Tag: Brady Neal

LSU baseball starter enters the transfer portal

Starting catcher Brady Neal is moving on after two seasons with the Tigers.

The rush of LSU baseball players hitting the transfer portal continued on Monday as starting catcher [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] opted to move on after two seasons with the Tigers.

Neal was a 17th-round pick out of high school and ranked as the No. 29 player nationally and No. 2 catcher in the 2022 class. He appeared in 26 games as a true freshman, securing the starting catcher job early before he was sidelined for the season in April with an injury.

He struggled at the plate in 2023, and he improved in that regard as returned from injury in 2024. He finished the season batting .276 with nine home runs and 31 RBI.

While this is one of LSU’s most significant portal losses so far, it has options at the position. It signed JUCO transfer [autotag]Blaise Priester[/autotag] as well as Indiana State designated hitter [autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag], who can also play catcher.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

LSU baseball adds a big-time slugger from the transfer portal

The Tigers landed one of the best sluggers in the country in the transfer portal.

[autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] has ventured into the black hole that is the transfer portal and he has stepped out with an Avenger. The Tigers have landed one of the best power hitters in the country from Indiana State.

[autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag] is a 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore catcher from Puerto Rico who was a star for the Indiana State Sycamores this season. He finished the season with a .359 batting average with 14 doubles, 23 homers, and 76 RBI. He had a .694 slugging percentage and showed power to both sides of the field.

Hernandez played catcher for the Sycamores but he can also play first base. LSU is losing two catchers, [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag]. That leaves them with [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] as the main catcher on the roster. Hernandez could play behind the dish or he could play first base and the Tigers could use [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] as a designated hitter.

This is a huge pickup for LSU. He can bring instant pop to the lineup and make the team better.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

LSU baseball can’t close the door, season ends against North Carolina in regional final

LSU had the Tar Heels where it wanted them but couldn’t close the door as North Carolina won 4-3 in extras.

After an incredible day yesterday when the Tigers won two games to send the Chapel Hill Regional to a winner-take-all Game 7, the Tigers matched up with North Carolina one more time with the hopes of hosting a Super Regional. LSU had the Tar Heels where they wanted them, but they couldn’t close the door as North Carolina won 4-3 in extras.

Sam Dutton got the start on the mound and LSU was the home team once again. The Tar Heels started the game with three straight singles before [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] came in to pitch. Coleman walked the first hitter he faced before forcing a double play. He then got the final out but North Carolina took a 2-0 lead.

LSU didn’t waste any time trying to answer those two runs as the Tigers got a run of their own on a [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] groundout to cut the lead to 2-1. In the bottom of the second inning, [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] hit a solo homer to tie the game 2-2.

In the bottom of the third inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] got in on the homer party as he hit a solo shot to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag] walked the first batter he faced and that was the end of his afternoon. When LSU needed him the most, Hellmers gave the best pitching performance of his career. He finished the game after pitching 5.2 innings and giving up zero runs on two hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. It was the longest Hellmers has pitched in his career. His previous high was in 2021 when he pitched five full innings against Southern and New Orleans as a freshman.

[autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] entered to pitch for him and he struck out the next three hitters to send LSU to the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead. In the top of the ninth inning, LSU’s Ace pitcher [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] trotted out of the bullpen to try to close out the win. The Tar Heels led off the inning with a double to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. After getting a strikeout, an RBI single tied the game 3-3. A lineout to second and a ground ball out sent us to the bottom of the ninth with a chance for LSU to walk it off.

[autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] struck out, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a single to put the winning run on first, Brown flew out to center, and [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] struck out to send us to extra innings.

The Tigers retired the first two hitters of the inning before an error gave the Tar Heels a runner in scoring position. LSU intentionally walked the next guy. Then with two outs and a full count, Carolina scored on an RBI single giving the Tar Heels a 4-3 lead. LSU had the top of the order due up in the bottom of the inning.

[autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] flew out on the first pitch he saw, [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] flew out to right for out number two and it was down to Jones to save the day. Jones reached on a walk to put the tying run at first. Pearson then came up to bat and flew out to center. The Tar Heels won 4-3 and the season ended.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Griffin Herring hurls a gem against Wofford to keep LSU baseball’s season alive

After a rough start, LSU came back to win 12-6 and advances to the regional final against North Carolina.

