The Five Biggest Winners From LSU Baseball's Series Sweep Over South Carolina

LSU baseball has seen three consecutive weekends end with no wins, but against South Carolina, that all changed.

It all changed on Saturday, with LSU securing the series with 6-1 and 7-3 wins in the doubleheader.

And on Sunday, LSU shutout South Carolina to claim a 7-0 win and the series sweep.

The sweep is great for the Tigers, but now the focus shifts to carrying the momentum into the last two weeks of SEC play, where the Tigers need four more wins to have a shot at playing in the postseason.

“We’re not where we necessarily want to be in overall record or SEC record, but the season is not over," head coach Jay Johnson said after Game 2. "Just the mental growth of players to be able to slow the game down and play winning baseball and play as they’re trained is great.”

Marcos Paz

Marcos Paz had a phenomenal outing in his Game 2 start on Saturday. He posted a couple of career-highs in his second SEC start.

His 5.0 innings of work are the longest he's been on the mound this season, with his previous outing being 3.0 innings of work versus Mississippi State last weekend. He's been thrust into this starting role with Casan Evans' injury and after his outing, he has earned himself a starting role.

If Evans returns soon, Paz will likely slide down to the Sunday starter, but for a freshman at LSU, any starting spot is a good thing.

His Saturday outing included 79 pitches thrown to 18 batters, allowing just one hit, one run and three walks while striking out a career-high eight batters.

"Marcos was outstanding today and gave us a tremendous start," Johnson said after Game 2. "I mean, that’s what’s going to happen here for the next three years with him. That was excellent. He’s a stud.”

Zac Cowan

Zac Cowan’s outing versus the Gamecocks is everything LSU needed in Sunday’s Game 3.

It was also everything LSU fans knew Cowan had in him. Before the season, Cowan was the man people pointed to as the man to go to out of the bullpen for those middle relief innings.

But like the most of LSU’s pitching staff, those early expectations fleeted.

But the 6.0 inning, two hit and one walk start would keep South Carolina off the scoreboard, and give LSU another option to fill its third weekend starter role.

William Schmidt

For William Schmidt, the weekend was a huge boost in confidence.

His 6.0 innings of work were the longest since March 1 against Dartmouth. It was also his lowest in-game ERA since his shutout outing versus Kentucky over a month ago.

He allowed just one hit, one run and one walk while sending seven batters back to the dugout with their bats in hand after a strikeout. But Johnson had one thing in particular to praise Schmidt for.

“William did a great job today in controlling the count," Johnson said after Game 1. "When he got behind, he was able to come back, get some swings, and get some weak contact.”

The win alone is enough to help him out, as each of his last four outings ended in losses for the Tigers, with three of those being credited to him.

His 97 pitches are his second-highest number this season, showing he can go the distance if he has the stuff that day.

With two more regular-season starts left in his sophomore campaign, he needs to ride this momentum to the end.

Jack Ruckert

Jack Ruckert is one of four LSU freshmen who have started games consistently the last few weeks, filling a hole at second base left by injuries and underwhelming play by transfers.

Ruckert's bat was silent against the Gamecocks in the first two games, recording no hits and one RBI on a sac fly.

But he found some form on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with an RBI

But the defensive play has improved considerably. At first, it felt uneasy with him at second, but he has really settled in and been solid.

He did have one error in the first game of the series, but two putouts and four assists in Game 2 was a huge confidence boost for the freshman.

Jay Johnson

Johnson has had a long season; it's clear in his body language, his ever-changing pieces in the lineup and his postgame press conferences.

“This will never happen again," Johnson said earlier in April after a loss to Texas A&M. "I made some mistakes in constructing the team and trying to replace two guys that were irreplaceable, where we should have looked for replacing them through guys that were already in the program and then replaced the guys that were athletic and could play defense and be more complete players.”

That's strong feelings from Johnson.

“That’s on the coaches to fix the defense," Johnson added that weekend, "And I don’t know that that’s a 2026 fix right now. That might be a 2027 fix.”

It was a rough stretch, one that Johnson admitted earlier this week that he had never experienced.

But none of that changed how he and his team approached this weekend, saying it is straightforward.

“The goal is to win all three games this weekend," Johnson said. "That’s where my focus is at. It’s where the team’s focus is. It’s where I want the team’s focus to be.”

And they did that. They also found that the offense has life, defense has cleaned up, and pitching has been solid. His team's performance this weekend will definitely help him sleep a bit better at night.

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