This LSU Pitcher's Big Outing Set Himself Up for Success; Can the Staff Follow?

LSU's final regular series against Florida is one big audition.

The Tigers will need strong pitching, most of which wasn't seen yet this year, to run the table at the SEC tournament in Hoover and get a bid to the NCAA tournament. In the opening game of the Florida series—which LSU lost 11-8—more questions were answered.

"It's my job to kind of set us up for thing that are ahead," head coach Jay Johnson said before the series began. "And in this case, that's what I'm doing, and that's what I have to do."

Typical weekend start William Schmidt isn't pitching this weekend so he can start in Tuesday's opening round in Hoover. A few pitchers stood out on Thursday, with some performances that need repeating and some that need to be forgotten quickly.

Reagan Ricken's best career outing

Entering Thurday's game, the freshman righty hadn't thrown at least 3.0 innings since his debut in February. Ricken blew it out of the water against Florida, going 4.1 innings and also having career highs in strikeouts and pitches thrown, with five and 56 respectively. His curveball was his best friend.

"Threw [the curveball] a decent amount tonight," Ricken said, "I just felt comfortable with it, I felt like I knew where I needed to start the ball for it to land in the zone."

At one point, Ricken had retired eight straight Gators. He had two runs charged to him toward the end of his outing, but it was obvious he was feeling himself. He was showing plenty of emotion after getting out of the fourth and fifth innings.

"He was excited about his performance, as he should be, but you're supposed to pitch good here," Johnson said. "I hope it's a breakthrough for him, because I believe in his ability."

Ricken said that an outing like tonight can translate to future success just by it giving him a confidence boost, and remembering how fun it was for him to succeed Thursday night.

Ricken's 4.66 ERA isn't fantastic, but most of his poor outings haven't been in SEC play. His last conference outing before Thursday was when he got Mississippi State's two best hitters out in a big spot.

When he eventually gets called upon in Hoover, he has a strong precedent for success against top competition. LSU needs it desperately.

Who needs to get back on track?

"[In the top of the first] I think I counted, in the first nine guys, we got five or six guys to two strikes, and did not record an out," Johnson said. "That tells you everything you need to know."

In the 4.2 Ricken-less innings, LSU used six pitchers who walked 13 batters, hit two batters and threw three wild pitches.

One of LSU's most promising relievers over the past month is sophomore left-hander Danny Lachenmayer.

He started Thursday's game against Florida and recorded two outs, but was charged with six runs on four hits and three walks. The bulk came from a grand slam before an out was recorded.

"I think Danny's a good pitcher. I think I've said this before, he's not a starter in the SEC," Johnson said. "And when you get into trouble, you're asking guys to do too much. Because the circumstances of our team, we're asking him to do more than we should be asking him to do.

"I think he's capable of pitching better than that."

In his last appearance which came at Georgia, he went 2.2 innings but walked four. Lachenmayer needs to put these last two outings behind him, as he will be needed for two or three innings in at least one SEC tournament appearance.

Mavrick Rizy has had a disappointing season, and his outing Thursday fell right into his 2026 ways. Four walks and a run highlighted his one inning of work. He only threw 37% of his pitches for strikes.

Connor Benge was a fine arm compared to the rest of Thursday's staff. He threw 1.1 innings and was charged with two runs but overall performed well enough. Dax Dathe finished up the ninth inning while letting up two free passes, though neither scored.

Marcos Paz gets the start Friday and Zac Cowan on Saturday to finish the regular season. LSU just needs to make it out alive.

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