Tag: Jake Brown

A letter to LSU baseball freshman Jake Brown

The moral of the story is that nobody is perfect.

On Monday night, LSU took on North Carolina in a winner-take-all Game 7 for a shot at hosting a super regional against West Virginia. With two outs in the top of the tenth inning, Johnny Castagnozzi hit a fly ball to right field to [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag].

Brown retreated towards the wall and tracked the ball while fighting the lights glaring in his eyes. He put his glove up to catch the ball… and the ball went right over his glove.

After that, North Carolina would hit an RBI single to take a 4-3 lead and never look back. After the game ended, many Tiger “fans” took to Twitter to berate Brown and say nasty things about him and his family. With the way people were talking about Brown, you would have thought he missed the ball on purpose. Obviously, he didn’t.

Coming out of Sulphur High School in Louisiana, Brown was rated as the No. 1 player in the state of Louisiana and the No. 18 left-handed pitcher in the country. He starred as a pitcher and as a center fielder for the Sulphur Golden Tors. Brown played in 56 games as a freshman for LSU this season and was listed as a left-handed pitcher/first baseman/outfielder on the Tigers roster.

In those 56 games, Brown had 48 total chances to make a play on defense. He finished the season with 46 putouts, one assist and only one error. The man missed one ball all year long and now people want to crucify him for it.

For those of you who are uneducated, playing outfield is hard. It is even harder when you are on the road. At home, you are familiar with the layout of your ballpark and you know every nook and cranny of that field. When you are on the road, you are not as aware of the dimensions of the ballpark, and on a ball hit near the wall, you have to reach a hand out to try to find out where the wall is.

You are also fighting the lights. It was mentioned a few times during the broadcast that it is hard for right fielders to see the ball at “The Bosh” no matter what team you were playing on. With all of those things in play, it is a recipe for disaster for anyone. Jake made one mistake all year and everyone blames him for that loss.

No one wants to talk about how LSU only had one hit after the third inning ([autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] singled in the bottom of the ninth). One of LSU’s five hits was a solo homer from [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag]. If it wasn’t for him, the game would not have had the lead at all.

The moral of the story is that nobody is perfect. I am sure no one is beating themselves up more about the play than Jake because all he wants to do is make a play for his team. He is a Louisiana man who bleeds purple and gold. This is just one setback on the road to possibly being one of the LSU greats. Keep your head up, Jake. You’ll bounce back stronger next year.

For all of you, keyboard warriors who are downing Cheetos and whining about how you could make that catch with your eyes closed, use that energy to do something productive instead of bashing someone online.

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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.

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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.

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Former Gamecock Michael Braswell serves as the hero for LSU in win over South Carolina

On Tuesday, Michael Braswell III clapped back at a Gamecock fans’ Twitter account. On Thursday, he clapped back against his old team.

On Tuesday, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] clapped back at a Gamecock fans’ Twitter account. On Thursday, he clapped back against his old team.

In what has been the greatest game of the SEC tournament so far, Braswell served as the hero for the Tigers as his RBI single gave the Tigers a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning and led to an 11-10 win over South Carolina to move LSU to 3-0 in the tournament.

Now, let’s rewind. How did we get to 11-10? LSU scored the first run of the game on an RBI single by Stephen Milam to give LSU a 1-0 lead.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound for LSU and he struck out five of the first six hitters he faced to start the game. He ran into trouble in the third inning, though. An RBI double chased him from the mound and [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] was greeted with a grand slam to give Carolina a 5-1 lead after three innings.

in the top of the fourth inning, LSU clawed back into the game as they tied it up with four runs of their own. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit an RBI double, Milam hit an RBI single, and [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to tie the game 5-5.

In the top of the fifth inning, Jared Jones hit a solo shot to give LSU a 6-5 lead.

South Carolina scored a run to tie it up in the bottom of the fifth inning and then [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] gave the Tigers the lead again in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI groundout to make it 7-6 Tigers.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Gamecocks scored four runs to give them a 10-7 lead. In the top of the eighth, two LSU runners scored on an error to cut the lead to 10-9.

LSU entered the top of the ninth inning down 10-9, needing at least one run to keep the game going. Milam started the inning off with a single and Brown followed that with another single to put runners on first and second base. [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] flew out for out number one, but Paxton Kling advanced to third on the flyout. Brown would then steal second to put runners on second and third with one out. [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] then hit a sacrifice fly to the wall to tie the game 10-10. Then, magic happened. Braswell III stepped up and hit an RBI single to give the Tigers an 11-10 lead.

[autotag]Fidel Ulloa[/autotag] closed out the win in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Tigers won 11-10! LSU will now get a day off before playing in a single elimination semifinal game on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT. LSU will play the winner of Kentucky/South Carolina.

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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.

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LSU baseball gets back in the win column against McNeese on Tuesday night

After falling out of the baseball polls for the first time in a year, the Tigers bounced back with a blowout win on Tuesday.

After falling out of the baseball polls for the first time in a year, the Tigers looked to get some good news. They got just that with a 16-0 victory over McNeese.

[autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer. [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] followed that with an RBI single and [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple to give LSU a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] was credited with two RBI via a bunt single to increase the lead to 7-0.

In the bottom of the third inning, Jones homered once again. This time it was a two-run shot that extended the lead to 9-0.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to right field to increase the LSU lead to 11-0. [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] was then hit by a pitch with bases loaded to score another run and a wild pitch resulted in [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] scoring to give LSU a 13-0 lead. Jones then hit his third homer of the night as his three-run bomb gave LSU a 16-0 lead.

LSU will be back in action on Friday night when they take on No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville.

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Instant Analysis: Gators beat LSU baseball in extra innings to even the series

After leading 4-2 in the eighth inning, LSU gave up four runs and lost to Florida 6-2 in 11 innings.

