Tag: Kade Anderson

Jay Johnson not worried about LSU baseball retaining talent this offseason

Jay Johnson addressed the Tigers’ roster-building and retention priorities entering the offseason.

LSU baseball turned around what was looking like an abysmal 2024 season as it looked to defend its national title.

The Tigers ultimately earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, taking host North Carolina to the brink before falling short in the Chapel Hill Regional last weekend.

Coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] doesn’t have long to dwell on that result, however. The college baseball offseason has a quick turnaround time, and Johnson has been hard at work looking for transfer portal talent since the season ended.

That isn’t his only priority, however. The Tigers must also retain players currently on the roster from leaving for the pros or the transfer portal, and they also need to make sure as many players from the 2024 signing class reach campus as possible.

Speaking on 104.5 Off The Bench, Johnson said player retention is not something he is particularly worried about.

“I’m proud of my coaches and the resources we provide them to become major league baseball players,” Johnson said, per Glen West of 247Sports. “For me that should be enough to retain guys, it’s a different era that we live in and that’s ok. We’ve got a good group. I’ll tell you one thing, the guys that were rolling through my office on Wednesday, the character of what we will have returning is very strong. It’s a good starting point from a human being, leadership perspective with some talent.

“Getting [autotag]Chase Shores[/autotag] back and healthy is a massive deal. To win 43 games probably without your best pitcher for the entire season, proud of the team for doing that. That’s what I’m speaking to relative to that character. [autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag], fully bought in. [autotag]Jaden Noot[/autotag] we’ll get back healthy so we’ve got a really good start with some of the pitching staff.”

Johnson also said the Tigers will try to retain their six draft-eligible sophomores and juniors, pitching them on their ability to improve their draft stocks in 2025.

Only time will tell what this roster looks like entering 2025, but it’s clear Johnson has a lot to do to maintain it.

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LSU baseball’s hot start leads to a win over North Carolina in regional final Game 1

LSU forced a winner-take-all game with an 8-4 win over UNC.

After beating Wofford on Sunday morning to remain alive in the Chapel Hill Regional, the Tigers got a rematch with the North Carolina Tar Heels with a chance to send it to a winner-take-all game tomorrow. LSU did exactly that with an 8-4 win.

[autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] continued the hot streak he started against Wofford as he put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run homer to give LSU a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, LSU tacked on another run as [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0.

In the top of the fourth inning, North Carolina got their first hit of the ballgame off of [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] with a double to put a runner in scoring position. An RBI single scored him and North Carolina cut the LSU lead to 3-1.

 

 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, LSU loaded the bases before [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit an RBI single, [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single, and White scored on a groundout from Pearson to extend the lead to 7-1.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a solo homer to extend the lead to 8-1.

In the top of the sixth inning, North Carolina scored a run on a passed ball to cut the lead to 8-2. After a couple of singles, Hurd was pulled from the game as [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] was called out of the bullpen. Loer walked the first hitter he faced to load the bases with two outs.

[autotag]Fidel Ulloa[/autotag] was then called from the bullpen. Ulloa struck out the next hitter on a 3-2 count to keep the score 8-2 LSU.

Hurd’s final line was 5.2 innings pitched as he allowed two runs on six strikeouts and zero walks. It was his best start since March 10th against Xavier. He came through when LSU needed him in this elimination game.

With two runners on base and one out in the top of the seventh inning, [autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] was called in from the bullpen. Anderson pitched against Wofford this morning but he still had enough gas in the tank to throw some more. He struck out the first batter he faced but he hit the second batter to load the bases with two outs. The Tar Heels then hit a two-RBI single to cut the lead to 8-4. The next batter hit a pop-up and we headed to the bottom of the seventh with the Tigers still up by four runs.

In the top of the ninth inning, North Carolina loaded the bases against [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] but he was able to get out of the inning unscathed as the Tigers won 8-4. The final game of the Chapel Hill Regional will be played on Monday at a time to be determined.

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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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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.

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LSU baseball fails to sweep Auburn, losing Game 3

LSU dug an early hole that was too deep to climb out of as it lost Game 3 and missed the chance to earn back-to-back sweeps.

