7/17/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   BATON ROUGE, LA: LSU Head Baseball Coach Jay Johnson, pitcher Devin Fontenot, outfielder Gavin Dugas and pitcher Ma’Khail Hilliard meet with the media on Thursday to answer questions and discuss all of the changes and decisions that have taken place in the program so far.. 
   Excitement is building quickly and early as Jay Johnson has not only put together a top notch coaching staff, but is also adding new players to the roster who will help fill in the holes that this team has had for a couple of years. 

Below is a video of the press conference for your viewing....  GEAUX TIGERS!!!!  

7/14/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   BATON ROUGE, LA: Jay Johnson and the LSU baseball faithful have received great news over the past few days as key performers from last season's team have announced they will return in 2022. 
   
   Both Devin Fontenot and Ma'Khail Hilliard will both return. Hilliard is a leading candidate to be a huge part of the weekend rotation for Jay Jonson in 2022, while Fontenot gives the Tigers perhaps the best closer in college baseball. 
   
   On Tuesday Gavin Dugas who lead the team in home runs in 2021 announced he will return along with starting centerfielder Giovanni DiGiacomo. 

   Sources are also reporting that Cade Beloso has also decided to return to help lead the Tigers back to Omaha in 2022. 

Photos By: Jonathan Mailhes

7/12/2021
Da Boot Sports!
LSU Sports Information
By: William Franques


          HILL, MARCEAUX SELECTED ON DAY 2 OF MLB DRAFT
          Four LSU signees also chosen on Monday; Draft concludes with Rounds 11-20 on Tuesday


   BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU junior right-handers Jaden Hill and Landon Marceaux were selected Monday on Day 2 of the Major League Baseball Draft.
 
Hill, a product of Ashdown, Ark., was the second-round selection (44th overall) of the Colorado Rockies, and Marceaux, a native of Destrehan, La., was the third-round choice (80th overall) of the Los Angeles Angels.  
 
The draft, which began Sunday with Round 1 and continued on Monday with Rounds 2-10, will conclude on Tuesday with Rounds 11-20 beginning at 11 a.m. CT.
 
Monday’s selection marked Hill’s second in the MLB Draft, as he was chosen in the 38th round in 2018 by the St. Louis Cardinals after his senior year of high school.
 
Hill made seven starts on the mound for the Tigers in 2021 before being sidelined by an ulnar collateral ligament injury that required Tommy John surgery on his elbow. He posted a 2-3 mark with a 6.67 ERA in 29.2 innings, recording 12 walks and 25 strikeouts.
 
Hill was named a 2020 third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper after the pandemic-shortened season in which he allowed no runs and just one hit in 11.2 relief innings (four appearances) while recording five walks, 17 strikeouts and two saves. He limited opponents to an .028 (1-for-36) batting average on the year.
 
Hill pitched as a starter in LSU’s 2019 weekend rotation for the first two weeks of the season before having to sit out the remainder of the year due to a shoulder ailment. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week after defeating Air Force on February 17, as he worked five innings and limited the Falcons to one run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
 
Monday’s selection also marked Marceaux’s second in the MLB Draft, as he was chosen in the 37th round by the New York Yankees after his senior year of high school.
 
Marceaux, a 2021 second-team All-American, was 7-7 on the year with a 2.54 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 102.2 innings. Also a second-team All-SEC selection, he was No. 4 in the league in innings pitched, No. 5 in ERA and No. 7 in strikeouts.
 
He helped lead LSU to the NCAA Eugene Regional title, earning a relief win on two days’ rest in the championship game versus Oregon after firing 101 pitches in a starting assignment against Gonzaga.
 
Marceaux was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week after defeating South Carolina on April 15, firing a career-high 12 Ks while working seven shutout innings.
 
Marceaux has made 37 career appearances (35 starts) at LSU, recording a 14-9 mark with a 3.23 ERA and 181 strikeouts in 184 innings.
 
Four LSU signees were also selected on Monday:  Ben Kudrna, a right-handed pitcher from Blue Valley Southwest HS in Overland Park, Kan. (2nd round, Kansas City); catcher Carter Jensen, a product of Park Hill HS in Kansas City, Mo. (3rd round, Kansas City); left-handed pitcher Brock Selvidge of Hamilton HS in Chandler, Ariz. (3rd round, New York Yankees); and catcher Ian Moller of Wahlert HS in Dubuque, Iowa (4th round, Texas).
 
