Reagan Ricken had pitched in three games in Southeastern Conference play before Thursday.

An inning and two-thirds in relief against Vanderbilt, two earned runs without recording an out vs. Texas A&M and two-thirds of an inning at Mississippi State. He had allowed three earned runs and three hits across those outings.

The experience wasn’t nothing, but Ricken hasn’t been at the forefront of LSU coach Jay Johnson’s mind, even over the past few weeks as the Tigers began relying more heavily on freshmen as their season started to slip away.

But Johnson certainly trusted the right-hander on Thursday night at Alex Box Stadium. He turned to the freshman in relief for a career-high 4⅓ innings in the Tigers’ 11-8 loss to Florida.

“I thought he threw three pitches for strikes. I thought his tempo was good,” Johnson said. “I thought he was driving the ball downhill. I thought he mixed well. I mean, he pitched.”

Ricken entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning. With LSU (29-25, 9-19 SEC) already trailing 4-0, he gave up a two-run single before escaping the jam with a flyout to left.

But then he got on a roll. Ricken retired eight consecutive batters from the end of the first to the start of the fourth. He sat down nine of 10 hitters until Florida (35-18, 16-12) left fielder Blake Cyr shot a two-out single into left-center that drove in a run.

By the end of the night, Ricken allowed two earned runs and four hits, but he also struck out five batters and didn’t walk anybody. The length he provided was greatly needed, given that sophomore right-handers William Schmidt and Casan Evans were out and resting for the SEC Tournament next week.

“Do I love not having William Schmidt and Casan Evans against Florida? No, I hate it,” Johnson said. “It makes me sick in my stomach.”

After allowing 35 earned runs in 22 innings the weekend before against Georgia, LSU fans needed some positivity to hold on to with the future of its pitching staff. Ricken on Thursday was the answer.

“Just mechanically, we were working the last 2 weeks throwing live (at-bats) on Wednesdays,” Ricken said. “I was just working on staying closed longer and just getting over my front leg.”

LSU trailed big when Ricken entered the game because sophomore left-handed starter Danny Lachenmayer surrendered a grand slam. Lachenmayer then allowed Florida to reload the bases with two out before coming out for Ricken. After Cyr’s single, the Tigers trailed 6-0 before their bats even had a chance to respond.

LSU’s pitchers, aside from Ricken, walked 13 batters, allowed nine runs and threw three wild pitches.

“I think eight runs should win at LSU in this league,” Johnson said. “But they’re good too, man. They’re a really good offense, and we’re struggling.”

All things considered, LSU had a solid night at the plate. The Tigers had eight hits and scored four runs against Florida right-handed starter Aidan King. King, heading into Thursday, had a 2.19 ERA and was holding opposing hitters to a .187 batting average.

Junior Steven Milam had three hits, including a solo home run in the sixth inning and a two-run double in the ninth. Sophomores Derek Curiel and Cade Arrambide each drove in a run. Freshman Omar Serna also lined a ball 108 mph over the center field fence for his ninth homer of the year.

LSU and Florida face off in Game 2 of their series on Friday. First pitch from Alex Box Stadium is slated for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be available to stream on SEC Network+.