LSU entered Sunday’s game facing elimination in Chapel Hill. The Tigers got a rematch against the Wofford Terriers who they beat in their first game of the regional. After a rough start, LSU came back to win 12-6.

[autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] got the start on the mound but things did not get off to the type of start he would like. Wofford greeted him with five runs in the bottom of the first inning to get out to a 5-0 lead. In the top of the second inning, the Tigers began to claw their way back into the game. [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly and [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] had an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.

In the top of the fourth inning, [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3.

The Terriers answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to extend their lead to 6-3. In the top of the fifth inning, LSU tied the ballgame as [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit an RBI single to tie the game 6-6.

In the top of the seventh inning, LSU took their first lead of the ballgame when Brown hit a sacrifice fly and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] hit an RBI single to give LSU an 8-6 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Tigers extended their lead as Pearson hit an RBI double and Neal hit a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 11-6.

[autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] was the pitcher Jay Johnson called on to relieve Ackenhausen after his nightmare first inning. Herring was phenomenal. He finished the game after pitching 6.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits, seven strikeouts, and zero walks. [autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] entered the game to relieve him in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the top of the ninth inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit an RBI single and Pearson hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 13-6.

LSU advances to take on North Carolina in another elimination game on Sunday night at 5 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Steven Milam walks it off to send LSU baseball to the SEC championship game

The Tigers move on to the SEC championship game on Sunday against the winner of Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt.

After starting the SEC tournament 3-0, LSU entered the single-elimination portion of the tournament with a rematch against South Carolina.

The game started out awful for the Tigers as the Gamecocks teed off on LSU and built an 8-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

That is when the Tigers finally got on the board. [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] got the scoring started with an RBI single, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] walked with bases loaded, [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single, and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to cut the lead to 8-6.

In the top of the sixth inning, South Carolina extended their lead with two more runs to make the score 10-6. LSU answered that in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot by Jones to cut the lead to 10-7.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly and Braswell III hit a solo shot to cut the lead to 10-9.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ethan Frey entered the game to pinch hit for the Tigers and he led it off with a double. [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] laid a bunt down and an error by the third baseman led to [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] scoring from second base to tie the game at 10! Braswell then stepped up to the plate with a chance to walk it off against his old team, but this time he drew a walk.

With runners on first and second and no one out, White stepped into the box. Tommy popped out to first base for out number one of the inning. The Bear stepped into the box after Tommy. Jones flew out to deep center but both runners advanced. With two outs the winning run was 90 feet away for Pearson. He grounded out to second base and we headed to extra innings.

In the top of the 10th inning, South Carolina attempted to steal home but the runner was thrown out for out number three…or so we thought. The umpires came together and ruled there was catcher interference by [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] therefore the run scored from third to give the Gamecocks an 11-10 lead. LSU then applied for a protest. The protest failed, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] got tossed, and we headed to the bottom of the 10th with the score 11-10 Carolina.

Travinski drew a walk on a pitch clock violation to start the bottom of the 10th. Stevan Milam then hit a two-run walk-off homer to win the game 12-11!!

The Tigers move on to the SEC championship game on Sunday against the winner of Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

LSU baseball survives in final midweek game against Northwestern State

The Tigers overcame a late deficit and avoided a loss they couldn’t afford to take.

A late “Bear Bomb” from [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] lifted the LSU Tigers to a 6-5 victory over Northwestern State on Tuesday night in the final midweek game of the season.

[autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] got the start on the mound as the Tigers looked to win another midweek matchup.

The Tigers got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning when [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to take a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth inning, Northwestern State took their first lead of the ballgame. The Demons took a 3-2 lead and chased Anderson from the ballgame. In the top of the fifth inning, the Demons extended their lead to 5-2.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tigers scored a run on a [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-4 as we headed to the eighth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give LSU a 6-5 lead.

In the top of the ninth inning, [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] retired Northwestern State 1-2-3 and the Tigers won 6-5.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

LSU baseball falls in Game 3, misses out on sweep against No. 1 Texas A&M

LSU’s hopes of a sweep against the top team in the nation were dashed by a nine-run fifth inning from the Aggies.

After LSU baseball took the first two games of the series against No. 1 Texas A&M, the Aggies rallied to take Game 3 by a score of 14-4.