LSU baseball dug an early hole that was too deep to climb out of as the Tigers lost Game 3 against Auburn 7-5, missing out on the opportunity to turn in back-to-back sweeps.

[autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] got the start on the mound for LSU in Game 3 as LSU went for a sweep of Auburn in Baton Rouge. Anderson was coming off of a start on Tuesday night where he threw 62 pitches in that game. It seems as though arm fatigue may have been an issue at Auburn teed off on him in the first inning to take a 5-0 lead.

Anderson was pulled from the game after only making two outs. [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag] entered after him and finished the first inning. [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] then entered to pitch for the Tigers.

Auburn extended their lead to 6-0 in the top of the third inning on an RBI single. LSU finally got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-1.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, LSU cut into the lead even further as [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit a three-run homer to cut the Auburn lead to 6-4.

In the top of the sixth inning, Auburn was able to get some insurance thanks to an RBI double to extend the lead to 7-4. In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSU loaded the bases with no outs and Larson hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 7-5. With runners on the corners and only one out, LSU was unable to score any more runs.

LSU was unable to score in the eighth and ninth innings as Auburn took game three by a score of 7-5. The Tigers will be back in action Tuesday evening against Grambling State.

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LSU baseball dominated by Southern in midweek loss Monday night

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The Southern Jaguars dominated the LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium on Monday night.

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The Southern Jaguars dominated the LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium on Monday night.

Southern won the game 12-7 and LSU did not lead at any point. LSU cut the lead to 3-2 entering the fifth inning but that was as close as they could get.

[autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] started on the mound as the Tigers looked to bounce back against Southern after being swept by Arkansas.

In the top of the second inning, Southern got on the board first with a three-run homer against Anderson to give them a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, [autotag]Ben Nippolt[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] had a sacrifice bunt to cut the lead to 3-2.

In the top of the fifth inning, Southern did some damage against [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] as they scored five more runs to increase their lead to 8-2. In the bottom of the fifth, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] had an RBI groundout and [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 8-5.

In the top of the sixth, an LSU error led to another run for Southern as they increased their lead to 9-5. In the bottom of the sixth, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 9-6.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jared Jones hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 9-7. In the top of the ninth, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] committed his second error of the evening leading to another run for Southern. A fielder’s choice and another error led to more runs for Southern as they increased their lead to 12-7.

LSU will host No. 6 Vanderbilt this weekend. Game 1 of the series is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. CT.

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What is wrong with LSU baseball?

The 2024 season has not gotten off to the best start for the Tigers.

The 2024 season has not gotten off to the best start for the LSU baseball team. After three conference series, the Tigers are 20-9 overall and 2-7 in conference play and have lost all three series. The Tigers dropped series to Mississippi State and Florida 2-1 and then got swept by Arkansas last weekend.

So, what is going on with this team? For one, let’s rewind to the 2023 season. [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers had the two best players in college baseball on their team, [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag]. The No. 1 and No. 2 overall draft picks in the 2023 MLB draft.

Along with that, the team had [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag], [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag], [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag], [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag]. That equates to two out of three starting pitchers, first and second base, shortstop, designated hitter, and two of the three outfield spots. One outfield spot ([autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag]), one starting pitcher ([autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag]), and two catchers ([autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag]) were all that remained from last year’s starting lineup.

Replacing six hitters in your starting lineup and two of your starting pitchers is not an easy task. Johnson had to hit the recruiting trail hard for high school kids and players in the transfer portal. He did a great job of rebuilding the team, but some players you just can’t replace. There is no replacement for those guys.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at some stats so far. LSU is in the middle of the road for most hitting statistics in the conference. The Tigers are seventh in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage, and hits, eighth in slugging percentage, doubles, and triples. The biggest issue for LSU on the offensive side is that we are ranked 11th out of 14 in RBI and runs scored. LSU is not hitting the long ball as well either as the Tigers rank ninth in that stat.

Three more interesting offensive stats, LSU ranks first in the conference in double plays and caught stealing. First in those areas is not a good thing. That means you have hit the most double plays and been caught stealing the most. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] leads the conference in double plays. He has hit into eight of them. That’s three more than the next closest player.

