Tag: Will Hellmers

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 can’t close the door, season ends against North Carolina in regional final

LSU had the Tar Heels where it wanted them but couldn’t close the door as North Carolina won 4-3 in extras.

After an incredible day yesterday when the Tigers won two games to send the Chapel Hill Regional to a winner-take-all Game 7, the Tigers matched up with North Carolina one more time with the hopes of hosting a Super Regional. LSU had the Tar Heels where they wanted them, but they couldn’t close the door as North Carolina won 4-3 in extras.

Sam Dutton got the start on the mound and LSU was the home team once again. The Tar Heels started the game with three straight singles before [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] came in to pitch. Coleman walked the first hitter he faced before forcing a double play. He then got the final out but North Carolina took a 2-0 lead.

LSU didn’t waste any time trying to answer those two runs as the Tigers got a run of their own on a [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] groundout to cut the lead to 2-1. In the bottom of the second inning, [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] hit a solo homer to tie the game 2-2.

In the bottom of the third inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] got in on the homer party as he hit a solo shot to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag] walked the first batter he faced and that was the end of his afternoon. When LSU needed him the most, Hellmers gave the best pitching performance of his career. He finished the game after pitching 5.2 innings and giving up zero runs on two hits, four strikeouts, and two walks. It was the longest Hellmers has pitched in his career. His previous high was in 2021 when he pitched five full innings against Southern and New Orleans as a freshman.

[autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] entered to pitch for him and he struck out the next three hitters to send LSU to the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead. In the top of the ninth inning, LSU’s Ace pitcher [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] trotted out of the bullpen to try to close out the win. The Tar Heels led off the inning with a double to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. After getting a strikeout, an RBI single tied the game 3-3. A lineout to second and a ground ball out sent us to the bottom of the ninth with a chance for LSU to walk it off.

[autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] struck out, [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a single to put the winning run on first, Brown flew out to center, and [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] struck out to send us to extra innings.

The Tigers retired the first two hitters of the inning before an error gave the Tar Heels a runner in scoring position. LSU intentionally walked the next guy. Then with two outs and a full count, Carolina scored on an RBI single giving the Tar Heels a 4-3 lead. LSU had the top of the order due up in the bottom of the inning.

[autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] flew out on the first pitch he saw, [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] flew out to right for out number two and it was down to Jones to save the day. Jones reached on a walk to put the tying run at first. Pearson then came up to bat and flew out to center. The Tar Heels won 4-3 and the season ended.

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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 suffers another Game 3 run-rule loss as Vanderbilt takes series

The Commodores run-ruled LSU on Saturday to take the series.

LSU had two chances to get their first conference series win of the season after winning against Vanderbilt on Thursday evening. They could not make it happen as a late rally won Game 2 for Vandy and then the Commodores run-ruled LSU today to take the series.

The Commodores plated five runs in the first three innings before LSU was able to respond. [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] scored due to a throwing error in the bottom of the third inning as LSU would cut the lead to 5-1.

Vandy went on to score two runs in the top of the fourth, one run in the top of the fifth, and three runs in the top of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 11-1. [autotag]Javen Coleman[/autotag] was charged with three runs, [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag] was charged with two runs, [autotag]Cam Johnson[/autotag] was charged with two runs, [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] was charged with one run, and [autotag]Jaden Noot[/autotag] was charged with three runs today.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to cut the Commodore lead to 11-3.

Vandy scored a run in the top of the seventh and the eighth inning to win the game via run rule 13-3. LSU will be back in action on Tuesday as the Tigers take on McNeese at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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LSU baseball takes care of business on the road against Southeastern Louisiana

There was no midweek meltdown this time around for the Tigers.

LSU entered Tuesday night’s game against Southeastern Louisiana after losing two midweek games in a row, both to in-state opponents. That was not the case this time as the Tigers breezed to a 10-0 win.

LSU struck first in the top of the second inning when [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch and [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Dugas scored on a fielder’s choice, [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch, and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a two-RBI single to increase the lead to 7-0.

Dugas scored again in the top of the fifth inning due to a fielding error. That increased the Tigers’ lead to 8-0.

In the top of the seventh inning, [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit a two-run homer to give LSU a 10-0 lead. All the Tigers had to do was get three outs in the bottom of the inning and they would head home with another run-rule victory.

[autotag]Gavin Guidry[/autotag], [autotag]Blake Money[/autotag], [autotag]Micah Bucknam[/autotag], [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag], and [autotag]Sam Dutton[/autotag] combined for the shutout.

