LSU Baseball picked as SEC preseason favorite

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU is the favorite to win the 2023 SEC baseball championship, and four Tigers received Preseason All-SEC recognition Thursday in a vote of the league’s 14 head coaches.

Four different schools received first place votes to win the 2023 SEC title. LSU led the way with 11 votes, while Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M had one. LSU was predicted to win the SEC Western Division, followed by Texas A&M and Arkansas. Tennessee was the pick to win the Eastern Division, followed by Florida and Vanderbilt.

LSU junior centerfielder Dylan Crews and sophomore third baseman Tommy White voted to the First-Team All-SEC squad, and junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan and junior right-handed pitcher/utility player Paul Skenes were granted Second-Team All-SEC honors.

Crews was voted a 2022 consensus First-Team All-American and the SEC Co-Player of the Year, batting .349 with 11 doubles, four triples, 22 homers, 72 RBI and 73 runs. The Tigers’ centerfielder was named a semifinalist last season for the Golden Spikes Award and for the Dick Howser National Player of the Year Award.

He finished the season as the SEC leader in runs scored (73), and he was No. 2 in the league in triples (4), No. 3 in RBI (72), No. 3 in total bases (172), No. 4 in home runs (22), No. 4 in slugging percentage (.691), No. 5 in hits (87), No. 5 in on-base percentage (.463) and No. 8 in walks (42).

Crews, a Longwood, Fla., native, also received 2022 SEC Community Service Team and SEC All-Defensive Team recognition. He played this summer with the U.S. Collegiate National Team, helping lead Team USA to a bronze medal at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands.

White, a product of St. Pete Beach, Fla., transferred to LSU after an incredible 2022 freshman season at North Carolina State, where he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year.

White hit .362 last season with 85 hits, 12 doubles, 27 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .757 slugging percentage, setting the NCAA freshman record for homers in a season. He had 26 multi-hit games and 19 multi-RBI outings, and he finished the year on 26-game reached base streak.

Morgan, a 2022 SEC All-Defensive Team selection, hit .324 in 2022 with 18 doubles, one triple, five homers, 54 RBI and 50 runs. The New Orleans, La., native joined Crews this summer as a member of the U.S. Collegiate National Team that claimed the bronze medal at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands.

Morgan batted .500 (6-for-12) in the Tigers’ three-game sweep at Vanderbilt (May 19-21) with four doubles, three RBI and five runs, and he delivered the game-winning two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning at Mississippi State (April 8), erasing a 2-1 deficit and sparking LSU to a 5-2 victory.

As a true freshman in 2021, Morgan earned Freshman All-America, Second-Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team recognition.

Skenes, who transferred to LSU this season after two years at Air Force, enjoyed an exceptional 2022 season both on the mound and at the plate, earning first-team All-America recognition.

Skenes, a product of Lake Forest, Calif., recorded a 2.96 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 85.2 innings (15 starts) for Air Force, limiting opponents to a .224 batting average. He also hit .314 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 38 RBI. In 2021, Skenes posted a 2.70 ERA while batting .410 with 11 homers and 43 RBI.

2023 SEC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

Eastern Division

1. Tennessee (12) – 90

2. Florida (2) – 79

3. Vanderbilt – 64

4. South Carolina – 51

5. Georgia – 48

6. Kentucky – 34

7. Missouri – 19

Western Division

1. LSU (12) – 88 

2. Texas A&M (1) – 69

3. Arkansas – 68

4. Ole Miss (1) – 64

5. Alabama – 34

6. Auburn – 33

7. Mississippi State – 29

SEC Champion: LSU (11), Florida (1), Ole Miss (1), Texas A&M (1)

() – First place votes

2023 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team

First Team

C: BT Riopelle, Florida

1B: Jack Moss, Texas A&M

2B: Peyton Stovall, Arkansas

3B: Luke Mann, Missouri

SS: Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss

OF: Dylan Crews, LSU

OF: Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt

OF: Wyatt Langford, Florida

DH/UTL: Tommy White, LSU

SP: Chase Dollander, Tennessee

SP: Chase Burns, Tennessee

RP: Brady Tygart, Arkansas

Second Team

C: Luke Hancock, Mississippi State

1B: Tre’ Morgan, LSU

2B: Ryan Targac, Texas A&M

3B: Trevor Werner, Texas A&M

SS: Maui Ahuna, Tennessee

OF: Connor Tate, Georgia

OF: Brett Minnich, Texas A&M

OF: Colton Ledbetter, Mississippi State

DH/UTL: Austin Bost, Texas A&M

SP: Carter Holton, Vanderbilt*

SP: Hurston Waldrep, Florida*

SP: Paul Skenes, LSU*

RP: Camden Sewell, Tennessee

Press release.