Tag: Thatcher Hurd

D1Baseball editor gives an inside scoop on LSU Baseball

LSU will start its title defense on Feb. 16 against VMI.

Kendall Rogers, the managing editor for D1Baseball, took a trip to Baton Rouge to check out the defending national champions to see how they are looking going into 2024. After leaving the bayou, Rogers gave his thoughts on what he saw.

A few interesting thoughts on this. Talk about a strong starting rotation. [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag], [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] and [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] are about as good of a three-man rotation as you will find anywhere in the NCAA. Don’t sleep on [autotag]Cam Johnson[/autotag] either. He is just a freshman but he has the talent to be a Friday night starter already. [autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag], the transfer from Xavier is also a top-tier pitcher. What a rotation.

Another thing, it seems that true freshman [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] has earned his spot on the roster as a starter in the outfield. To complement that, it seems [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] will slide [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] down to second base. Pearson has spent the last two years as a corner outfielder for the Tigers but now he will take the place of [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag].

Rogers was even kind enough to give us a possible starting nine for the Tigers. It looks like the outfield will consist of [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] (Arizona transfer), [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] and Jake Brown. In the infield, it will be [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] at third base, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] (South Carolina transfer) at shortstop, Pearson/[autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] at second base, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] at first base, [autotag]Alex Millazo[/autotag]/[autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] at catcher, and Travinski/[autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] as the designated hitter.

LSU will start its title defense on Feb. 16 against VMI.

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Five LSU players named to D1Baseball’s top 100 2024 college prospects

D1Baseball released its top 100 college prospects for the 2024 MLB draft, and five LSU Tigers made the ranking.

D1Baseball released its top 100 college prospects for the 2024 MLB draft, and five LSU Tigers made the ranking.

[autotag]Tommy White[/autotag], [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag], [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag], [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] and [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] all made the top 100, with the lowest one being ranked No. 62.

White was ranked as the No. 7 player on the list. He was one of the best hitters in the country last year as he finished the season with a .374 batting average, 24 homers and 105 RBI.

Holman was ranked as the No. 12 player on the list. Holman is a transfer pitcher from Alabama. He served as the Crimson Tide’s ace last year as he went 7-4 and finished with a 3.67 ERA.

Hurd was ranked as the No. 25 player on the list. Hurd is a guy that struggled at the start of the season but he came on strong when LSU needed him the most. He finished the season with an 8-2 record and a 5.68 ERA.

Kling was ranked as the No. 50 player on the list. The sophomore outfielder finished last season with a .289 batting average in 57 games played.

Jump was ranked as the No. 62 player on the list. The left-handed pitcher is a transfer from UCLA where he did not pitch in 2023 due to injury.

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Veteran LSU catcher returning for 2024 season

One of the star players of the 2023 baseball season will be returning for another year on the Bayou.

One of the star players of the 2023 baseball season will be returning for another year on the Bayou. Redshirt junior catcher [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] has confirmed that he will be coming back to LSU to play one more season.

It came as a surprise to me when Travinski was not drafted during the 2023 MLB draft. We’re talking about a solid catcher who is coming off his best spring at LSU. Last year, Travinski had a batting average of .356 with five doubles, 10 homers and 30 RBI.

With that kind of production, especially for a team that won the national championship, he seemed like a shoo-in to be drafted this year.

Nevertheless, the man who had his own mustache t-shirt will be coming back to LSU to help lead another group of pitchers. He’ll get to catch for [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] once again and a few new faces as well. One of those is [autotag]Cameron Johnson[/autotag], LSU’s highest-rated baseball signee of all time.

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2 Tigers land on the MLB Pipeline mock draft for 2024

MLB Pipeline just released a mock draft for the first round of the 2024 draft, and two LSU Tigers made the list.

We just finished the 2023 MLB draft in which we saw two teammates go back-to-back at No. 1 and No. 2 for the first time in NCAA history.

Those two guys were [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] from LSU. Two of the best of all time to wear purple and gold.

MLB Pipeline just released a mock draft for the first round of the 2024 draft and two LSU Tigers made the list. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] both made the mock draft as they are projected to land inside the top-20 draft picks next season.

MLB Pipeline has White going to the Detroit Tigers at the No. 7 pick overall. White was an RBI machine for the Tigers last season as he had a .374 batting average with 24 doubles, 24 homers and 105 RBI.

MLB Pipeline has Hurd going to the Boston Red Sox at the No. 15 pick. Hurd had an 8-2 record with a 5.68 ERA for the Tigers last year as he struck out 84 batters and walked 40.

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LSU lands UCLA pitcher from the transfer portal

The Tigers are going back to the UCLA pitching well with Gage Jump.

Stop me if you have heard this before: LSU lands a pitcher from UCLA in the transfer portal. We have seen this story already, and it helped bring the Tigers a national championship.

Thanks, [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag].

[autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] is a 6-foot, 200-pound left-handed pitcher from UCLA that missed the 2023 season due to having Tommy John surgery. In 2022, Jump was 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA. He had 22 strikeouts and 11 walks in 16.1 innings.

Coming out of high school in 2021, he was selected in the 18th round of the MLB draft but he opted to go to UCLA instead of signing with the San Diego Padres.

[autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] was masterful in the transfer portal last offseason as he brought in [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and Hurd. Those three players made a huge difference in the Tigers’ season.

Johnson is already off to a hot start in the portal and he has more stars on the way.

