The Weekend Recap: LSU Tigers Football, Women's Basketball and Baseball Buzz

LSU Athletics took center stage over the weekend with the baseball program capturing a series victory over Omaha alongside both women's basketball and gymnastics defeating the Kentucky Wildcats.

It was another stretch for the purple and gold that resulted in victories all around with the LSU Softball squad under Beth Torina also handling business.

All eyes were on the Tigers once again in Baton Rouge. What's the buzz coming out of the weekend?

The Buzz: LSU's Weekend Recap

LSU Baseball Captures Series Victory:

Game 1 [Win]: Sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson worked a career-long 5.1 innings to earn his second win over the season Friday, as second-ranked LSU defeated Omaha, 4-2, in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

“Kade was dominant tonight, and his first five innings with reminiscent of Paul Skenes two years ago,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “It seemed like he was 1-2 to every hitter, and then he was finishing them off with a strikeout or getting weak contact.”

Game 2 [Loss]: Omaha withstood a furious LSU ninth-inning rally in Saturday’s first game, and the Mavericks posted a 5-4 win.

Game 3 [Win]: Chase Shores (2-0) blanked the Mavericks through 5.0 innings, scattering three hits while recording two walks and six strikeouts over 84 pitches.

“Chase is excellent, he’s one of the best pitchers in the country,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “He’s pitching with great confidence and great tempo, and he’s throwing all of his pitches for strikes. I thought he was good last weekend, and I thought he was better this weekend.”

LSU Women's Basketball Takes Down Kentucky:

For the second time this season No. 7 LSU (26-2, 11-2 SEC) erased a 10+ point second half deficit and the Tigers took down No. 14 Kentucky (21-4, 10-3 SEC) Sunday afternoon in a soldout Memorial Coliseum, 65-58, clinching a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. 

“You’ve got kids that are competitors in that locker room,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. We’re having a tremendous year. It’s just that the SEC is so tough. Now we’re done. We’ll celebrate this. We’ll take tomorrow off. And guess what? We got to go on the road and play another ranked team (at Alabama).”

The win marked No. 750 for Mulkey in her head coaching career with a .862 winning percentage.

“I was never going to be a coach,” Mulkey explained. “My degree is in business administration. I was working on my MBA and got talked into doing this by the president of Louisiana Tech (Dr. F Jay Taylor). I guess that man knew more of what I needed to do than I did. It’s a blessing. You don’t win games and championships without great players.”

The Tigers trailed by 12 at halftime, but surged to take the lead with a 13-6 third quarter. Kentucky cut it close in the fourth quarter.

LSU held a one point lead and Williams hit her second triple of the afternoon to put the Tigers up by four with 49.1 seconds left. Johnson got a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and LSU took a timeout.

The Tigers iced the game with free throws and offensive rebounding. LSU also overcame a double-digit, second half deficit in the Bahamas against Washington.

LSU was led by Mikaylah Williams and Flau’jae Johnson. Williams finished with 24 points and 5 rebounds, while Johnson posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Aneesah Morrow also grabbed her 25th double-double of the season and 99th of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

LSU Gymnastics Defeats Kentucky:

The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (8-2, 5-1 SEC) defeated No. 9 Kentucky (5-4, 2-3 SEC) on Friday night in the Historic Memorial Coliseum by a final score of 197.200-197.075. The win marked LSU’s first in Lexington since 2017.

“We got the win. We should’ve gotten a mid to high 197 with what we did tonight, but I’m proud of our team and how they fought,” said head coach Jay Clark.

“Our goals coming into the meet were to improve our road performance, not score, and to win the meet, and they did that. They accomplished what we needed to accomplish.”

More LSU News:

The Breakdown: LSU Football Holds No. 1 Recruiting Class in the SEC

LSU Football "Firmly in the Mix" for Coveted Oregon Ducks Quarterback Commitment

Three Observations From LSU Baseball's Opening Weekend Sweep