LSU scored first as [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to get the Tigers out to an early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit an RBI single to increase the LSU lead to 3-0.

In the top of the fifth inning, everything went south for LSU. The Aggies plated nine runs to take a 9-3 lead. Four runs were charged to [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag], three to [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] and two to [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag].

 

 

In the top of the ninth inning, the Aggies hit a grand slam and then a solo homer to increase their lead to 14-3. In the bottom of the ninth inning, [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 14-4 but that is all LSU could get.

LSU will be back in action on Tuesday night as the Tigers take on Northwestern State. With the wins this weekend, LSU has gone from a team on the verge of not making the SEC tournament to a team that is solidly in the tournament.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

LSU baseball run rules Grambling at The Box in dominating fashion

LSU made light work out of Grambling as it won 26-2 on Tuesday night.

LSU welcomed Grambling to the box for a mid-week matchup as the Tigers tune-up to play against the No. 1 team in the country this weekend. LSU made light work out of Grambling as they won 26-2.

The Tigers got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning, LSU initiated a double steal where [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] stole second and [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] stole home to make it 1-0 LSU. Josh Pearson followed that with an RBI double to extend the lead to 2-0.

In the bottom of the second inning, LSU scored seven runs as [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a three RBI double, and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a three-run homer to increase the lead to 9-0 after two innings.

 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, LSU scored 13 runs as [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit an RBI double to increase the Tigers’ lead to 10-0. [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly to score Tommy tanks and increase the lead to 11-0. [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to increase the lead to 13-0. [autotag]Ryan Kucherak[/autotag] hit an RBI single to increase the lead to 14-0. Bingham then scored on a wild pitch to make it 15-0 Tigers.

[autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] followed that with a two-RBI double to increase the lead to 17-0. Tommy followed that with a tank to increase the lead to 19-0. Neal then hit a three-run homer to increase the lead to 22-0.

In the top of the fifth inning, Grambling hit a two-run homer to put themselves on the board and cut the lead to 22-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Brown hit a two-run homer and [autotag]Zeb Ruddell[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to extend the lead to 26-2.

LSU will start a three-game series with No. 1 Texas A&M on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Jay Johnson gives an update on Brady Neal’s injury status for LSU baseball

Jay Johnson said Brady Neal has been playing through a shoulder injury that he aggravated over the weekend.

[autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] has seen a lot of playing time for LSU this season from behind the dish.

The sophomore catcher from Tallahassee, Florida, has played in 33 games so far for the Tigers, and after starting out hitting pretty well at the plate, his production has fallen off.

Starting with the Vanderbilt series, Neal is 3-for-19 (.158) from the plate. That has led to a lot of people wondering what is going on with Neal. Today, LSU head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said that Neal has been dealing with a shoulder injury and he re-aggravated it against Missouri last weekend.

LSU is blessed with a plethora of talented catchers as the Tigers have three guys who could be the No. 1 guy at most other schools. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag], [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] and Neal all have the talent to be starting catchers at any school in the country.

We have entered the back half of the season and LSU is fighting for a spot in the SEC tournament so it’s all hands on deck for the Tigers right now. Hopefully, Neal will heal sooner rather than later.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

LSU baseball run-rules Missouri in Game 1

Gage Jump finished the game with seven innings pitched, and he allowed only one run on three hits, 14 strikeouts and one walk.

This is the LSU team we have all been waiting on this season. The offense was smashing the ball and the pitching was on point as LSU opened its road series against Missouri with a 12-1 run-rule win in Game 1.

[autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the matchup and was great. Jump finished the game with seven innings pitched and he allowed only one run on three hits, 14 strikeouts and one walk.

LSU started the scoring in the top of the first when [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI double to score [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and make it 1-0 Tigers.

In the top of the second inning, [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a solo homer to increase the lead to 2-0. The Tigers then broke the game wide open in the top of the third when they scored six runs. [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit a solo homer, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a three-run homer, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI double, and [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] hit an RBI double to extend the lead to 8-0.

In the bottom of the third, Missouri scored a run to cut the lead to 8-1. In the top of the fourth inning, LSU scored three more runs. [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and Travinski scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 11-1.

In the top of the sixth inning, Jones scored on a fielder’s choice to increase the lead to 12-1 as the Tigers looked to win via the run rule. Game 2 of the series will be Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.