KSR's 2025 SEC Baseball Preview: LSU

With the 2025 College Baseball season just around the corner, KSR will be previewing all 15 SEC teams that will be competing with Kentucky for an SEC crown this season. Up next; the LSU Tigers.

The 2024 season was meant to be a sort of “rebuilding” season for LSU, if that even is such a thing for Jay Johnson’s program. After winning a National Championship and losing all-time college players such as Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes, a bit of a step back was expected. LSU finished the regular season with a 36-20 (13-17) record, earning the No. 11 seed in the SEC Tournament. To the surprise of nobody, the Tigers made a run to the Finals (even beating Kentucky 11-0 in the Second Round) before falling to No. 1 seed Tennessee.

This SEC Tournament run and winning seven of its final 10 regular season games earned LSU the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional, where the Tigers would face off against North Carolina three separate times. They however lost two of three meetings, ending their season short of a Super Regional berth.

The 2025 season however looks to be back to business for the preseason ranked No. 3 Bayou Bengals, who return a wealth of experience along with great transfers and a phenomenal freshman class.

Returning Players:

• Jr. INF Jared Jones (2024: 66 G, .301 AVG, 14 2B, 28 HR, 59 RBI, .747 SLG%, .454 OBP%)
• Sr. INF Michael Braswell III (2024: 64 G, .311 AVG, 12 2B, 4 HR, 36 RBI, .453 SLG%, .411 OBP%)
• So. INF Steven Milam (2024: 63 G, .326 AVG, 12 2B, 8 HR, 40 RBI, .516 SLG%, .415 OBP%)
• Sr. OF Josh Pearson (2024: 60 G, .244 AVG, 13 2B, 8 HR, 34 RBI, .442 SLG%, .352 OBP%)
• So. OF Jake Brown (2024: 56 G, .264 AVG, 4 2B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, .440 SLG%, .370 OBP%)
• So. OF Ashton Larson (2024: 53 G, .298 AVG, 9 2B, 3 HR, 16 RBI, .426 SLG%, .401 OBP%)
• Jr. OF/INF Ethan Frey (2024: 34 G, .228 AVG, 3 2B, 0 HR, 10 RBI, .281 SLG%, .292 OBP%)

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• So. LHP Kade Anderson (2024: 18 APP, 9 GS, 4-2, 3.99 ERA, 38 1/3 IP, 59 K, 20 BB, .262 B/AVG)
• Jr. RHP Gavin Guidry (2024: 22 APP, 0 GS, 2-0, 2.59 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 36 K, 18 BB, .165 B/AVG)
• R-So. LHP DJ Primeaux (2024: 9 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 2.45 ERA, 3 2/3 IP, 3 K, 2 BB, .333 B/AVG)
• R-Jr. RHP Kade Woods (2024: 3 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 1 2/3 IP, 2 K, 2 BB, .200 B/AVG)
• R-So. RHP Jaden Noot (2024: 1 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 27.00 ERA, 1 IP, 0 K, 2 BB, .500 B/AVG)

Departing Players:

• Jr. INF Tommy White (2024: 66 G, .330 AVG, 12 2B, 24 HR, 70 RBI, .638 SLG%, .401 OBP% – 2nd Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Gr. C/INF Hayden Travinski (2024: 65 G, 13 2B, 16 HR, 53 RBI, .542 SLG%, .381 OBP% – Graduated)
• So. OF Paxton Kling (2024: 61 G, .222 AVG, 9 2B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, .317 SLG%, .409 OBP% – Transferred to Penn State)
• Sr. OF Mac Bingham (2024: 60 G, .251 AVG, 5 2B, 8 HR, 26 RBI, .425 SLG%, .372 OBP% – Graduated)
• Gr. C Alex Milazzo (2024: 50 G, .267 AVG, 4 2B, 0 HR, 14 RBI, .305 SLG%, .371 OBP% – Graduated)
• So. C Brady Neal (2024: 44 G, .276 AVG, 8 2B, 9 HR, 31 RBI, .578 SLG%, .408 OBP% – Transferred to Alabama)
• Sr. INF Ben Nippolt (2024: 25 G, .250 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .250 SLG%, .444 OBP% – Graduated)
• Fr. INF Ryan Kucherak (2024: 16 G, .250 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .250 SLG%, .471 OBP% – Transferred to Northwestern)
• R-Fr. OF Zeb Ruddell (2024: 15 G, .200 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .600 SLG%, .429 OBP% – Transferred to Louisiana Tech)

