# 3 Takeaways: LSU Tigers Edges Oklahoma Sooners 6-2 **Published:** 2026-05-20 — **By:** Stacy Stanfield **Category:** games — **Type:** game-takeaways **Source:** https://secscouts.com/news/lsu-tigers-edge-oklahoma-sooners-6-2-hoover-takeaways **Teams:** [LSU](https://secscouts.com/lsu/), [Oklahoma](https://secscouts.com/oklahoma/) **Players:** [Grant - P Fontenot](https://secscouts.com/players/grant-p-fontenot), [Jason Bodin](https://secscouts.com/players/jason-bodin), [Kyle Branch](https://secscouts.com/players/kyle-branch), [Mason Braun](https://secscouts.com/players/mason-braun), [Derek Curiel](https://secscouts.com/players/derek-curiel), [Trey Gambill](https://secscouts.com/players/trey-gambill), [Gavin Guidry](https://secscouts.com/players/gavin-guidry), [Gavyn Jones](https://secscouts.com/players/gavyn-jones), [Steven Milam](https://secscouts.com/players/steven-milam), [Omar Serna Jr.](https://secscouts.com/players/omar-serna-jr), [Deven Sheerin](https://secscouts.com/players/deven-sheerin), [Brayden Simpson](https://secscouts.com/players/brayden-simpson), [Nate Smithburg](https://secscouts.com/players/nate-smithburg), [Jason Walk](https://secscouts.com/players/jason-walk) --- ## LSU Snaps Slump with 6-2 Win Over Oklahoma at Hoover LSU pushed across four unanswered runs over the fifth and eighth innings to topple Oklahoma 6-2 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, a result the Tigers desperately needed after dropping four of their previous five games. Steven Milam's two-run home run to right field in the eighth provided the final cushion, while Gavin Guidry and Deven Sheerin combined for 12 strikeouts and just one earned run across 6.2 innings of relief. For a Bayou Bengals club sitting at the bottom of the SEC standings, the win was less about momentum and more about survival. ### Takeaway 1: Steven Milam Is Carrying LSU's Lineup Milam's eighth-inning blast to right field wasn't just the dagger — it was the latest evidence that the LSU infielder has turned into the Tigers' most dangerous bat at the worst possible time for opponents. Over his last five games, Milam is now 7-for-15 (.467) with three home runs and eight RBI, production that has lifted his SEC slash line to .339 with five home runs and 19 RBI across 31 conference games. On Tuesday, he finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and reached base via walk, contributing to both scoring surges. Milam is hardly working alone. Derek Curiel went 3-for-6 with an RBI double down the left field line in the fifth that ignited LSU's go-ahead rally, raising his SEC average to .350. Mason Braun, who leads the team with a .439 overall average and a .449 mark against SEC arms, reached base twice and scored once. With Cade Arrambide (.323/.436/.862, 29 home runs) anchoring the middle of the order, LSU's top four hitters are now producing the kind of compounding pressure that finally cracked the Oklahoma bullpen. ### Takeaway 2: Oklahoma's Bats Went Cold When It Mattered The Sooners owned a 2-1 lead through four innings and then disappeared offensively. Camden Johnson, hitting .407 on the season and .355 in SEC play, delivered Oklahoma's only RBI on a single to left center in the third but finished 1-for-3. Beyond that, the Sooners managed just four other hits, none of which went for extra bases. Jaxon Willits, who entered with 17 SEC RBI, did not factor into the box score, and Dasan Harris — Oklahoma's hottest hitter over the last five games at 7-for-16 (.438) — was kept off the top-performers ledger entirely. The bullpen compounded the issue. After Gavyn Jones (3.45 ERA) delivered two scoreless innings, LJ Mercurius surrendered three runs on four hits across his two-inning appearance, and Jackson Cleveland followed with two more runs allowed over two frames. With Nate Smithburg (1.23 ERA) used for only one out, Oklahoma never got its highest-leverage arm into a position to stop the bleeding. Against a hot LSU lineup, the Sooners needed a tighter middle-relief sequence, and they didn't get one. ### Takeaway 3: Standings Stakes Are Inverted Here The scoreboard reality cuts in opposite directions. Oklahoma entered the night 14-17 in SEC play at 12th in the league standings — a profile that comfortably projects into the NCAA Tournament field but one that needed wins at Hoover to lock in a regional host conversation or improve seeding. This loss to a 14th-place LSU club does the opposite, leaving the Sooners vulnerable to slipping further behind a logjam that includes Texas A&M (17-12), Auburn (17-13), and Arkansas (17-13). For LSU, now 10-21 in conference play, the math remains brutal. The Tigers sit ahead of only Missouri and South Carolina (both 7-24) in the SEC table, and a single Hoover win does not change the at-large picture in any meaningful way. What it does do is signal that the LSU bats — Milam, Curiel, Braun, Arrambide — are still capable of stringing together the kind of run production that travels into a postseason setting. Whether that arrives in time to matter for the Tigers is a separate question, but the Sooners just learned that LSU is not a comfortable out heading into the rest of the SEC Tournament bracket. --- *Original article: [3 Takeaways: LSU Tigers Edges Oklahoma Sooners 6-2](https://secscouts.com/news/lsu-tigers-edge-oklahoma-sooners-6-2-hoover-takeaways) — SEC Scouts*