Tag: Sam Dutton

Auburn baseball adds former Florida LHP Cade Fisher from transfer portal

Fisher won 10 games and struck out 124 batters in two seasons for the Gators.

Auburn baseball head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] is working to rebuild his roster following an unconventional season that saw Auburn miss out on the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2016. So far, Thompson has landed eight players from the transfer portal, arguably his biggest addition committing to the program over the weekend.

[autotag]Cade Fisher[/autotag], a left-handed pitcher originally for the Florida Gators, announced Saturday that he would take his talents to another fellow SEC program, the Auburn Tigers.

Fisher was a highly-touted recruit out of high school. The Dalton, Georgia native signed with Florida as the No. 12 national LHP from the 2022 class, and the top overall pitcher from Georgia. He ended his high school career with a 0.71 ERA, the lowest in all Georgia High School Association classifications.

His stellar high school career translated to college as he earned a freshman All-American honor from Perfect Game and was named to the SEC All-freshman team in 2023. He earned those accolades by building a 6-0 record with 48 strikeouts to 13 walks in 27 appearances.

Last season at Florida, he finished 4-3 with a career-high 76 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings with nine starts for the Gators. He also earned valuable College World Series experience during his time at Florida by appearing in seven games in Omaha over the last two seasons. Fisher’s most notable College World Series outing took place in the Gators loss to LSU in the game one of the final series in 2023, where he struck out five batters over 3 1/3 innings of work.

Fisher is the fourth pitcher to commit to Auburn from the transfer portal, joining [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] (LSU), [autotag]Mason Koch[/autotag] (Creighton), and [autotag]Ryan Hetzler[/autotag] (California Baptist). He comes to Auburn with a career ERA of 5.30 and a record of 10-3 in 53 total appearances. He has recorded 124 strikeouts and 42 walks in 108 2/3 innings over the last two seasons at Florida.

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Will Hellmers, the hero LSU baseball needed

Although the Tigers lost, we still should acknowledge how incredible Will Hellmers played to put the Tigers in a position to win the Chapel Hill Regional.

During the Chapel Hill Regional, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] left no stone unturned when it came to pitching. He went through just about every pitcher on the roster to dig the Tigers out of the losers’ bracket and get them to a winner-take-all game seven against North Carolina on Monday.

After the Tigers beat the Tar Heels to force that final game, Johnson was asked about who he was going to have to pitch in the final game of the regional. To which, Jay responded “A chip and a chair.”

That was the motto that the Tigers had taken on for the SEC Tournament and onto the Chapel Hill Regional. The idea was, that as long as LSU still had a chip left and a chair at the table, they could still go all in. The chip Johnson went with to start game seven was [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag]. That chip was quickly taken away and [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] was put on the table. After he was taken out, Johnson went with [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag].

Hellmers, a senior from Metairie, Louisiana, has been through the wringer in Baton Rouge. As a freshman, he appeared in 20 games, making nine starts and finishing with a 6-2 record and a 4.08 ERA. That was the start of what seemed to be a promising career at LSU for Hellmers.

His next two seasons didn’t go as planned. He only appeared in six games during his sophomore season and seven games during his junior year and he only pitched a total of 22 innings in those years combined. He suffered a nagging arm injury that kept him from being 100%.

This season, he had his best year as a Tiger. He played in 20 games once again and this time he finished with a 1-0 record and a 2.31 ERA. He only gave up a run in three of those 20 games. Johnson had the utmost trust in him in any situation. During the SEC Tournament, LSU found themselves in an elimination game against South Carolina and the Tigers needed a pitcher to come in and hold the rope for at least a couple of innings. Johnson called on Hellmers.

Will pitched two innings and did not give up any runs or any hits and the Tigers eventually came back to win the game 12-11. After the game ended, Johnson said postgame “We won this game because of [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag].”

Fast forward to the biggest game of the season and Johnson needed a pitcher to eat some innings and be clutch for LSU, he called on Hellmers once again. Will put on the best performance of his career. He pitched 5.2 innings and gave up zero runs on two hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. It was the longest he had pitched during his career. His previous record was 5.0 innings against New Orleans and Southern University back in 2021 when he was a starter.

He gave it everything he had and put the Tigers in a position to win the game and host a super regional against West Virginia. Although the Tigers lost, we still should acknowledge how incredible Hellmers did to put the Tigers in a position to win.

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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.

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Instant Analysis: LSU baseball gets back in the win column against Southeastern Louisiana

After losing two out of three games to Florida last weekend, the LSU Tigers needed a pick-me-up.

