kaden Peer and Mateo Serna in the eighth inning. However, LSU’s late offensive surge put the game out of reach.
Notable performances for Missouri included Lovich extending his hitting streak to nine games and Ben Smith delivering a career-long 3.0 innings in relief. Despite the loss, Brock Lucas posted his third-straight scoreless relief appearance.
The Barn 