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LSU baseball joins 2024 Astros Foundation College Classic field

After a one-year hiatus from the Astros Foundation Classic, LSU is returning to make a run for the crown.

After a one-year hiatus from the Astros Foundation Classic, LSU is returning to make a run for the crown.

LSU played against Baylor, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and UCLA in 2022 with the Bruins finishing with the best record that year. In 2024, LSU will face Texas, Texas State, Louisiana, Vanderbilt and Houston.

The Tigers will take on Texas on Friday, Louisiana on Saturday, and Texas State on Sunday. Fresh off of winning a national title, the Tigers will be tested early in 2024. I am excited to see a possible [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] vs. Texas Part 2.

Hurd made his first start of the season against Southern and it did not go well. His next start was against Texas and he shut the Longhorns down for 4.2 innings as he allowed zero earned runs on three hits, four strikeouts, and three walks.

LSU playing against Louisiana is always a fun game to watch and playing the game during primetime will only amplify that. The last time LSU played Houston was in the Astros Foundation Classic in 2015. Current Houston Astros third baseman [autotag]Alex Bregman[/autotag] led the Tigers to a 4-2 win in that game.

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Paul Skenes wins MCWS Most Outstanding Player

Paul Skenes was ultimately not needed in Game 3 against Florida, but his efforts in Omaha earned him recognition all the same.

What can be said about [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] that has not been said already?

Skenes pitched 15.2 innings during the [autotag]Men’s College World Series[/autotag] and he allowed only two runs on seven hits, 21 strikeouts, and two walks.

For his efforts, he was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

He was available for Game 3 against Florida if [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] would have needed him. Skenes was seen getting warmed up in the dugout early on in the game, but [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] pitched so well that he was not needed.

Skenes accomplished the goal he set out for the day he committed to LSU. He wanted to win a national championship with the Tigers and he did just that.

He finished this season with a 12-2 record, a 1.69 ERA, 209 strikeouts, and only 20 walks. He broke the single-season strikeout record set by [autotag]Ben McDonald[/autotag] and he broke the season-long goal of money raised for Folds of Honor.

On top of all of those accomplishments, Skenes will likely be taken No. 1 or No. 2 overall in this year’s MLB draft by either the Pirates or the Nationals.

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PHOTOS: LSU knocks off Florida 18-4 to win program’s 7th national title

Second-year coach Jay Johnson led LSU to a national championship on Monday night.

LSU’s run at the College World Series in Omaha ended with a dogpile.

The Tigers captured the seventh national championship in program history on Monday night and the first under second-year head coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag]. Despite all the talk surrounding the availability of ace [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], LSU didn’t need him as it breezed to an 18-4 series-clinching win over Florida.

The Tigers fell behind 2-0 after the first two at-bats resulted in a single and a Wyatt Langford home run, but it was all LSU after that. [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] recovered to have a great game on the mound, and the offense erupted to break the CWS hits record the Gators set Sunday with 24.

Here were the photos from Monday night as the Tigers captured a title.

CHAMPS AGAIN: Thatcher Hurd, record-setting offensive performance lead LSU to CWS national title win over Florida

The LSU Tigers just won their seventh national championship in school history!

What a difference a day makes.

One of the best traits a baseball player can have is a short memory. LSU got shellacked by the Gators in Game 2 of the College World Series final, but the Tigers not only turned the tables on Monday, but they also flipped the table over.

Game 3 wasn’t even close as LSU got everything it wanted in a dominating 18-4 win as LSU captured a national championship for the seventh time in program history.

For the first time in the series, Florida scored first with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give them an early lead. That would wind up being their only lead of the game.

[autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] put the Tigers on the board in the top of the second inning with an RBI single to cut the lead in half. A bases-loaded hit by pitch and a walk gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead, but LSU was not done in the inning. [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] and [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] both hit RBI singles to increase the lead to 6-2 LSU.

In the top of the fourth inning, LSU scored four more runs as Thompson hit an RBI single, [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a two-run homer, and [autotag]Cade Beloso[/autotag] hit an RBI single to make it 10-2 Tigers.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag]’s night was over after pitching 6 innings and giving up two runs on two hits, seven strikeouts, and two walks. The UCLA transfer was everything [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the Tigers needed him to be. In the top of the seventh, LSU scored again on a bases-loaded walk to increase the lead to 11-2. The Gators got that run back in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot of their own.

LSU scored three runs in the top of the eighth and four runs in the top of the ninth as Jobert capped off the scoring with a two-run homer to increase the lead to 18-4.

[autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag] got the final three outs in the ninth inning as the LSU Tigers won their seventh national championship in school history and the first under coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag].

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YEAR OF THE TIGER: Reactions as LSU baseball wins the 7th national championship in program history

It was a celebration among Tiger nation on Monday night as LSU left no doubt in Game 3 against Florida.

For the seventh time in program history, the LSU Tigers baseball team is the College World Series champion.

Coach Jay Johnson’s team responded as well as he could have hoped after allowing a CWS-record 24 runs in a Game 2 loss to Florida, shelling the Gators in Game 3 en route to a dominating 18-4 win to seal the national championship.

[autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] pitched a gem on the mound as the Tigers didn’t even ultimately need [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag], and [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag], [autotag]Brayden Jobert[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] and [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] all came in clutch on offense, recording three-plus hits each.

Here’s how LSU fans, athletes, alumni and media responded to the national title-clinching win.