Tag: Thatcher Hurd

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 drops series to Arkansas after extra-innings loss in Game 2

The Tigers didn’t get the job done in exras as Arkansas walked it off to win 4-3.

LSU entered game two against the Arkansas Razorbacks looking to even the series at one apiece. They didn’t get the job done as Arkansas walked it off in extra innings to win 4-3.

LSU scored the first runs of the game in the top of the third inning when [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to give LSU a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Razorbacks scored three runs on [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] to take their first lead at 3-2. Holman got the start on the Tigers’ mound but was pulled from the game after 4.1 innings. He gave up three runs on five hits, five strikeouts, and five walks. Griffin Herring entered the game to get the Tigers out of a jam in the fifth inning.

In the top of the sixth inning, Ashton Larson hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to tie the game up at 3-3. Unfortunately, a double play happened right after that to prevent LSU from scoring any more runs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Hogs had runners on the corner with only one out. [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] made a play reminiscent of what Tre Morgan did against Wake Forest in Omaha. He charged a bunt attempt and threw the runner out at home to keep the game tied at 3-3.

The game remained tied as we headed to the bottom of the ninth inning. Herring remained on the mound for LSU. The first batter of the inning led off with a double. The Hogs had the winning run in scoring position with nobody out but Herring retired three in a row to send us to extra innings.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] entered the game in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Tigers. After Hurd struck out the first hitter of the inning, the second hitter reached on an error by [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag]. The third hitter of the inning hit a walk-off RBI double to win the game for Arkansas 4-3.

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LSU baseball makes changes to the pitching rotation before matchup with Arkansas

Jay Johnson is changing things up on the mound ahead of a matchup against the top team in the nation.

This weekend, the LSU Tigers take a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on the No. 1 team in the nation, the Arkansas Razorbacks.

LSU has lost back-to-back series to start the conference slate. The Tigers dropped two out of three games to Mississippi State and Florida. This weekend, the schedule is a little different. There will be no game on Sunday due to Easter. The series will be played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

With these circumstances, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] has decided to make some changes to the starting pitching rotation. For the last two weekends, the Tigers have gone with [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] on Friday, [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] on Saturday, and [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] on Sunday. That won’t be the lineup this weekend.

Holman and Jump will both pitch on their normally scheduled days (Friday and Saturday) so they will be on full rest. As for Thursday, we do not know who is going to start for LSU. Hurd threw 90 pitches in Sunday’s loss to Florida so it will not be him.

The Tigers have a few options to go with but we will not know who it is until Johnson announces it before the first pitch.

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Instant Analysis: Gators run-rule LSU baseball in Game 3 to take the series

This game got out of hand late, and Jay Johnson was thrown out as Florida took Game 3 12-2 to win the series.

After a heartbreaking loss last night against the Gators, LSU looked to bounce back in the Sunday Gold uniforms. This game got out of hand late and [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] was thrown out as Florida took Game 3 12-2 in eight innings to win the series.

LSU scored first in the bottom of the fourth inning when [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] scored due to an error made by the left fielder to make it 1-0 LSU.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Gators onslaught began. Two two-run homers and a two-RBI double led to a 6-1 Florida lead as [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] was pulled from the game.

In the bottom of the inning, LSU got one of those runes back via a Jared Jones solo shot to cut the lead to 6-2.

After the homer by Jones, some words were exchanged between the Gators’ first baseman and Jones which led to warnings for both teams. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] struck out to end the inning and apparently, he heard something else he didn’t like. He came out of the dugout and proceeded to get tossed from the game.

Florida would go on to score two more runs in the top of the sixth and four runs in the top of the eighth to extend their lead to 12-2. LSU failed to score in the bottom of the eighth and the Tigers lost via run rule.

That’s two straight SEC series losses for LSU as their record drops to 19-5. The next game will be against Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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Starting pitching struggles for LSU baseball in series loss to Mississippi State

It was the first SEC series loss since last May, which also came against the Bulldogs.

As good as the LSU pitching was last weekend against Xavier, it was the polar opposite this weekend against Mississippi State. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag], [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] and [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] combined to give up 16 runs, 21 hits, nine strikeouts and seven walks in 13.1 innings. Only 13 of those runs were earned, making the weekend ERA of the starters 8.93.

[autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] finished Game 1 after pitching 4.2 innings and giving up 10 hits and five runs (two earned runs) as he struck out three hitters and walked one in the Friday night loss.

[autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] finished Game 2 after only 3.2 innings and gave up four runs on four hits, three strikeouts and three walks. Even though LSU got out to a 9-1 lead, Mississippi State scored eight runs unanswered until [autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] shut the door on them.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] finished game three after five full innings. He gave up seven runs on seven hits, three strikeouts and three walks. He had a bad first inning where he gave up three runs and then a bad fifth inning where he gave up four runs. Two doubles, a three-run bomb and a solo shot chased him from the game.

It was the first SEC series loss since last May against guess who? Mississippi State.

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Instant Analysis: LSU baseball drops series, run-ruled by Mississippi State in Game 3

Mississippi State run-ruled LSU 15-5 in Game 3.

Mississippi State run-ruled LSU 15-5 in Game 3 on Sunday to take the opening series of SEC play.

Game 3 started badly for LSU and it only got worse as the game went on. [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] got the start on the mound and the Bulldogs scored three runs against him in the first inning before it mercifully came to an end.

In the top of the fifth inning, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 3-1 State. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks followed that to tie the game 3-3.

It looked as if the Tigers had hope and were right back in the game, but in the bottom of the inning, Hurd gave up a three-run bomb and a solo shot to give Mississippi State a 7-3 lead.

In the top of the sixth, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] got half of those runs back with a two-run shot of his own to cut the lead to 7-5.

That is when the wheels fell off for LSU. The Bulldogs scored five more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 12-5. All of those runs were charged to [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag]. Little was pulled from the game after giving up five runs on three hits, two strikeouts and two walks in 0.2 innings.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mississippi State scored three more runs to take a 15-5 lead and end the game via run-rule victory.

LSU suffered their first conference series loss since last May when the Tigers dropped two out of three games to Mississippi State. LSU will be back in action on Tuesday as the Tigers host Louisiana Tech at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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Starters and shutouts for LSU baseball against Xavier last weekend

Last weekend against Xavier, the starters put up great numbers.

Entering the 2024 season, LSU had a couple of question marks regarding who would be in their starting rotation. We knew that [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] would be one of the starters based off of his performance in the College World Series.

LSU lost their other two starters, [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag], to the MLB Draft. Skenes was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Floyd was the 38th pick in the draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

With two spots to fill, where would head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] turn? Johnson has recruited very well as he has landed a lot of talented players out of high school and out of the transfer portal.

The two best pitchers in the transfer portal committed to LSU. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] and [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag]. Holman was the ace for the Alabama Crimson Tide last season and due to his experience in the SEC, he seemed to fit the mold for another starting pitcher spot.

Jump was coming off of a season where he was unable to pitch due to an injury, but as a freshman at UCLA, he was fantastic. The initial plan for the rotation appeared to be Hurd, Holman, and [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag]. That’s how things began as Johnson began to ramp up the pitch count for Jump.

Fast forward to now, the Tigers are starting conference play this weekend and the lineup has changed slightly. Hurd did not get off to the greatest start this year so he has slid from the ace to the Sunday starter. Jump has gotten more healthy and he has become the Saturday starter. Holman has proved that he has the ability to be an ace in this rotation.

Last weekend against Xavier, the starters put up great numbers. In total, between the three starters, they finished the weekend 2-0 with zero earned runs allowed over 16 innings pitched. They only allowed seven total hits as they struck out 29 hitters and only walked four.

The worst part of the weekend is that Hurd was given a no-decision as Xavier beat LSU 2-1 on Sunday to end the Tigers’ winning streak. In spite of that, I believe that this pitching staff has the talent to take LSU to Omaha once again.

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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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Jay Johnson releases pitching rotation for this weekend against Xavier

Jay Johnson liked what he saw so much from the starters last weekend that he decided to run it back.

After going 3-0 last weekend in the Astros Foundation Classic, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] has released his pitching rotation for this weekend’s games against Xavier.

Johnson liked what he saw so much from the starters last weekend that he decided to run it back. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] will start on Friday, [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] will start on Saturday, and [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] will start on Sunday.

Holman enters Friday’s game with a 3-0 record and a 0.00 ERA. He transferred to LSU after spending a couple of seasons at Alabama and he has been phenomenal for the Tigers. His play has earned him Player of the Month honors by the NCBWA and Pitcher of the Week honors from the SEC.

Jump is a transfer from UCLA who did not get to play last season due to an injury. Johnson is trying to get Jump back into the swing of things as he ramps up his pitch count.

Hurd came into the season as the Tigers ace but he has not gotten off to a great start. He has a 1-1 record with a 6.75 ERA so far but he may be the best Sunday starter in college baseball.

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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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