 Photo By: LSUsports.net 1/26/2021 LSU Sports Information By: William Franques FONTENOT, HILL EARN PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA RECOGNITION FROM D1 BASEBALL BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU pitchers Devin Fontenot and Jaden Hill on Tuesday received 2021 Preseason All-America recognition from D1 Baseball.com. Fontenot was named to the first team, and Hill was voted to the third team by the college baseball web site. Fontenot, a senior right-hander from The Woodlands, Texas, was 1-0 in 2020 with a 0.90 ERA, four walks, 17 strikeouts and four saves in 10 innings, and he ranked No. 3 in the SEC in saves. He recorded a win and two saves in his final three appearances of the 2020 season, working five scoreless and hitless innings in that three-game stretch with two walks and 11 strikeouts. Fontenot pitched four scoreless innings over two relief appearances during the final week of the season, earning a save versus Southeastern Louisiana and a win over UMass Lowell. He allowed no hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in the two appearances. Fontenot will enter the 2021 season with a 9-5 record and 11 saves in 64 career appearances (five starts) for the Tigers. He has registered 115 strikeouts in 100.1 career innings at LSU. Hill, a junior right-hander from Ashdown, Ark., allowed just one hit in 11.2 innings in the shortened 2020 season while recording 17 strikeouts. Opponents batted only .028 (1-for-36) against Hill during the year. Hill made his first appearance in a game in nearly a year when he worked two relief innings versus Indiana on February 15. Hill, who was sidelined in 2019 by an elbow injury, was dominant in the outing, firing two shutout frames with no hits, one walk and three strikeouts. His fastball was consistently clocked in the upper 90s, peaking at 98 mph. Hill earned his first LSU career save in a February 28 win over Texas with a dominating three-inning performance. He fired three scoreless frames, allowing no hits with one walk and six strikeouts, preserving the Tigers’ 4-3 victory. Hill fired four perfect innings with three strikeouts on March 7 to earn a save versus UMass Lowell.
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 1/25/2021 LSU Sports Information By: William Franques LSU RANKED NO. 10 IN 2021 BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON POLL BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU is No. 10 in the 2021 Baseball America preseason poll released Monday, marking the Tigers’ second Top 10 preseason ranking. LSU is No. 7 in the Collegiate Baseball poll that was released in December. LSU will begin the season ranked among the Top 10 teams in the nation for the ninth time in 10 years. The Tigers begin preseason workouts on Friday, and LSU opens the 2021 season at 7 p.m. on February 19 versus Air Force in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. LSU has a 38-man roster that includes a recruiting class ranked No. 2 in the country by Baseball America. The Tigers also return 10 position players with starting experience and 10 pitchers who recorded innings last season. Four juniors – outfielder/first baseman Cade Beloso, centerfielder Giovanni DiGiacomo, outfielder/infielder Gavin Dugas and outfielder/infielder Drew Bianco – provide a veteran presence among the position players. Members of the skilled sophomore class – catchers Alex Milazzo and Hayden Travinski; infielders Collier Cranford, Cade Doughty and Zach Arnold; and outfielders Maurice Hampton Jr. and Mitchell Sanford will be counted upon to play significant roles this season. The pitching staff is led by junior right-hander Jaden Hill, who is projected as the Tigers’ No. 1 starter; and senior right-hander Devin Fontenot, who is expected to work as the LSU closer. Both Hill and Fontenot earned 2020 All-America honors following the pandemic-shortened season. LSU has a very deep staff that includes two returning weekend starters – junior right-handers Landon Marceaux and AJ Labas. The bullpen features a wealth of experience, including senior right-handers Matthew Beck, Ma’Khail Hilliard, Aaron George and Trent Vietmeier; senior left-hander Brandon Kaminer; and sophomore left-hander Jacob Hasty. The Tigers’ talented 16-man recruiting class is composed of 10 pitchers and six position players, with several of them expected to make a major impact