Tag: xavier musketeers

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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Instant Analysis: Gage Jump shines as LSU takes Game 2 over Xavier

Gage Jump finished the game after pitching five innings and allowing zero runs on three hits, 10 strikeouts and one walk.

There was no delay to Game 2 tonight between LSU and Xavier. [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] got the start on the mound for the Tigers and he looked great once again. He finished the game after pitching five innings and allowing zero runs on three hits, 10 strikeouts, and one walk.

Just like last night, LSU scored in the bottom of the first inning. [autotag]Ethan Frey[/autotag] hit a three-RBI double to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead.

The Tigers scored another run in the bottom of the second inning when [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly to score [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] to make it 4-0 LSU.

The Tigers scored another run in the bottom of the fourth due to a solo homer from [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag]. In the fifth inning, LSU scored three more runs thanks to an RBI single by Milam and a two-RBI double by Travinski to extend the lead to 8-0.

In the top of the sixth inning, Xavier cut into LSU’s lead by scoring two runs to make it 8-2 LSU. Those are the only runs Xavier was able to score as the Tigers took Game 2 by a score of 8-2.

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Instant Analysis: LSU baseball shuts Xavier out to begin weekend series

Luke Holman finished the night after pitching six innings and allowing zero runs on zero hits.

After a rain delay moved the game back from its original start time, LSU and Xavier finally got underway around 8 p.m. CT. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] got the start for the Tigers as he has become the ace and looked every bit of it on Friday night.

Holman finished the night after pitching six innings and allowing zero runs on zero hits. He struck out 10 hitters and only walked two.

LSU did not waste any time getting some runs on the board as the Tigers plated two in the bottom of the first inning. [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit an RBI double and [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit an RBI triple and [autotag]Stephen Milam[/autotag] hit an RBI double to extend LSU’s lead to 4-0.

[autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] and [autotag]Christian Little[/autotag] pitched the last four innings and held Xavier scoreless as the Tigers took Game 1 4-0.

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LSU baseball’s Friday night game vs. Xavier delayed

Game 1 of the LSU vs. Xavier series will not start until 8 p.m. CT due to weather.

[autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] and the LSU baseball team are scheduled to play a three-game series against the [autotag]Xavier Musketeers[/autotag]. Game one was slated to start at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday evening but it has now been delayed.

Game 1 of the LSU vs Xavier series will not start until 8 p.m. CT due to weather. Xavier will enter this game with a 7-6 record. [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag] will get the start in Game 1, but he is not the pitcher I want to focus on for this series.

[autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag] is the guy I want to talk about for this series. Loer spent his last two seasons in the NCAA playing for the Musketeers and garnering an overall 8-3 record with a 2.43 ERA and seven saves over that stretch. Xavier is where Loer cut his teeth and learned even more about how to be a great pitcher.

Now, Loer is at LSU and has a chance at a national championship, but he may have never gotten the chance to play for the Tigers if not for Xavier.

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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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LSU baseball lands a left-handed pitcher in the transfer portal

While everyone has been focused on the Tigers trying to make a run in Omaha, LSU received some great news in the transfer portal. 

While everyone has been focused on the Tigers trying to make a run in Omaha, LSU received some great news in the transfer portal.

[autotag]Justin Loer[/autotag], a left-handed pitcher from Xavier University, has announced his commitment to LSU via his Twitter. Loer pitched 57 innings this season as he was a star out of the bullpen for the Musketeers. He finished the season with a 6-3 record, seven saves, and a 1.89 ERA with 63 strikeouts and 22 walks.

Loer is a guy that can be used out of the bullpen or as a weekend starter by [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] next season. He led the Musketeers to a regional final against Oregon after beating Vanderbilt in Nashville. We will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the Tigers are 1-0 with Omaha.

LSU will face No. 1 Wake Forest on Monday night at 6 p.m. as [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag] will look to lead LSU to a 2-0 record and to put LSU one win away from playing for a national title.

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Photo Gallery: Oregon comes home as Nashville Regional champs

Photo Gallery: Oregon upset No. 6 Vanderbilt and then defeated Xavier to win the Nashville Regional in the NCAA baseball tournament.