With the win, LSU moves to 36-8 overall this season. LSU will travel to the Plains to take on the Auburn Tigers this weekend. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Friday night.

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LSU has ‘Little’ problem crushing the Cardinals in midweek win

Christian Little got his first start of the season in a 9-2 win over Lamar.

[autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] got his first start of the season as LSU welcomed the Lamar Cardinals to Alex Box Stadium for a midweek game on Wednesday night, and the Tigers had no problems with Lamar as they won 9-2.

There has been a lot of chatter about where Little fits into this pitching staff going forward. Should he be a starter, a reliever, or a closer? We’ve mainly seen him used in a closing role so far and he has excelled at it. He entered tonight’s game 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

That ERA now has a blemish after tonight’s game, but it is still under 1.00. Let’s get to the recap and see what happened.

LSU got the scoring started in the first inning as [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] hit an RBI double to right field to score [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] and [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit an RBI single to score White to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, Crews hit an RBI single to score [autotag]Gavin Dugas[/autotag] and White followed that up with a three-run ‘Tommy Tank’ to right field to extend the lead to 6-0 after two innings.

Lamar started the fourth inning with a solo homer to give Little his first run allowed all season, but that is all the Cardinals were able to get against him before [autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag] came in to pitch at the start of the fifth inning.

Hellmers was pulled in the top of the sixth inning after Lamar got two runners on base with only one out. [autotag]Garrett Edwards[/autotag] came in and both runners advanced a base when a ball got by the catcher. The Cardinals then plated one of those runs on an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-2.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, [autotag]Paxton Kling[/autotag] hit a ‘Klinger Dinger’ to left center field to give the Tigers a little bit of breathing room with a 7-2 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] hit an RBI single to left to score Crews and [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] hit an RBI double to left to give LSU a 9-2 lead headed to the ninth inning.

Edwards stayed in to pitch the top of the ninth inning as he closed out the 9-2 Tiger win. With the win, LSU moves to 12-1 on the season. The Tigers will welcome the Samford Bulldogs to Baton Rouge for a weekend series starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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LSU baseball takes a bite out of the Colonels on Tuesday night

It was a nice tuneup game for the Tigers as they prepare for a road series against Alabama this weekend.

Let’s turn up on a Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, shall we?

Last week, LSU had a disappointing mid-week loss at New Orleans and they entered this game with the hope of turning things around. The Tigers did just that against the Nicholls State Colonels in a 10-6 win that was an even bigger blowout until a ninth-inning rally.

[autotag]Bryce Collins[/autotag] got the start on the mound for LSU as coach Johnson threw a few different pitchers tonight. Also, it turns out [autotag]Jacob Berry[/autotag] (the number one ranked college prospect, per the MLB network) and freshman [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] are pretty good at the whole baseball thing.

Pearson finished the game 3-for-6 with five RBI and two homers, and Berry finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBI and one homer. In the bottom of the second inning, LSU got on the board with a RBI single by Pearson followed by a Berry RBI single to make it 2-0 Tigers.

In the bottom of the third inning, LSU scored five runs starting with a [autotag]Josh Stevenson[/autotag] RBI single followed by a Pearson three-run homer and a Berry solo homer to make the score 7-0 after only three innings.

The Tigers would start to sub a bunch of regulars out of the lineup for some young guns to get them some playing time, but that would not keep them from scoring even more runs as they scored one run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take a 10-0 lead.

Pearson hit his second homer of the game as he blasted one to dead center in the bottom of the fifth. [autotag]Tyler McManus[/autotag] hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth and [autotag]Whit Merrifield[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the top of the eighth inning, Nicholls started attempting to mount a comeback as they scored a run due to a solo homer to left-center field to get the Colonels on the board. In the top of the ninth, the Colonels scored on an RBI single and a wild pitch to make it 10-3 Tigers with no one out and runners on the corners.

[autotag]Will Hellmers[/autotag] was then called into the game to try and close out the win. The first batter he faced laced an RBI double to right field which led to another pitching change as [autotag]Trent Vietmeier[/autotag] would come out of the bullpen with runners on second and third with no one out and a 10-4 lead.

The first batter he faced hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-5 Tigers, but it got the first out of the inning. His second batter grounded out for out number two, but his third batter hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 10-6 with two down and a runner on second.

So, in came [autotag]Eric Reyzelman[/autotag], who struck out the only hitter he faced as the Tigers won 10-6. With the win, LSU improves to 30-14 (12-9 SEC). The Tigers will take a trip to Tuscaloosa for a weekend series with the Alabama Crimson Tide starting Friday night at 6 p.m. CT.

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