LSU ace Casan Evans scratched from Friday start due to ‘arm discomfort’
By David Wasson
Published:
The struggling LSU baseball team was forced to begin its weekend series against SEC foe Mississippi State on Friday night in Starkville without its ace, as Casan Evans was scratched from his start due to arm discomfort.
Evans’ missed start was partially to blame for the Tigers losing 10-8 in 11 innings to the 13th-ranked Bulldogs. LSU (24-19 overall, 6-13 SEC) has now lost seven straight conference games.
Evans was listed as the Friday night starter until about an hour before the scheduled 4 pm ET first pitch, but the sophomore right-hander was replaced by redshirt junior right-hander Gavin Guidry. LSU coach Jay Johnson indicated after the loss to Mississippi State that Evans did not warm up at all Friday, and that his status for the remainder of the series is undetermined.
Evans is 2-2, 5.47 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 52.2 innings of work this season. His absence from the lineup isn’t LSU’s only injury issue, as junior right-hander Cooper Moore is out for the season with a stress fracture in his right elbow and junior outfielder Jake Brown is likely out for the season with a broken hamate bone in his right hand.
Mississippi State’s Kevin Milewski belted a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the 11th Friday to improve the Bulldogs to 32-10 overall and 11-8 in SEC play.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