After losing two out of three games to Florida last weekend, the LSU Tigers needed a pick-me-up. They got that with an 8-4 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night.

LSU scored first in the bottom of the first inning when [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] scored on an RBI single by [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] to make it 1-0 Tigers.

In the top of the second inning, SLU took the lead by scoring two runs against [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] to chase him from the game. In the bottom of the inning, LSU took the lead back as the Tigers put up four runs. [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] hit a solo homer, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] scored on an RBI groundout, and White hit a two-run homer to give LSU a 6-2 lead.

 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, LSU scored three more runs as [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] scored on a fielder’s choice to make the score 8-2 LSU.

In the top of the eighth inning, Southeastern hit a solo shot in the eighth and ninth innings to cut the lead to 8-4 but that was as close as they could get. LSU will now prepare to travel to Fayetteville to take on the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks this weekend.

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LSU baseball eliminated from SEC tournament with loss to Texas A&M

Texas A&M eliminated LSU from the SEC Tournament with a 5-3 loss.

After losing to Arkansas on Thursday, LSU faced Texas A&M in an elimination game. If the Tigers were going to remain in the tournament, it would be up to [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag].

Unfortunately for the Tigers, their run in Hoover, Alabama, came to an end on Friday evening with a 5-3 loss to the Aggies.

[autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] put the Tigers on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the second inning to score [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag]. The Aggies tied the game in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double and we headed to the third inning tied 1-1.

In the top of the fourth inning, Jobert struck again as he hit an RBI double to score [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] and give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. In the top of the fifth, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit an RBI double to score Tre Morgan and give LSU a 3-1 lead after five innings.

Floyd’s day was finished after pitching five innings and allowing one run on three hits, seven strikeouts, and a walk. [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] was called on out of the bullpen in relief to start the bottom of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, things fell apart for the LSU bullpen. The Aggies scored a run on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-2 and then they hit a three-run homer off of [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] to give them a 5-3 lead. [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] came in and got the Tigers out of the inning, but the damage was already done. Travinski scored in the ninth inning but that is all LSU could manage as they lost 5-4.

With the loss, LSU is eliminated from the SEC tournament and will now await to see who they will face in the Baton Rouge Regional.

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PHOTOS: LSU baseball dominates South Carolina in SEC tournament-opening win

The Tigers began their run in Hoover with a 10-3 win.

The Tigers started their week in Hoover, Alabama, at the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament on a high note.

After splitting the season series against South Carolina, LSU took what amounted to a delayed rubber match against the Gamecocks with a dominating 10-3 win.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound and was fantastic to start, retiring the first 12 batters of the game as LSU jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Hurd would ultimately leave the bases loaded with the Gamecocks threatening when he was pulled in the sixth, and he was charged an earned run after [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] walked one of those batters home.

Still, it was an overall great game as he was credited with the win. LSU managed to get some insurance runs and close things out. Now, they’ll face the winner of the game between No. 2-seeded Arkansas and No. 10-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Here were the best photos from the win.

LSU beats No. 6 seed South Carolina to start SEC tournament run

Thatcher Hurd got the win on the mound as the Tigers advance to the winners’ bracket in the double-elimination tournament.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound as LSU played its first game of the 2023 SEC Baseball Tournament against South Carolina. These two teams faced off in Columbia earlier this season and split the series 1-1, but the Tigers took the de facto rubber match with a 10-3 win to advance into the winners’ bracket.

[autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning when he hit a two-run homer into the trees in right field.

South Carolina got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth inning via a solo homer to cut the lead to 2-1. LSU got that run back plus a few more in the bottom of the fifth with two bases-loaded walks and two sacrifice flys extending the lead to 6-1.

Hurd ran into some issues in the top of the sixth inning as he loaded the bases and then walked a run in. [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] then came into pitch.

Hurd had a good day, overall. He pitched 5.1 innings and gave up three runs on four hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. Dutton walked in the first batter he faced and that scored another run for Carolina as they cut the lead to 6-3. Dutton was then pulled for [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag].

Ackenhausen retired the next two batters to get LSU out of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] both hit RBI singles to increase the lead to 8-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Crews and [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag], both hit RBI singles to give LSU a 10-3 lead heading into the eighth inning.

Ackenhausen stayed in to pitch the ninth inning as he closed out the Gamecocks, and LSU won its first game in the conference tournament 10-3. LSU advances to play the winner of the Arkansas/Texas A&M game on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT.

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LSU drops series finale against Georgia, will be No. 3 seed at SEC tournament in Hoover

The Tigers still took the series, but they missed a chance to win the regular season SEC title.

