Header
INTRO
2018
PREVIEW
OUTLOOK
TIGERS
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 16/16 Pos. Players w/Starting Experience Returning/Lost: 8/8 Pitchers Returning/Lost: 8/8 Newcomers: 17 (11 high school players; 6 JUCO transfers)
Antoine Duplantis
COACHES REVIEW HISTORY RECORDS
LSU is ranked as high as No. 9 in the 2018 preseason polls, marking the seventh straight year the Tigers will begin the year among the Top 10 teams in the nation. LSU coach Paul Mainieri, a four-time National Coach of the Year, welcomes the expectations and challenges assigned to a preseason Top 10 club. “To see ‘LSU’ as the 10th ranked team in the country going into the season is exciting, however, we are not satisfied with that ranking. It just means we only have nine spots to go to get to where we want to be, which is No. 1,” said Mainieri, who has directed the Tigers to one national championship, five College World Series appearances, four SEC overall titles, six SEC division titles and six SEC tournament championships in 11 seasons. “We realize that nothing will be handed to us. It will take an unbelievable amount of hustle and hard work, a tough attitude, unwavering confidence, and clutch play for us to achieve our goals.” LSU is the nation’s leader in wins (301) over the past six years, and the Tigers are the only team in the country to have earned an NCAA Tournament National Seed in each of the last six seasons (2012-17). Last season, the Tigers won five separate championships – the SEC regular-season title, the SEC Tournament title, the SEC Western Division championship, an NCAA Regional title and an NCAA Super Regional championship. The Tigers advanced all the way to the College World Series Finals and finished as the 2017 national runners-up. Mainieri is eager to mold the 2018 club into another national championship contender. “This will be a unique season for us in the sense that if you have a 32-man roster with 17 new players, literally more than half of your entire roster will be brand new,” Mainieri explained. “We have a lot of work to do, and we won’t enter the season as highly-touted as we were last year. I feel very confident about this group, though, and I’m really looking forward to working with them.” LSU returns six players who filled everyday starting roles on last season’s College World Series runners-up team, including junior outfielder Antoine Duplantis, sophomore outfielder Zach Watson, sophomore shortstop Josh Smith, senior outfielder/DH Beau Jordan, sophomore third baseman Jake Slaughter and senior catcher/first baseman Nick Coomes. The Tigers are bolstered by the return of junior first baseman Bryce Jordan, a 2016 All-SEC designated hitter that missed the 2017 season due to a knee injury, and junior infielder Chris Reid is another returning player with starting experience. On the mound, LSU will have to replace its entire weekend starting pitching rotation as Alex Lange and Jared Poche’ have moved on to professional baseball , and right-hander Eric Walker, a 2017 Freshman AllAmerican, will be sidelined in 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Junior right-hander Caleb Gilbert (7-1, 2.16 ERA in 2017) and sophomore right-hander Zack Hess (7-1, 3.12 ERA, four saves in 2017) are the top returning members of the LSU staff, which also includes veteran pitchers Austin Bain, Nick Bush, Matthew Beck, Todd Peterson and Will Reese.
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The Tigers’ talented group of 17 newcomers consists of 11 pitchers and six position players. The class contains four players that were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft – right-handed pitcher AJ Labas, right-handed pitcher Cam Sanders, outfielder/left-handed pitcher Daniel Cabrera and right-handed pitcher Nick Storz. Other new players to watch include catcher Hunter Feduccia, infielders Hal Hughes, Brandt Broussard and Nick Webre, and pitchers Ma’Khail Hilliard and Devin Fontenot. The class was rated as high as No. 5 in the nation in the annual recruiting rankings. “With 11 new pitchers and two new catchers on the roster, our two biggest priorities going are determining who will fill roles on the mound and behind the plate,” Mainieri said. “Our expectation will be, as it always is at LSU, to have our team in position to play for championships at the end of the year.”
BASEBALL OFFICIAL YEARBOOK
Zach Watson