this season. Freshmen position players to watch include outfielder Dylan Crews, first baseman Tre’ Morgan, outfielder Brody Drost, infielder Will Safford and infielder Jordan Thompson. LSU is one of nine Southeastern Conference teams appearing in the Baseball America 2021 preseason Top 25, along with No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 8 Mississippi State, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 18 South Carolina, No. 19 Tennessee and No. 25 Alabama. The Tigers’ 2021 schedule features 21 games against teams ranked in the Baseball America Top 25. Baseball America Preseason Top 25 Rank Team 2020 Record 1. Florida 16-1 2. UCLA 13-2 3. Texas Tech 16-3 4. Mississippi 16-1 5. Virginia 14-4 6. Vanderbilt 13-5 7. Louisville 13-4 8. Mississippi St 12-4 9. Florida State 12-5 10. LSU 12-5 11. Miami (Fla.) 12-4 12. Texas 14-3 13. TCU 11-4 14. Arkansas 11-5 15. Arizona 10-5 16. Duke 12-4 17. NC State 14-3 18. S. Carolina 12-4 19. Tennessee 15-2 20. Michigan 8-7 21. UC Santa Barbara 13-2 22. Georgia Tech 11-5 23. Oklahoma 14-4 24. Central Florida 15-4 25. Alabama 16-1  1/20/2021 LSU Sports Information By: William Franques BATON ROUGE, La. – COVID-19 concerns will prohibit the UC Riverside baseball team from traveling to Baton Rouge this season, so LSU coach Paul Mainieri said Wednesday that the Tigers have made some adjustments to their 2021 schedule. LSU was originally set to face UC Riverside in a three-game series February 26-28 in Alex Box Stadium; the Tigers will now face Youngstown State and Nicholls during that weekend at “The Box.” LSU will meet Youngstown State on Friday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. CT, and the Tigers will face both Youngstown State (2 p.m. CT) and Nicholls (6:30 p.m. CT) on Saturday, Feb. 27. LSU will now have on off day on Sunday, Feb. 28 In addition, the Tigers’ regularly-scheduled game with Nicholls has been moved from Wednesday, March 3 to Tuesday, March 2. First pitch for that matchup between the Tigers and the Colonels will be 6:30 p.m. CT. 1/19/2021 LSU Sports Information By: William Franques BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU on Tuesday released its 56-game 2021 baseball schedule, which includes 10 three-game Southeastern Conference series. The seventh-ranked Tigers will play 28 games against teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball preseason Top 50. Information about tickets and Alex Box Stadium seating capacities will be sent to season ticket holders later this week. Starting times and dates for all games are subject to change once the SEC determines its television schedule. The 2021 season opens at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, February 19, when the Tigers face Air Force to begin Military Appreciation Weekend. LSU will also meet Notre Dame and Louisiana Tech during the opening weekend of competition. The non-conference schedule is also highlighted by weekend home series versus UC Riverside, Oral Roberts and UT San Antonio, and midweek matchups against all of Louisiana’s Division I programs. The 30-game Southeastern Conference slate begins with a weekend home series versus Mississippi State on March 19. The Tigers will also play host to league foes Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Arkansas and Alabama, and LSU will travel to play Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Auburn and Texas A&M. Preparation for the 2021 season is underway, as the Tigers are engaged in conditioning drills and individual workouts. LSU begins its full-squad preseason practice period on Friday, January 29. 1/15/2021 LSU Sports Information By: William Franques LSU NO. 2 IN D1 BASEBALL RECRUITING RANKING BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU is No. 2 in the D1 Baseball recruiting ranking released on Friday, marking the third Top 3 finish for the class of new players who will make a significant impact upon the Tigers’ 2021 season. LSU’s class was ranked No. 2 by Baseball America and No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball in the fall. The Tigers’ newcomers and veteran players are engaged in individual workouts at Alex Box Stadium, and the first full-squad practice is scheduled for Friday, January 29. The 2021 season will begin in February, and the Tigers’ complete schedule of games will be released next week. The recruiting ranking marks the third Top 5 class for LSU assistant coach Nolan Cain, who has served as recruiting coordinator since 2017. Cain’s classes have been ranked as high as No. 5 in 2017, No. 1 in 2018, No. 6 in 2019 and No. 2 in 2020. The 16-man class of newcomers is composed of 10 pitchers and six position players. D1 Baseball Top 25 Recruiting Class Ranking
