New LSU Tigers pitcher Cooper Moore dominated in his debut, silencing the Milwaukee Panthers bats in a 5-3 victory on Saturday.
It was less eventful than Friday's 15-run performance, but the LSU Tigers improved to 2-0 on Saturday as they beat the Milwaukee Panthers 5-3.
The big story of this game was the debut of the Tigers' new weekend starter, Cooper Moore. After the rocky end to Casan Evans' outing on Friday, it was encouraging to see an LSU pitcher come out and dominate.
Moore went six innings, allowed four hits, one run on a solo homer and struck out 11 batters without allowing a walk. He showcased a promising mid-90s two-seamer and had the Panthers' hitters' numbers on a changeup that picked up a couple of those strikeouts.
The lone run he gave up was on a nice piece of hitting by Milwaukee outfielder Bradyn Horn, turning on a fastball and sending it into left field. A pitch that Moore would want back, but nothing too concerning.
Moore also got a bit of a stress test after giving up a leadoff double and then working out of it unscathed in his final inning.
The former Kansas Jayhawks star showed everything he needed to in his first start as a Tiger. He entered with a career 3.98 ERA and 8.6 K/9, so a positive outing for sure.
Pitching ran this game overall. Panthers starter Aric Ehmke, who had an 8.70 ERA last year, kept LSU's bats quiet for the most part.
The Tigers made a whole lot of contact, but couldn't get much to fall. Ehmke went seven innings, allowing four hits, two runs, one earned, two walks and three strikeouts.
Had it not been for a third-inning Milwaukee error, LSU might not have scored off of him. Trent Caraway scored on a Derek Curiel sac fly and Chris Stanfield came in on a Jake Brown single, both of which were set up by that throwing error.
That was pretty much it in terms of offense for the Tigers until the Panthers' bullpen came in, and LSU was able to pick up a couple of insurance runs on Steven Milam and Cade Arrambide's doubles in the eighth.
The Tigers' bullpen had an up-and-down day. Maverick Rizy hit two batters but posted 1.2 scoreless and hitless innings. Ethan Plog gave up a hit to the lone batter he faced.
Angelo State Rams transfer Dax Dathe was a standout in his LSU debut. He came in with two runners in scoring position while the Tigers were leading by just one, and he picked up a huge strikeout.
Things got hairy in the top of the ninth as Dathe gave up a leadoff single. Then Zac Cowan gave up a double on a ball that could have been an out, but Jake Brown lost the ball.
Cowan ended with three hits allowed, one earned run and two strikeouts in 0.2 innings of work. Grant Fontenot came in with runners on the corners and two outs, picking up the save with a fly ball to center. Fontenot notably nearly hit 99 MPH on his fastball.
This series will wrap up on Sunday at 1 pm CT.