LSU entered Game 3 with a chance to be the regular season SEC champions, but Georgia was having none of that as the Dawgs took Game 3 with a 9-5 win. The Tigers still took the series and will now be the No. 3 seed at the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, next week.

[autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] got the Tigers on the board first with a two-run bomb in the top of the first inning to put LSU up 2-0.

Georgia made a comeback in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game after a [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] error. In the bottom of the third, the Dawgs took their first lead of the game on a solo homer off of [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] to take a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] entered the game to pitch for Coleman and Georgia greeted him by scoring three runs to extend their lead to 6-2 after four innings. In the top of the sixth inning, LSU cut the Georgia lead to two after a solo homer by [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and a double steal that resulted in [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag] stealing home to make it 6-4 Dawgs.

Georgia got one of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk by [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] to extend the lead to 7-4. In the top of the seventh, White hit a solo shot to cut the lead to 7-5.

Georgia scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to increase their lead to 9-5 as we headed to the eighth inning. LSU loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning with only one out. Jobert struck out for out No. 2 which left everything in the hands of [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag]. Thompson hit a flyball for an out and LSU lost 9-5.

With the loss, LSU drops to 42-13 overall and 19-10 in conference play. LSU fails to win the regular season conference title. We will see what the SEC tournament pairings will be soon as the Tigers will try to make a deep run in the conference tournament.

LSU will be the No. 3 seed. That means they will play the winner of the game between the No. 6 seed and the No. 11 seed. That game will be at 9:30 a.m. CT on Wednesday.

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LSU baseball gets back in the win column against McNeese

LSU rebounded after a series loss to Mississippi State on Tuesday night.

LSU was looking to rebound after losing a series to Mississippi State last weekend while McNeese wanted to keep the Tigers’ losing streak going. Ultimately, coach Jay Johnson’s team prevailed to get back in the win column with a 7-4 win.

LSU scored three runs in the first two innings as [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit an RBI double, a run scored on a wild pitch, and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] hit an RBI groundout to make it 3-0 LSU after two innings.

In the top of the third, the Cowboys roped their way back into the game with three runs of their own to tie the game. In the top of the sixth, McNeese took its first lead of the ballgame when a run scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-3 Cowboys headed to the bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers took the lead back with back-to-back solo homers from [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] to make it 5-4 LSU.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Milazzo scored on a single from [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] and White hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-4 LSU after eight innings.

[autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] stayed in the game to pitch the ninth inning to try to close out the win. The first two hitters in the inning reached on back-to-back singles so [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] came in. He retired the first two batters he faced before walking the third guy to load the bases.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] was then called on to close it out. Hurd got the first hitter to ground out and the Tigers won 7-4.

LSU’s final series of the regular season starts on Thursday as the Tigers travel to Athens to play the Georgia Bulldogs. The first pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.

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LSU coach Jay Johnson not ruling out changes to pitching rotation after series loss at Auburn

With inconsistency behind Paul Skenes in the rotation, Johnson said changes could potentially be made.

LSU has been nearly unbeatable in series openers this season, and there’s one simple reason for that: [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag].

Skenes has been the most dominant pitcher in college baseball this season. He’s one of the top prospects in the country alongside [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag], and both could be the first two players off the board in this summer’s MLB draft.

But beyond Skenes, the Tigers have had some troubles on the mound. Pitching inconsistency in Games 2 and 3 have cost this team recently, most notably this past weekend.

LSU dropped its first series of the season on the road against a red-hot Auburn team. After Skenes tossed a 3-0 shutout in Game 1 on Friday night, the Tigers were defeated 8-6 in Game 2 and were embarrassed in a series-clinching 12-2 run-rule loss on Sunday.

The starting pitching situation outside of Skenes is becoming a concern as the Tigers gear up for a potential College World Series run. After the loss to Auburn, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said changes to the rotation were a possibility moving forward, according to The Advocate’s Leah Vann.

Ty Floyd has held down the Saturday job for most of the year, while Vanderbilt transfer [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] has been the Sunday starter of late. However, UCLA transfer [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] held that title before struggles relegated him to the bullpen.

If LSU wanted to bring in a different weekend starter, Hurd is an option. Other options include [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag], who recently returned from injury, and other bullpen arms such as [autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag], [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag], [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] or [autotag]Riley Cooper[/autotag].

Unfortunately, the top bullpen arm in [autotag]Garrett Edwards[/autotag], who many thought could develop into a starting option, was lost for the season last month after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Exactly how Johnson will address the pitching rotation (or if he will at all) remains to be seen. But with only two SEC series remaining, LSU only has so much time to experiment with things before the games really start to count.

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