LSU PITCHER/TIGHT END NICK STORZ DECIDES TO END HIS BASEBALL CAREER IN ORDER TO FOCUS ON FOOTBALL1/15/2021  Photo By: LSUsports.net 1/15/2021 LSU Sports Information By: William Franques LSU PITCHER/TIGHT END NICK STORZ DECIDES TO END HIS BASEBALL CAREER IN ORDER TO FOCUS ON FOOTBALL BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU pitcher/tight end Nick Storz has decided to end his baseball career in order to focus on playing football full-time for the Tigers. Storz, a right-hander from Brooklyn, N.Y., was selected out of high school by Detroit in the 31st round of the 2017 MLB Draft, but elected to enroll at LSU. He was a member of the LSU pitching staff for three seasons (2018-20); however, injuries limited his appearances on the mound. He pitched effectively in LSU’s pandemic-shortened 2020 season, appearing in six games out of the bullpen while posting a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings with three walks and nine strikeouts. Storz was named to the 2020 SEC Baseball Academic Honor Roll as a general business major. “Nick has the full support of the baseball coaching staff, and he has been a very valued player in our program,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “He’s an amazing young man and a great leader, and we will miss him. But, I’m excited for him as he pursues a football career with total dedication. I hope we’ll be watching him play in the NFL one day!” “LSU Baseball family, I am forever grateful and blessed for the opportunity to have been able to play for the greatest program in the college baseball,” Storz said. “The memories that I have made over the past three seasons will last a lifetime. It has been an honor to play for Coach Mainieri and the rest of the LSU Baseball coaching staff. “While it was a tough decision to end my baseball career, I am excited about the opportunity to focus solely on football at LSU. I look forward to watching the LSU Baseball team this season in their pursuit of a National Championship! Geaux Tigers!” The 6-6, 262-pound Storz began working out with the LSU football squad in the summer of 2020 and made the team as a tight end. He was in the starting offensive lineup for the Tigers’ season finale against Ole Miss, and he played in all 10 games as a member of the punt coverage unit.  Photo By: TheAdvocate 1/7/2020
LSU Sports Information By: William Franques LSU PITCHER JADEN HILL NAMED 2021 FIRST-TEAM PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN BY PERFECT GAME BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU pitcher Jaden Hill on Thursday was named a 2021 First-Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game. It marked the second All-America designation for Hill, who was voted a third-team Preseason All-American last month by Collegiate Baseball. Hill, a junior right-hander from Ashdown, Ark., allowed just one hit in 11.2 innings in the shortened 2020 season while recording 17 strikeouts. Opponents batted only .028 (1-for-36) against him during the year. Hill made his first appearance in a game in nearly a year when he worked two relief innings versus Indiana on February 15, 2020. Hill, who was sidelined in 2019 by an elbow injury, was dominant in the outing, firing two shutout frames with no hits, one walk and three strikeouts. His fastball was consistently clocked in the upper 90s, peaking at 98 mph. Hill earned his first LSU career save in a February 28 win over Texas with a dominating three-inning performance. He fired three scoreless frames, allowing no hits with one walk and six strikeouts, preserving the Tigers’ 4-3 victory. Hill fired four perfect innings with three strikeouts on March 7 to earn a save versus UMass Lowell. Hill and his LSU teammates are scheduled to begin their full-squad preseason practice sessions on Friday, January 29. LSU’s 2021 schedule of games should be finalized in the coming weeks. LSU is No. 7 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, and the Tigers are No. 8 in the Perfect Game Top 25. |
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