LSU's offense ignites, staging a dramatic comeback with a grand slam and power hitting to secure a vital SEC series win.
The 2026 LSU Tigers have finally won an SEC series as they finish the weekend with a 17-10 win over the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday.
The Tigers improve to 19-10 on the season and 4-5 in conference play. While this win won't convince anyone that this is a College World Series contender again all of a sudden, it should do wonders for LSU's confidence.
This win, in particular, should boost the offense's ego, proving that they can answer the call when they need to put up a lot of runs.
It looked rough out of the gates, as the Wildcats got out to a 7-0 lead. Gavin Guidry gave up six runs in 1.1 innings of work. He gave up three hits, walked four batters and hit another.
Outside of Guidry, the bullpen was mostly ok. Mavericky Rizy gave up two and Deven Sheerin gave up a run, but those aren't arms worth worrying about at all. They'll make up for it.
The story of this game is obviously the offense waking up and putting up a 17-spot on Kentucky. They put up seven runs on Saturday, so hopefully this means they are finding a rhythm.
Chris Stanfield looked great leading off on Sunday. His ability to get on the bases has been a blessing at the end of the lineup, but it's clearly needed at the top as well.
He went 4-for-5 with a double and a walk drawn. Couldn't ask for much more from a leadoff batter. This should be something that Jay Johnson continues to experiment with. It's not the first time in his career that he has led off, just a reminder that it works well.
The offensive player of the game honors, though, would have to go to either Seth Dardar or John Pearson.
Pearson had perhaps the biggest single swing of the day with his third-inning grand slam that gave a much-needed bolt of energy to the team after that poor start by the pitching staff.
Dardar went 3-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBI. His go-ahead three-run shot came with a sky-high bat flip that caused some ruckus. It was exactly what this team needed.
This game proves what was already known: they have the talent to compete with anyone. Perhaps this will be the game that wakes them up. They have a midweek game against the Southern Jaguars before a road trip to take on the Tennessee Volunteers next weekend.