Tag: Blake Money

Blake Money and Riley Cooper reportedly sign with the Orioles

Riley Cooper and Blake Money were drafted by the Orioles in the 12th and 13th rounds of the MLB draft.

Two members of the LSU pitching staff last season have now reportedly signed with the Baltimore Orioles.

[autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] were drafted by the Orioles in the 12th and 13th rounds of the MLB Draft, and now they will move on to play baseball at the next level.

Money had an up-and-down career while at LSU. He came in as a freshman out of the bullpen in 2021 and had a 1-2 record with an 8.68 ERA. He improved that in his sophomore season when he was one of LSU’s starters as he went 2-4 with a 5.31 ERA.

Last year, Money went back to the bullpen for LSU and appeared in 20 games going 1-0 with a 5.97 ERA.

Cooper was one of Jay Johnson’s biggest grabs out of the transfer portal in 2021. Cooper signed with Johnson and the Arizona Wildcats out of high school and he followed Johnson to the Bayou. Cooper appeared in 32 games last season for LSU and had a 5-3 record with a 4.38 ERA.

He played a huge role down the stretch as he pulled the Tigers through a lot of tough situations in Omaha.

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Blake Money drafted by Orioles in 12th round

Blake Money has finally heard his name called in the MLB draft as the Baltimore Orioles have taken the big man in the 12th round.

[autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] has finally heard his name called in the MLB sraft as the Baltimore Orioles have taken the big man in the 12th round.

Money has floated around from being a starter to a reliever multiple times so he could never really find his groove. He finished last season with a 1-0 record and a 5.97 ERA as he struck out 30 hitters and walked 12 in his 20 appearances. One thing no one can take away from him is the fact that he is a national champion.

He lands in a good spot in Baltimore as the Orioles are in bad need of pitching help. The Orioles have a team ERA of 4.14 so far this year as they are fighting for a wild card spot halfway through the season.

Money has the option to return to LSU if he chooses. Otherwise, he will sign with Baltimore and be dealt to one of their minor league clubs.

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Baltimore Orioles take LSU pitcher Riley Cooper in 13th round of 2023 MLB draft

The Tigers’ Omaha bullpen hero went to the O’s with the 391st pick.

LSU pitcher [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] became the third Tigers reliever to hear his name called during Day 3 of the 2023 MLB draft Tuesday.

The lefty was selected in the 13th round by the Baltimore Orioles with the 391st pick. Cooper is the second LSU player the Orioles drafted, joining right-hander [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag], who they took in the 12th round.

An Arizona transfer who followed coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] to Baton Rouge, Cooper was one of the primary bullpen pieces the last two seasons, leading the staff in appearances in 2022 and 2023.

As a junior this season, he played in 32 games, pitching 61.2 innings with a 5-3 record, 4.38 earned run average and a 63-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also recorded three saves.

Cooper played the hero for the Tigers in Omaha this year, earning a save as LSU avoided elimination against Wake Forest and a win as it outlasted Florida in extra innings to take Game 1 of the championship series.

With one more year of eligibility, Cooper has the option to return to Baton Rouge for his senior season if he doesn’t like his offer from Baltimore.

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LSU takes down Wake Forest to force winner-take-all game for spot in CWS finals

LSU will face Wake Forest on Thursday night for the right to take on Florida in the national championship series.

[autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the Tigers as LSU faced elimination once again. This time it was against the team that put them in the losers’ bracket, Wake Forest.

Though the Tigers found themselves in an early hole, the bullpen came through once again as LSU won 5-2 to force a winner-take-all game on Thursday night against Wake for a spot in the College World Series finals.

The Demon Deacons loaded the bases in the second to chase Coleman from the mound and bring in [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag]. Wake Forest hit a two-RBI single against Money before he got the next hitter to ground into a fielder’s choice. [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] then entered out of the bullpen to get the Tigers out of the inning.

In the bottom of the second inning, LSU cut the lead in half when [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] hit an RBI double down the right-field line to cut the lead to 2-1.

In the bottom of the third, [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch to tie the game 2-2. [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] followed that up with a three-run belly bomb to right field to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead after three innings of play.

Herring’s day was done in the top of the seventh inning after two runners reached base. He pitched 4.2 innings and allowed zero runs on three hits, six strikeouts, and a walk. [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] entered the game after him and shut the Demon Deacons down with two straight strikeouts to save the lead.