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• Jr. RHP Luke Holman (2024: 16 APP, 16 GS, 9-4, 2.75 ERA, 91 2/3 IP, 127 K, 33 BB, .174 B/AVG – Competitive Balance Round B of 2024 MLB Draft)
• R-So. LHP Gage Jump (2024: 17 APP, 15 GS, 3.47 ERA, 83 IP, 101 K, 22 BB, .218 B/AVG – Competitive Balance Round B of 2024 MLB Draft)
• So. LHP Griffin Herring (2024: 21 APP, 1 GS, 6-1, 1.79 ERA, 50 1/3 IP, 67 K, 13 BB, .215 B/AVG – 6th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Jr. RHP Thatcher Hurd (2024: 18 APP, 9 GS, 3-4, 6.55 ERA, 44 IP, 56 K, 24 BB, .291 B/AVG – 3rd Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Sr. LHP Nate Ackenhausen (2024: 20 APP, 5 GS, 3-4, 5.65 ERA, 43 IP, 59 K, 22 BB, .228 B/AVG – 10th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Sr. RHP Christian Little (2024: 23 APP, 0 GS, 2-0, 6.37 ERA, 29 2/3 IP, 38 K, 16 BB, .292 B/AVG – 11th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Jr. RHP Samuel Dutton (2024: 20 APP, 4 GS, 0-2, 5.86 ERA, 27 2/3 IP, 29 K, 6 BB, .286 B/AVG – Transferred to Auburn)
• R-Jr. LHP Javen Coleman (2024: 12 APP, 7 GS, 3-1, 5.19 ERA, 26 IP, 28 K, 21 BB, .213 B/AVG)
• Jr. LHP Justin Loer (2024: 26 APP, 0 GS, 2-0, 5.92 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 30 K, 12 BB, .292 B/AVG – 13th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• Sr. RHP Will Hellmers (2024: 20 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 2.31 ERA, 23 1/3 IP, 20 K, 8 BB, .183 B/AVG – Graduated)
• Jr. RHP Fidel Ulloa (2024: 19 APP, 0 GS, 2-2, 4.63 ERA, 23 1/3 IP, 26 K, 11 BB, .225 B/AVG- 7th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
• So. RHP Aiden Moffett (2024: 16 APP, 0 GS, 0-1, 5.60 ERA, 17 2/3 IP, 21 K, 12 BB, .269 B/AVG – Transferred to Texas)
• So. RHP Micah Bucknam (2024: 8 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 7.00 ERA, 9 IP, 10 K, 3 BB, .316 B/AVG – Transferred to Dallas Baptist)
• Fr. LHP Cam Johnson (2024: 13 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 12.00 ERA, 9 IP, 13 K, 16 BB, .167 B/AVG – Transferred to Oklahoma)
• R-Fr. LHP Nic Bronzini (2024: 6 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 5.79 ERA, 4 2/3 IP, 8 K, 4 BB, .263 B/AVG – Transferred to Washington)

Incoming Transfers:

• Jr. INF Daniel Dickinson (2024: 59 G, .363 AVG, 14 2B, 18 HR, 53 RBI, .653 SLG%, .468 OBP% – Transferred from Utah Valley)
• Sr. INF Luis Hernandez (2024: 59 G, .359 AVG, 14 2B, 23 HR, 76 RBI, .694 SLG%, .421 OBP% – Transferred from Indiana State)
• Jr. C/INF Edward Yamin IV (2024: 53 G, .342 AVG, 14 2B, 13 HR, 54 RBI, .608 SLG%, .429 OBP% – Transferred from Dayton)
• Jr. OF Chris Stanfield (2024: 52 G, .276 AVG, 8 2B, 4 HR, 25 RBI, .395 SLG%, .365 OBP% – Transferred from Auburn)
• Sr. OF/INF Dalton Beck (2024: 39 G, .348 AVG, 12 2B, 15 HR, 49 RBI, .707 SLG%, .400 OBP% – Transferred from Incarnate Word)