The college baseball season has been one wild ride and the Oregon Ducks made sure that ride continued by winning the Nashville Regional.

Oregon defeated Xavier, upset No. 6 Vanderbilt, and then Xavier again to move on to the Super Regional where the Ducks will host Oral Roberts this weekend at PK Park.

The Ducks put everything on display with home runs, clutch hitting, spectacular game-saving defensive play, and some gutsy pitching performances to win the regional.

There were even a couple of lightning strikes during the Vanderbilt-Xavier game Sunday afternoon. But it seems has if Oregon channeled the lightning in order to win and they hope it strikes twice at PK Park to move on to the College World Series in Omaha.

Ducks defeat Xavier and will host a Super Regional vs Oral Roberts

Oregon blows out Xavier to win the Nashville Regional and will now host Oral Roberts with a trip to Omaha on the line.

Xavier may not want to schedule Oregon in any sport ever again.

The Oregon Ducks baseball team began this season with a four-game sweep over the Musketeers and just ended the Nashville Regional with an 11-2 win over that same Xavier team.

Now the Ducks will come home and host Oral Roberts in their first Super Regional since 2012. The Golden Eagles were a 4-seed in the Stillwater Regional and upset Dallas Baptist 6-5 to advance. The weekend series will be a Best of 2-of-3 with the winner going on to Omaha for the College World Series.

Playing and defeating Xavier for the sixth time this season was probably the last thing on anyone’s mind when this weekend started. Vanderbilt, a national 6-seed, was the overwhelming favorite to win this regional, but the Ducks beat the Commodores Saturday night and Xavier ousted the host team 2-1 Sunday afternoon.

Although they upset Vandy, Xavier was still in a tough spot. The Musketeers had to beat the Ducks twice in order to advance.

The game was scoreless through three innings until Oregon finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on Sabin Ceballos’ 442-foot solo home run to left-center field that left the entire stadium.

The Ducks added to their 1-0 lead in the fifth thanks to some old-time small ball. Rikuu Nishida stole second and the ball went into center field to score Bennett Thompson.

Nishida went to third on the play and two pitches later, he scored on a balk to make it 3-0. Drew Cowley’s double to right-center scored Bryce Boettcher to increase the lead to 4-0.

Boettcher started the game in center as he replaced Colby Shade, who was hit on the wrist by a pitch Saturday night. Thankfully for the Ducks, Boettcher is as good of an outfielder as Shade, so there wasn’t any loss of defense in such a crucial spot.

Xavier managed to score an unearned run in the sixth and then the Ducks absolutely blew the door off in the bottom half with six runs to make it 10-1.

The big blow came off the wooden bat of Nishida with a bases-clearing double to extend their lead to 7-1. Just for good measure, Drew Cowley hit a three-run homer to left-center to put double digits on the scoreboard to erase any doubt.

Perhaps lost in the offensive exploits is the effort on the mound. Oregon used Grayson Grinsell, Ian Umlandt, and Logan Mercado to hold the Musketeers to just two runs, one unearned, and nine hits.

Oregon’s late-season run has been something else. This victory was the Ducks’ ninth straight and if that streak reaches 11 next weekend, they’ll be going to Omaha for the first time in the program’s history.

Photo Gallery: Ducks avoid Xavier upset in Nashville Regional

Photo Gallery: Oregon had plenty to be happy about after it rallied to defeat Xavier 5-4 in the Nashville Regional.

Xavier’s starting pitcher Brant Alazaus was on a roll. He retired 12 straight batters, was up 4-3 in the seventh, and had one out. Then Oregon’s Rikuu Nishida hit a fly ball over the head of left fielder Andrew Walker to be in scoring position.

Alazaus had 105 pitches under his belt and Musketeer coach Billy O’Connor felt that was enough and went to his bullpen. That decision might have cost Xavier as Colby Shade and Drew Cowley also doubled to give the Ducks the 5-4 lead.

Fortunately, Oregon’s bullpen came through whereas Xavier’s didn’t. The Ducks won by that score and will now play either Vanderbilt or Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 3 pm PST.