After Wake Forest put two runners on base in the top of the eighth inning, [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] replaced Guidry with two outs. Cooper got his first hitter to lineout to third base to end the inning and maintain the 5-2 lead.

Cooper walked the first batter he faced before getting the next three out to win the game 5-2. LSU will play Wake Forest on Thursday night at 6 p.m.

The winner gets to play against the Florida Gators for a national championship.

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Why Jay Johnson trusted Riley Cooper to finish elimination game against Tennessee on the mound

Cooper was fantastic in relief of Nate Ackenhausen, tossing three shutout innings to finish the game.

While a lot of the talk surrounding LSU’s 5-0 elimination game win over Tennessee in the College World Series on Tuesday night — rightfully — centers around the performance of starter [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag], [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] deserves just as much credit.

Coming in as a reliever to finish up the game, Cooper was the only bullpen arm the Tigers had to use on Tuesday. He was fantastic, throwing three innings while allowing only a pair of hits and no runs.

LSU had other options with [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] and [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] both getting warm in the bullpen, but coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said he ultimately went to (and stuck with) Cooper because he felt Cooper was the most similar to Ackenhausen, who had been dominating.

“Blake had been throwing the ball really, really well,” Johnson said, per On3. “He was definitely part of the plan tonight. I didn’t think they were seeing Nate well, and I think Riley is about as comparable and close to Nate as possible and I wanted to stay with that look because they were in between.

“And, you know, when you’re pressing a little bit, when you’re in an elimination game, and you’re trying to chase runs late, he’s the type of pitcher that if you give him an inch he can take a mile, and he did what he did tonight.”

Tuesday night’s game went about as well as possible for the Tigers, who preserved most of their arms heading into Wednesday’s rematch against Wake Forest. If they can win that game, they may be able to get Paul Skenes back for a decisive if-necessary game on Thursday.

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LSU baseball takes care of business on the road against Southeastern Louisiana

There was no midweek meltdown this time around for the Tigers.

LSU entered Tuesday night’s game against Southeastern Louisiana after losing two midweek games in a row, both to in-state opponents. That was not the case this time as the Tigers breezed to a 10-0 win.

LSU struck first in the top of the second inning when [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch and [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Dugas scored on a fielder’s choice, [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch, and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to increase the lead to 7-0.

Dugas scored again in the top of the fifth inning due to a fielding error. That increased the Tigers’ lead to 8-0.

In the top of the seventh inning, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give LSU a 10-0 lead. All the Tigers had to do was get three outs in the bottom of the inning and they would head home with another run-rule victory.

[autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag], [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag], [autotag]Micah Bucknam[/autotag], [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag], and [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] combined for the shutout.

With the win, LSU moves to 36-8 overall this season. LSU will travel to the Plains to take on the Auburn Tigers this weekend. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Friday night.

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LSU baseball loses first midweek matchup of the year to Ragin’ Cajuns

Pitching woes doomed the Tigers in their 8-3 midweek loss to Louisiana.

Pitching woes doomed the Tigers in their 8-3 midweek loss to the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. It was the first time LSU has lost a midweek contest this season.

It was great to see [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] make his first appearance on the mound for LSU since having Tommy John surgery. That was about the only bright spot on the night for LSU.

In the bottom of the first inning, [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] hit an RBI Triple to right field to score [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and give LSU an early 1-0 lead.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] came into pitch in the top of the second inning and the Ragin Cajuns greeted him by scoring two runs and taking a 2-1 lead. LSU tied it up in the bottom of the second when [autotag]Whit Merrifield[/autotag] grounded out but [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] scored to make it 2-2.

[autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag] came into pitch in the top of the third inning and Louisiana-Lafayette hit a two-run blast off of him to give them a 4-2 lead. LSU cut into that lead in the bottom of the inning when [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] scored on a [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.

Then the wheels fell off in the top of the fourth inning when LSU misplayed two flyballs (one by [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] and one by Crews) that ended up scoring two more runs for ULL and increasing their lead to 6-3 after four innings.

[autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] came into pitch in the top of the seventh after [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] allowed a runner to reach on a walk. The first batter he faced hit a two-run bomb to increase the lead to 8-3 for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

In the bottom of the ninth, Morgan hit a two-run blast to cut the lead to 8-5 with no outs but that is as close as LSU would get to coming back in this one.

With the loss, LSU moves to 29-7 for the season. The Tigers will hit the road to Oxford, Mississippi, for a weekend series against the Ole Miss Rebels. Game 1 is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

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Tigers use wave of offense to beat Tulane in midweek road showdown

LSU took a trip to New Orleans to take on the Tulane Green Wave for a midweek matchup, and it will return home victorious.

LSU took a trip to New Orleans to take on the Tulane Green Wave for a midweek matchup and will return to Baton Rouge victorious after an 11-5 win.

Tulane drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning when they scored on an RBI single off of [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] to make it 1-0.

LSU took their first lead of the game in the top of the third when [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a two-RBI double to center field to make it 2-1 Tigers.

Tulane took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning when they hit a two-run homer off of [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] to give them a 3-2 lead. In the top of the fourth, [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] hit an RBI single to left field to score [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] and tie the game 3-3.

In the top of the fifth inning, LSU took the lead back after a sacrifice fly by White and an RBI single by [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] gave LSU a 5-3 lead.

In the top of the sixth inning, LSU scored a run on an RBI single by [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag], and then Jobert hit a two-run bomb in the top of the seventh to give the Tigers an 8-3 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tulane cut the lead to 8-4 after an RBI single to right field. In the top of the ninth, LSU got that run back with a solo shot by [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] to left field to make it 9-4. [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] followed that with a couple of RBI singles to make the score 11-4. In the bottom of the ninth, Tulane was able to score one run but that was it as LSU won 11-5.

With the win, LSU moves to 27-5 on the year. The Tigers’ next matchup will be this Thursday when they take on the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats at Alex Box Stadium. The first pitch for that series is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

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Tigers baseball run-rules Grambling in midweek matchup

LSU welcomed Grambling into Baton Rouge after winning a series against the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the offense picked up where it left off.

LSU welcomed Grambling into Baton Rouge after winning a series against the Arkansas Razorbacks and the offense picked up where it left off with a 17-5 run-rule win.

The Tigers scored two runs in the first two innings as [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] scored on a [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] RBI single and [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] scored on a Dugas sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

In the top of the third inning, Grambling took the lead on a three-run homer against [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] to give them a 3-2 lead. That lead didn’t last long as LSU scored five runs in the bottom of the third. [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and Jones hit homers and [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] scored on an [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] single to make it 7-3 Tigers.

The Tigers never looked back after that. LSU scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth off of a Beloso single, a [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] single, a [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] single, a [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] single, and some throwing errors to make it 15-3 LSU after four innings.

Grambling scored one more run in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 15-4 but LSU got that run back and another as they scored two in the bottom of the sixth. Kling scored on a sacrifice fly by [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch to make it 17-4 after six innings.

[autotag]Micah Bucknam[/autotag] pitched the seventh for the Tigers and Grambling welcomed him with a solo homer to cut the lead to 17-5. That wasn’t enough to stop the run rule as the Tigers won big.

LSU will welcome the Tennessee Vols to Alex Box Stadium this weekend for what should be a great series. The first pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT Thursday.

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LSU baseball bounces back against Central Arkansas with midweek win

Blake Money got roughed up in his first start of the season, but in the end, it didn’t matter.

[autotag]Blake Money[/autotag] got roughed up in his first start of the season but in the end, it didn’t matter as the Tigers beat Central Arkansas 10-4.

[autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run Crews Missile to right to give LSU a 2-0 lead after one inning.

In the bottom of the second, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] scored on an [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] sacrifice bunt to make it 3-0 Tigers after two innings. The Bears came roaring back in the top of the fourth as they scored three runs on Money to chase him from the mound and give them a 4-3 lead.

The Tigers tied it up in the bottom of the fourth when [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] scored on a [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] RBI single. In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers got some well-needed insurance as Thompson hit a three-run bomb to left field to give LSU a 7-4 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Crews scored on a balk. [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] and [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] scored on a throwing error by Central Arkansas to make it 10-4 LSU after six innings.

With the win, LSU moves to 19-2 on the season. The Tigers will welcome the No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks to The Box this weekend for an outstanding SEC series.

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