How It Happened: LSU Baseball Upset by McNeese State Cowboys in 7-6 Midweek Loss

BATON ROUGE, La. – McNeese edged top-ranked LSU, 7-6, Tuesday night in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field, ending the Tigers’ 16-game winning streak that began last season.

McNeese improved to 3-5 on the season, while LSU dropped to 8-1 with its first loss since June 4, 2025, when the Tigers were defeated in an NCAA Regional game by Little Rock.

LSU won its final eight games of the 2025 season en route to the National Championship, and the Tigers began the 2026 season with eight consecutive victories.

The Tigers return to action at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday when they play host to Dartmouth in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in a game that will broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SEC Network +.

“Congratulations to McNeese, they competed well in the game and deserved to win,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “We created some opportunities for them; there’s no point in belaboring it, we just gave up way too many free bases tonight.

“McNeese cashed in when they needed to early in the game; I thought our guys fought back and were just a couple of feet from winning it or sending it to extra innings. Baseball usually rewards the team that deserves to win, and McNeese deserved to win the game tonight.”

LSU Tigers Baseball: Cade Arrambide. — Courtesy of LSU Tigers Baseball.

McNeese reliever Jairus Miller (1-0) earned the win Tuesday night, firing 3.0 shutout innings while allowing one hit with one walk and five strikeouts.

LSU starting pitcher Marcos Paz (0-1) was charged with the loss, as he allowed four runs on one hit in 1.2 innings with two walks and two strikeouts.

First baseman Zach Yorke launched a two-run homer – his fourth dinger of the season – in the first inning to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

McNeese, however, struck for four runs in the second inning and three runs in the fourth to take a 7-2 advantage. The LSU bullpen blanked the Cowboys over the final five innings as LSU was able to reduce the deficit to one run.

Rightfielder Jake Brown delivered an RBI single in the fifth, and centerfielder Derek Curiel scored later in the inning on a passed ball.

Curiel lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth to narrow the gap to 7-5, and designated hitter John Pearson unloaded a solo homer in the seventh to reduce the deficit to 7-6.

LSU had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but McNeese reliever Brady Corcoran retired LSU second baseman Seth Dardar on a fly ball to the left-field warning track to end the game.

Corcoran recorded all three outs in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

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