2021 LSU Draft Summary (Rounds 1-10)
LSU Players
Jaden Hill, RHP                              2nd Round (44th selection)              Colorado Rockies
Landon Marceaux, RHP                3rd Round (80th selection)              Los Angeles Angels
 
LSU Signees
Ben Kudrna, RHP                          2nd Round (43rd selection)              Kansas City Royals
Carter Jensen, C                           3rd Round (78th selection)              Kansas City Royals
Brock Selvidge, LHP                      3rd Round (92nd selection)              New York Yankees
Ian Moller, C                                 4th Round (103rd selection)              Texas Rangers

7/8/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   BATON ROUGE, LA: Jay Johnson continues to add to his roster through the NCAA Transfer Portal. On Thursday the Tigers added right-handed pitcher from the University of San Francisco Eric Reyzelman. 
   
   Reyzelman is from San Ramon, California and is returning to play after Tommy John Surgery fourteen months ago.  In 35 innings last season, opponents hit .234 against him with an 6.17 ERA.. He has been clocked at 94-97 mph on his fastball. 

   After the addition of Jacob Berry last week, LSU has also added former Samford catcher and Slidell native, Tyler McManus to the roster on Wednesday.

   McManus comes to Baton Rouge as a graduate transfer and will give the Tigers another powerful bat in the lineup.. He hit .346 with 11 home runs and 53 RBIs last season. 

   GEAUX TIGERS!!!!

​7/7/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   BATON ROUGE, LA: LSU Head Baseball Coach Jay Johnson has added another piece to his coaching staff puzzle and it's another impressive one. Dan Fitzgerald, who is known as one of the top recruiters in the country, has spent the last nine seasons at Dallas Baptist as their associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.  
   Baseball America rated Fitzgerald as the #7 assistant coach in the nation in 2018. D1 Baseball rated him #17 in the country as recruiter in 2016.
   Jay Johnson so far has put together a fantastic coaching staff since taking over in TigerLand bring in Jason Kelly and now Fitzgerald. 

7/6/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   BATON ROUGE, LA: Sources report that LSU Baseball Head Coach Jay Johnson has made his first coaching staff hire on Tuesday. The Tigers new pitching coach will be former Arizona State assistant coach Jason Kelly. 

   Kelly, spent the last three seasons with the Sun Devils as their pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2018 while he was with Washington University he was named the Assistant of the Year by D1 Baseball. He has also helped coach 15 pitchers who have gone on to be selected in the MLB Draft during his career.

7/4/2021
LSU Sports Information
By: William Franques


   BATON ROUGE, La. – Arizona All-American infielder Jacob Berry, who helped lead the Wildcats to the 2021 College World Series and the Pac-12 championship, has transferred to LSU, coach Jay Johnson announced Sunday.
 
Berry, a product Queen Creek, Ariz., batted .352 in 2021 with team highs of 17 homers and 70 RBI, and Collegiate Baseball newspaper named him the National Co-Freshman of the Year.
 
He earned first-team All-America recognition from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and he received second-team All-America honors from D1Baseball and Perfect Game.
 
Berry will start classes at LSU on August 23, and he will be immediately eligible to play as a sophomore for the 2022 season.
 
Berry and LSU outfielder Dylan Crews – who was named the 2021 Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year – are teammates this summer on the Stars squad of the U.S. Collegiate National Team. The Stars defeated the Stripes Sunday in an intra-squad game at the USA Baseball training facility in Cary, N.C.
 
Berry and Crews each homered on Sunday to lead to Stars to a 5-4 win over the Stripes. Berry was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and a double, while Crews blasted a two-run dinger that proved to be the game-winning blast.

7/1/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   BATON ROUGE, LA:  Here we geaux folks! The NCAA transfer portal madness begins within the LSU baseball program as new Head Coach Jay Johnson takes over.   
   
   I mentioned several times in the past how much I dislike the transfer portal. But as of now, it seems to be here to stay. Lets just hope the Tigers get to experience nicer side of it, instead of the ugly side. 

   On Wednesday, Sophomore infielder Zach Arnold became the first Tiger to enter the transfer portal, Coach Johnson confirmed. In 2021 Arnold appeared in 49 contest, finishing with a batting average of .301 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs.

   This will be the second time he has decided to leave a program due to a coaching change. Arnold originally signed with Oregon out of high school in 2019, but ended up at LSU after he was released from his letter of intent when Ducks Head Coach George Horton and the school mutually agreed to part ways. 

   Only hours after LSU announced the hiring of Jay Johnson, elite California short stop Mikey Romero de-committed from
​Arizona and committed to LSU. Sources report that at least a dozen or more Arizona players have entered the transfer portal, including freshmen All-American infielder Jacob Berry, since Johnson's departure. How many of these young men will end up in Baton Rouge with their former coach? Time will tell.