Tag: Christian Little

Thatcher Hurd struggles but Tre Morgan hits for the cycle in run-rule win over Southern

The Tigers overcame an early 4-0 deficit with 18 consecutive runs.

Despite falling behind early in the game, the Tigers managed to bounce back in a big way against Southern on Tuesday night thanks to a monster game from Tre Morgan. He hit for the cycle in order and totaled eight RBI in an 18-4 win as the game ended after seven innings thanks to the run rule.

UCLA transfer [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got his first start on the mound in an LSU uniform, and it did not go as planned. Going into the season, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said that Hurd had some work to do because he was struggling with accuracy. That showed big time against the Southern Jaguars.

Hurd only lasted two full innings before being pulled after giving up four runs on six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. That rough start had the Tigers down 4-0 going into the bottom of the third inning. That’s when the LSU bats showed up big time.

After [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] was hit by a pitch and [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] was walked, [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] hit an RBI double to right field to score Crews and cut the lead to 4-1.

Morgan then hit Dugas with the “Anything you can, do I can do better,” as he hit a two-RBI double to left field to cut the lead to 4-3. Then, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a two-run shot to left to give the Tigers their first lead of the ball game.

[autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] came in to pitch for Hurd in the third inning and he continued on the mound until the middle of the 6th inning. Little was given the job of stopping the early bleeding and he did his job very well.

He finished the game going 3.2 innings, and he only allowed one hit with six strikeouts and one walk.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, after [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] was hit by a pitch and Crews walked, Jobert finally got a good swing on a pitch as he hit a three-run shot to left field to make it 8-4 Tigers after four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, LSU put up five more runs as [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch, Morgan hit a three-RBI triple to left field to score Dugas, Jobert and Crews, and Jones hit an RBI single up the middle to score Morgan to make it 13-4 after five innings.

Freshman [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] made his first appearance of the season as he came in to get the final out of the sixth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, Thompson scored on a groundout by [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag]. [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] followed that with an RBI single to left field to score Stevenson and make it 15-4 before Morgan hit a three-run bomb to make it 18-4.

With that homer, Morgan completed the cycle. He hit a single, double, triple, and a homer in that order. Morgan’s cycle was the first cycle for LSU since Mikie Mahtook in 2010 against Alcorn State.

Morgan finished the game 4-for-5 with eight RBI.

Herring stayed in to pitch the seventh inning as he tried to end the game in a run rule. The first batter he faced roped a double to the left field line and he was removed from the mound after that as [autotag]Garrett Edwards[/autotag] came in to pitch for the Tigers. Edwards got three outs in a row without allowing a run to close things out.

LSU will be back in action this weekend in the Round Rock Classic as the Tigers take on Kansas State on Friday at 2 p.m. CT.

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Predicting LSU baseball’s starting pitching rotation in 2023

Here’s how we expect LSU’s mound rotation to look this spring.

The undisputed No. 1 team in college baseball this year, the LSU Tigers, are getting ready to rock once again.

Here, we are going to take a look at my prediction for LSU’s starting pitching rotation before Game 1. All of this is subject to change, and I could be very wrong, but these are my opinions.

The one thing we know for certain is that [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] will be the Friday night starter. He will be the ace on this team. There is a chance LSU could have three starting pitchers from the transfer portal being their top three guys in the rotation.

We will have to wait to find out on Feb. 17 in the season opener against Western Michigan. For now, here’s how we expect the rotation to look.

4 Tigers baseball players named to top 100 impact transfers

LSU added some premier talent in the portal this offseason.

Four LSU Tigers have made D1Baseball’s list of top-100 impact transfers, and three of them landed in the top 10.

Let’s start with the two that have received the most fanfare so far, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag]. White is the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year with selections to the All-ACC First Team and ACC All-Freshman Team, and he broke the NC State school record for most home runs in a season.

Skenes is an anomaly. He can play in the field or as a starting pitcher. Skenes finished last season with a 10-3 record as a starting pitcher with an ERA of 2.73. In 85 innings pitched, he had 96 strikeouts and 30 walks.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound pitcher that transferred from UCLA. He pitched 34 innings for the Bruins last season and finished the year 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 10 walks.

[autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] is a transfer from Vanderbilt where he played two seasons and was a combined 4-4 with a 4.65 ERA, 95 strikeouts, and 39 walks in 81 innings pitched. The future is bright for these guys on the Bayou.

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LSU has the No. 1 transfer class in the nation, per Baseball America

The Tigers have been very active in improving the roster since the end of the 2022 season.

It has been an interesting offseason for [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU baseball team.

The Tigers have had players join the team by way of transferring and by graduating high school, but a few of the guys that were committed to playing for LSU were then picked up in the 2022 MLB draft.

Baseball America recently made a list of who they thought had the best 25 transfer classes in all of college baseball, and LSU came in at No. 1. The class features right-handed pitcher [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] of Vanderbilt; third baseman [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] of North Carolina State; right-handed pitcher [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] of UCLA; right-handed pitcher/utility player [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] of Air Force; and infielder [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] of Virginia Commonwealth.

Here is the breakdown from Baseball America.

With a .362 average and 27 home runs as a freshman a season ago, Tommy White showed that he’s already one of the best hitters in college baseball, period, and more than good enough to set aside question marks about his defensive viability.

Paul Skenes is an accomplished power hitter in his own right, with a .367/.453/.669 career slash line at Air Force with 24 home runs, and there is optimism about his ability to handle the defensive rigors of catching in the SEC. It will be interesting to see how that is balanced with his time on the mound, where he features a mid-90s fastball that touches the high 90s, a swing-and-miss mid-80s slider and a high-80s changeup that flashes plus.

Infielder Ben Nippolt, a late addition to the class from VCU, had a .430 on-base percentage and walked more than he struck out last season, but perhaps more valuable to the Tigers is his ability to play just about anywhere on the infield.

Right-hander Thatcher Hurd had a 1.06 ERA in 34 innings last season and looked like one of the best freshman arms in the country right up until a back injury ended his season prematurely. If he’s fully healthy and ready to go, his fastball that touched 96 mph last season and a low-80s slider that had a 56% whiff rate should get plenty of outs once again.

Right-hander Christian Little had moments of excellence at Vanderbilt, but now pitching coach Wes Johnson will look to bring that out of him more consistently. His stuff certainly stacks up, including a fastball that averaged over 94 mph and touched 98 last season.

We are a long way away from baseball season in the spring, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited about baseball at The Box this year.

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LSU lands another baseball transfer from Vanderbilt

LSU added veteran infielder Carter Young from Vanderbilt on Monday.

The Tigers are off to a phenomenal start to the offseason. They’ve hired an MLB pitching coach in [autotag]Wes Johnson[/autotag] and added two of the best players in the transfer portal, outfielder [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] from North Carolina State and pitcher [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] from Vanderbilt.

Now, they’ve landed another former Commodore as [autotag]Carter Young[/autotag] announced his commitment to LSU on Monday.

Young is a 6-foot, 180-pound junior infielder. He’s coming off of his worst year at Vandy, as he batted just .207 last season in 56 games played and 188 at-bats. Although he had some rough numbers last season, he hit .328 his freshman season and .252 his sophomore year.

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The talent is there, he just has to get his groove back. Hopefully, making a new start on the Bayou is the way for him to do that. Young makes the Tigers’ fifth commit out of the transfer portal as coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] is building a new squad that we hope can go all the way.

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