After leading 4-2 in the eighth inning, LSU gave up four runs and lost to Florida 6-2 in 11 innings on Saturday night.

LSU scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third when [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] scored on a [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] single to make it 1-0 LSU. Florida answered that run with two of their own to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth.

[autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] then tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to left field.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, LSU tacked on two more runs as Bigham hit a solo shot and [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a solo shot to make it 4-2 LSU.

In the top of the eighth inning, Florida had runners on the corners with two outs with [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] on the mound. Ackenhausen struck the hitter out BUT the ball got away from [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] and he was unable to throw the runner out at first therefore a run scored to cut the lead to 4-3.

Everything went downhill after that. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the Gators got an RBI single to tie the game and send us to extra innings. The Gators then hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th to take a 6-4 lead and LSU failed to score any more runs.

Game 3 is Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

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Instant Analysis: Cold bats lead to another loss as LSU drops series finale to Xavier

For the first time this weekend, the LSU offense went cold.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound as the LSU Tigers looked to go for the sweep against the Xavier Musketeers.

For the first time this weekend, the LSU offense went cold. In Games 1 and 2 the Tigers scored at least one run in the first inning to get out to an early lead. That was not the case Sunday as they failed to get the sweep with a 2-1 loss, their second of the year.

LSU was unable to score any runs until the bottom of the fourth inning when [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a triple and then scored on a fielding error by the Musketeers to give LSU a 1-0 lead.

Xavier got that run back in the top of the fifth inning when a fielding error led to an unearned run to tie the game up at 1-1. Hurd was pulled from the game after five innings. He allowed one (unearned) run on four hits, nine strikeouts, and one walk. [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] replaced him on the mound.

Ackenhausen was greeted by an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning to give Xavier a 2-1 lead. Their first lead of the weekend. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Tigers were trailing by a run and attempting to make a comeback.

[autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] was hit by a pitch and got to third base with two outs but a strikeout ended the game with him stranded at third. LSU won the series but failed to get the sweep as Xavier took game three 2-1.

With the loss, LSU drops to 14-2 this season. The Tigers will be back in action on Tuesday night as they host North Dakota State at 6 p.m. CT.

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Instant Analysis: LSU crowned the champions of the Astros Foundation Classic with Sunday win over Texas State

LSU joins Vanderbilt as the only other team to go 3-0 at the Astros Foundation Classic.

LSU took on Texas State in a battle of two teams who came into the game undefeated at the [autotag]Astros Foundation Classic[/autotag]. Texas State knocked off Houston and Texas while LSU knocked off Texas and Louisiana-Lafayette. Both teams entered the game looking to leave as one of the only two teams to go 3-0 on the weekend.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the Tigers and he had a quality start. He went five innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, five strikeouts, and one walk. Hurd was the first LSU starter to give up an earned run during the Classic.

[autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] got the Tigers on the board first with a solo shot in the bottom of the third inning to give LSU a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Tigers tacked on five runs as [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] hit an RBI double, [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] had a two-RBI single, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] had an RBI single, and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] got an RBI on a fielder’s choice to make the score 6-0 LSU.

In the top of the fifth inning, Hurd looked like he would escape the inning unscathed until a ball caromed off of [autotag]Michael Braswell[/autotag]’s glove into left field resulting in a run. After that, a throwing error by Braswell resulted in two more runs scoring for the Bobcats to cut the lead to 6-3.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, LSU got two of those three runs back. Travinski hit an RBI double and [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit an RBI double to extend the LSU lead to 8-3.

[autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] entered to pitch for LSU in the top of the seventh after [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] got the Tigers through the sixth unscathed. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Milam hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 9-3. [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] then entered to pinch hit for LSU and he hit an RBI single to make it 10-3 Tigers.

With the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning, [autotag]DJ Primeaux[/autotag] came into the game to try to get the last out of the evening. DJ was met with a two-RBI single to cut the lead to 10-5 and [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] would get the call out of the bullpen.

With the win, LSU moves to 11-1 on the season. LSU was crowned the champions of the Astros Foundation College Classic tournament after going undefeated and putting up a better run differential than Vanderbilt, who also finished the tourney 3-0. The Tigers will be back in action on Wednesday against Southeastern Louisiana.

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LSU baseball holds on to take down Louisiana-Lafayette in Astros Foundation Classic

LSU moved to 2-0 in the Astros Foundation Classic on Saturday night.

Game 2 of the Astros Foundation Classic pitted LSU against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the Tigers in this one as he had a great start.

Jump gave up only one hit and zero runs over five innings of work. Due to his injuries suffered while at UCLA, head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] is still trying to get Jump back into the swing of things. This was a step in the right direction for him.

Just like Friday night’s game against Texas, runs came at a premium. LSU finally scored in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Tigers plated four runs courtesy of [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] scoring on a wild pitch, a [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] two-RBI single, and an RBI double by [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] to put LSU up 4-0.

In the top of the sixth inning, ULL got three of those runs back after a three-run homer off of [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] cut the lead to 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSU got some breathing room courtesy of Travinski hitting a solo shot to make the score 5-3 Tigers.

[autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] did a great job getting the Tigers through the seventh and eighth innings as they pitched 2.1 innings, allowed zero runs, struck out five hitters, and only walked one.

Loer stayed in for the top of the ninth inning as he tried to close it out for LSU. He got a flyout and a strikeout from the first two hitters he faced and then the Ragin’ Cajuns hit a solo homer to cut the lead to one with two outs. The next hitter singled to put the tying run at first. Loer struck the last hitter out and the Tigers won 5-4.

LSU moved to 2-0 in the Astros Foundation Classic. The Tigers will take on Texas State at 3 p.m. CT Sunday as both teams look to go 3-0 in the Classic.

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