COLUMBIA, S.C. – Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson limited South Carolina to two runs through seven innings on Sunday, as top-ranked LSU defeated the Gamecocks, 7-3, at Founders Park.
LSU concluded the regular season with a 42-13 overall record, 19-11 in the SEC, while South Carolina dropped to 28-28 overall and 6-24 in conference play.
LSU is the No. 3 seed in the 2025 SEC Tournament and will play at approximately 6:30 p.m. CT Friday in Hoover, Ala., against either Texas A&M, Mississippi State or Auburn.
“I’m very proud of the team, we won seven of our 10 SEC series, and that’s a tremendous accomplishment,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “Our league is very difficult, and to be consistent is vital to having success. I thought we dealt with adversity well, we dealt with success well, and it was great to get this win today.
“As we go forward into the postseason, we’re going to have to be able to close weekends out, so this was a good exercise. As I always tell the players, everything we do is training for something that we’re going to face in the future.”
Eyanson (9-2) allowed just two runs on five hits in 7.0 innings on Sunday with three walks and five strikeouts.
LSU’s offense was highlighted by a two-run homer by second baseman Daniel Dickinson, and solo homers by first baseman Jared Jones and rightfielder Jake Brown.
Brown and leftfielder Derek Curiel each produced three hits and one RBI on the day.
South Carolina starting pitcher Dylan Eskew (0-4) was charged with the loss after he surrendered four runs on six hits in 4.2 innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
An RBI double by third baseman KJ Scobey gave South Carolina a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
A lead-off home run by Jones – his 19th of the season and 61st of his career – tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth.
South Carolina regained the lead in the fourth when first baseman Beau Hollins launched a solo homer, his sixth dinger of the season.
The Tigers, however, struck for three runs in the fifth in an outburst highlighted by Dickinson’s two-run homer, his 10th blast of the year.
LSU increased the lead to 5-2 in the seventh when Brown unloaded a solo shot, his seventh homer of the season.
Curiel’s two-out RBI single in the eighth increased the Tigers’ advantage to 6-2, but a solo homer by South Caroline shortstop Henry Kaczmar narrowed the margin to 6-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Shortstop Steven Milam lined a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth, extending LSU’s lead to 7-3.