Now, let’s look at the Tigers’ performance on the mound. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] is the silver lining of this pitching staff. Without him, you would not want to see any of these numbers. Holman has the second-lowest ERA (1.38), second-highest strikeouts (61), and fourth-lowest opponent batting average (.173). Why am I singling him out? Because if you take him out of the equation, LSU does not have another pitcher in the top 15 of the conference.

LSU has the MOST walks in the SEC (131) and the second most wild pitches in the SEC (28). [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] is tied for the most losses in the conference with four and three LSU pitchers are tied for sixth in the conference in wild pitches with four. ([autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag], [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] and Hurd)

LSU is sixth in the conference in fielding percentage but [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] is tied for first for the most errors in the conference with seven. Those numbers will not get the job done, especially in conference play.

LSU will play Southern at home on Monday before hosting Vanderbilt this weekend.

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LSU baseball escapes with a win against Southeastern Louisiana

With the win, LSU moves to 12-1 this season.

After going 4-0 last weekend and being crowned champions of the Astros Foundation Classic. LSU had a bit of a break before traveling to Hammond, Louisiana to take on the Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Wednesday.

[autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] got the start on the mound once again and he was efficient. Anderson finished the game after pitching five innings and giving up one unearned run on two hits, 13 strikeouts and two walks.

LSU scored the first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning when [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] hit an RBI single to score [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. After an error in the outfield in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lions scored a run on an RBI groundout to tie the game 1-1.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lions would score another run courtesy of an RBI double to left field to give SLU a 2-1 lead as we headed to the eighth inning. In the bottom of the eighth, the Lions tacked on another run to increase their lead to 3-1.

In the top of the ninth inning, with two outs, [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] hit an RBI double to left-center field to cut the lead to 3-2. [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] then stepped into the batter’s box and hit a two-RBI double to left field to give LSU a 4-3 lead.

[autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] then entered the game to try to earn the save. He struck out the side to secure a 4-3 victory for LSU. With the win, LSU moves to 12-1 this season. The Tigers will host Xavier for a three-game set this weekend at The Box.

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LSU baseball holds off Central Arkansas to go 4-0 in opening weekend

Fidel Ullo earned the save as LSU won 4-3.

The LSU offense picked up where it left off on Sunday as the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning against Central Arkansas. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit an RBI single, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch, and Travinski scored when [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] was walked with the bases loaded.

We got our first look at true freshman left-handed pitcher, [autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag]. Anderson pitched four innings for LSU in his debut as he allowed one run on six strikeouts and three walks. Central Arkansas scored a run on him in the top of the third due to a wild pitch to cut the lead to 3-1.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit his third homer in four games this season as he hit a solo shot to left field to extend LSU’s lead to 4-1.

[autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] made his first appearance of the season as he came in to start the sixth inning. He pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one earned run on a walk and a strikeout. [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] entered to pitch in the top of the sixth and bailed the Tigers out of a jam.

In the top of the eighth inning, UCA scored another run on an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-3 as they chased [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] from the mound. [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] came in to save the day and he was followed by [autotag]Fidel Ulloa[/autotag], who earned the save as LSU won 4-3 and went 4-0 on the weekend.

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LSU Baseball recruiting class ranked No. 3 by Baseball America

LSU added 20 newcomers to its 2024 squad in the latest recruiting class.

LSU added 20 newcomers to its 2024 squad in the latest recruiting class. Thirteen of those guys are coming from high school and seven of them are coming via the transfer portal. After the dust settled, Jay Johnson’s recruiting class finished as the No. 3 team in the country according to Baseball America.

LSU picked up two of the best pitchers in the transfer portal in Alabama ace, [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] and a UCLA starter who did not play last year, [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag]. Adding to that, Johnson put on a clinic as far as recruiting in the state of Louisiana. The Tigers signed the top two players in the state, left-handed pitchers [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] and [autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag].

This is shaping up to be another incredible spring at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers will start their title defense on Friday, February 16, 2024 against VMI. For all of your LSU baseball coverage, LSU Wire has you covered.

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