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• Jr. RHP Zac Cowan (2024: 17 APP, 17 GS, 10-2, 3.35 ERA, 110 IP, 124 K, 29 BB, .242 B/AVG – Transferred from Wofford)
• Jr. RHP Anthony Eyanson (2024: 14 APP, 9 GS, 6-2, 3.07 ERA, 82 IP, 85 K, 24 BB, .190 B/AVG – Transferred from UC San Diego)
• Jr. RHP Jacob Mayers (2024: 18 APP, 16 GS, 5-1, 4.58 ERA, 70 2/3 IP, 106 K, 76 BB, .165 B/AVG – Transferred from Nicholls)
• So. RHP Deven Sheerin (2024: 18 APP, 2 GS, 6-5, 4.76 ERA, 70 IP, 109 K, 32 BB, .197 B/AVG – Transferred from Mount St. Mary’s)
• Jr. RHP Connor Benge (2024: 22 APP, 1 GS, 1-1, 5.73 ERA, 33 IP, 35 K, 22 BB, .268 B/AVG – Transferred from Dallas Baptist)
• Jr. RHP Chandler Dorsey (2024: 22 APP, 0 GS, 2-1, 3.42 ERA, 26 1/3 IP, 32 K, 12 BB, .186 B/AVG – Transferred from USF)
• R-Jr. RHP Grant Fontenot (2024: 11 APP, 2 GS, 1-1, 2.45 ERA, 11 IP, 14 K, 8 BB, .295 B/AVG – Transferred from Texas)

Six offensive starters from last year’s team, led by superstar slugger Jared Jones and 2024 Freshman All-SEC Steven Milam, return as LSU brings back one of (if not the best) offensive returning cores in the SEC. Jones has hit 42 home runs through his first two seasons in College Baseball and will likely be near the top in that category once again this season. He has hit three home runs in five career games vs. Kentucky.

When you pair transfers such as 2024 All-WAC First Team selection junior infielder Daniel Dickinson (Utah Valley) and 2024 All-MVC First Team selection junior first baseman Luis Hernandez (Indiana State) alongside more returning production such as senior shortstop Michael Braswell III and senior outfielder Josh Pearson, you’ve got the recipe for another National Championship winning caliber squad. Baseball America tabbed LSU as a Transfer Portal winner this offseason.

The 2024 MLB Draft was however extremely unkind to LSU, as a whopping eight Tiger pitchers were selected with three going in the top 89 picks (RHP Luke Holman, LHP Gage Jump, and RHP Thatcher Hurd). With four arms transferring away from Baton Rouge as well, the LSU pitching staff returns just five of 20 pitchers that saw game action last season. Just one of those pitchers started at least one game (sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson).

Although they don’t return much production on that side of the ball, Jay Johnson and his staff absolutely dominated the Transfer Portal. Big-time pitchers from mid-majors such as 2024 All-Southern Conference First Team junior right-hander Zac Cowan (Wofford), junior right-hander Jacob Mayers (Nicholls) and 2024 Second Team Freshman All-American sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin (Mount St. Mary’s) will fit in nicely in Baton Rouge. Cowan’s 124 strikeouts ranked 13th in the country last season, while Mayers and Sheerin ranked in the top 15 in the country in K/9.

Alongside proven players, D1Baseball has crowned LSU’s incoming freshman class as the best in the country. Right-hander William Schmidt (No. 5 ranked player in C/O ’24), outfielder Derek Curiel (No. 10 ranked player in C/O ’24), and catcher Cade Arrambide (No. 13 ranked player in C/O ’24) will immediately be major contributors in Baton Rouge.

LSU, who will open the season at No. 3, is scheduled to face five SEC teams present in D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings this season (at No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 18 Mississippi State, at No. 19 Texas).

Kentucky, who fell to LSU in the 2024 SEC Tournament, is not scheduled to face the Tigers in the regular season for the second consecutive year. LSU leads the all-time series against Kentucky 60-32-1.