Tag: Luis Hernandez

LSU baseball has landed a pair of top-10 transfers so far

Jay Johnson is putting together yet another impressive transfer class at LSU.

Making splashes in the transfer portal has never been a problem for coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] at LSU.

The Tigers have brought in elite transfer classes each offseason since he’s been in Baton Rouge, and they’re off to quite an impressive start once again.

The 2024 season isn’t even complete yet and LSU has already secured commitments from two of the top 10 players in the transfer portal, according to On3: Indiana State designated hitter/catcher [autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag] and Mount St. Mary’s right-handed pitcher [autotag]Deven Sheerin[/autotag].

Hernandez comes in as one of the top sluggers in the country, and On3 ranks him No. 8 on the transfer list.

While LSU lost Neal in the transfer portal, they also added one of college baseball’s best hitters in Indiana State transfer Luis Hernandez. He spent three years at Indiana State, but 2024 was his best season yet. In 248 at-bats, Hernandez hit .359 with 23 homers and 76 RBI. He also had 14 doubles and finished with an impressive 1.114 OPS. This is a bat that will instantly insert into the middle of LSU’s lineup, and he has some positional versatility as well as he’s played first base and catcher in the past.

Meanwhile, Sheerin is a hard-throwing pitcher who impressed as a true freshman at the mid-major level, making himself one of the portal’s top arms as he ranks No. 9 overall.

Another LSU portal addition has made the list, this time coming on the mound in Mount St. Mary’s transfer Deven Sheerin. As a freshman in 2024, he showcased electric stuff on the mound led by a fastball that sits in the mid-to-upper 90s that has touched 97. Though he primarily pitched out of the bullpen this season, he could become a pivotal piece of LSU’s pitching staff whether it be through the bullpen or rotation. Either way, LSU is getting a tremendous talent that projects to get even better as he develops.

The portal was a necessity once again as LSU is set to lose quite a bit of production this offseason, particularly at pitcher with a number of players entering the transfer portal.

Johnson will hope these additions make up for those losses as the Tigers look to return to Omaha next season.

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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.

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LSU baseball lands Indiana State RHP transfer Luke Hayden

LSU has now landed two transfers from Indiana State this offseason.

The pipeline from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is not done providing for [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU Tigers. LSU just landed another player from the Indiana State Sycamores thanks to the transfer portal.

[autotag]Luke Hayden[/autotag] is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound, right-handed pitcher from Bloomington, Indiana. He spent his first two collegiate seasons with the Indiana Hoosiers before transferring to Indiana State to play this Spring.

Hayden finished the season with a 7-2 record and a 3.81 ERA. He pitched a total of 78 innings and struck out 91 hitters while walking 47. He will join his former teammate [autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag] who transferred from Indiana State to Baton Rouge. Those two could form a battery in the same way they did for the Sycamores.

So far Johnson has done an incredible job landing some great players out of the portal. If he can get a guy like [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] back as well next year could be special.

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LSU baseball’s Jay Johnson on how the transfer portal changes team building

Jay Johnson discussed how the transfer portal affects building a program in the new era

College sports are in an era of change. One of the biggest changes in recent years was the addition of the transfer portal, which has drastically shifted how some coaches and programs approach roster contruction.

LSU baseball head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] works the portal as well as anyone. In 2022, Johnson hit the portal for superstar pitcher [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] along with slugger [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag]. Both adds proved to be critical during LSU’s 2023 national title run.

Johnson spoke to the media this week and offered his thoughts on what the transfer portal has meant for the sport.

“The reality is we’re in a different landscape right now. I don’t think it’s about building a program anymore and that’s my wheelhouse. My specialty is developing a program,” Johnson said. “But I think it’s probably now about building your team one year at a time and I don’t say that in any other way than I want the guy that [autotag]Skip Bertman[/autotag] was able to redshirt.”

That’s harder to do these days, Johnson said, forcing an adjustment.

Johnson is already off to a strong start in the transfer portal this cycle with the addition of Indiana State slugger [autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag].

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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.

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Fastest MMA knockout ever? A lightning-quick head kick ended this Titan FC 83 bout in officially one second

If you blinked, you missed the fastest knockout you’ll ever see in an MMA fight.

Sometimes if you blink while watching MMA, you miss something significant in a fight. In this particular case, you would have missed the entire bout.

On the main card of Titan FC 83 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., [autotag]Luis Hernandez[/autotag] needed to land only one strike to finish his welterweight fight against Brian Topp.

Hernandez (3-0 MMA) immediately offered a lightning-quick head kick as the fighters met in the center. It connected cleanly, and Topp (1-5 MMA) crashed to the canvas, ending the fight officially in just one second.

Check out video of the finish – well, actually the entire fight below (via Twitter):

Hernandez, 26, isn’t one to spend a lot of time in the cage.

So far in his young professional career, all of his bouts have ended in the first round, including most of his amateur fights. His first pro fight lasted 65 seconds, while his second went 3:20 into Round 1. But in his third fight, he set the bar so incredibly high, he can only hope to tie the one-second magic again in the future.

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