LSU picked to win SEC; five Tigers named 2026 Preseason All-SEC

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BATON ROUGE, La. – Five LSU baseball players received 2026 Preseason All-SEC recognition Thursday in a vote of the league’s 16 head coaches, and the Tigers were predicted to win the SEC regular-season title in the coaches’ preseason poll.

LSU received nine first-place votes as the favorite to win the SEC championship, while Mississippi State had four first-place votes, followed by Arkansas with two and Texas with one.

The Longhorns were predicted to finish second overall in the league standings, followed by Mississippi State, Arkansas and Auburn.

LSU has the most First-Team All-SEC selections with three, and LSU and Texas are tied for the most overall First and Second-Team selections with five.

LSU sophomore outfielder Derek Curiel, sophomore right-handed pitcher Casan Evans and senior right-handed pitcher Zac Cowan received First-Team Preseason All-SEC recognition, and junior shortstop Steven Milam and junior outfielder Jake Brown were voted to the Second Team.

Curiel, a product of West Covina, Calif., was voted the 2025 National Freshman of the Year by D1Baseball.com after a superb rookie season in which he helped lead LSU to the NCAA National Championship.

A 2025 Second-Team All-America, First-Team Freshman All-America, Second-Team All-SEC selection and First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll member, Curiel hit a team-high .345 with 20 doubles, two triples, seven homers, 55 RBI and 67 runs.

He was named to the College World Series All-Tournament Team after collecting six hits, three RBI and three runs in LSU’s five CWS games. Curiel hit a team-high .571 in the Tigers’ NCAA Super Regional sweep of West Virginia with one double, one homer, five RBI and six runs.

Evans, a native of Houston, Texas, earned 2025 Third-Team All-America and First-Team Freshman All-America recognition, as he posted a 5-1 mark with 2.05 ERA and seven saves in 19 appearances (3 starts). He worked 52.2 innings, recording 19 walks, 71 strikeouts and a .228 opponent batting average.

He posted and excellent relief outing versus UCLA in the College World Series, earning the win and limiting the Bruins to two runs on four hits in 4.1 innings with no walks and five strikeouts. Evans earned the save versus Arkansas in LSU’s CWS opener, working 1.0 inning with no runs on one hit and one strikeout.

Evans, who was named to the 2025 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll, delivered one of the best postseason outings in LSU history on June 2 in the Tigers’ NCAA Baton Rouge Regional championship game win over Little Rock. He entered the game in the second inning and allowed one run on four hits in 6.0 innings with three walks and a career-best 12 strikeouts.

Cowan, a native of Blythewood, S.C., was a 2025 First-Team All-SEC selection, as he recorded a 3-3 mark, six saves and a 2.94 ERA in 22 appearances (two starts). He worked 52 innings with 12 walks, 60 strikeouts and a .226 opponent batting average.

Five of Cowan’s six saves came in SEC regular-season games, and he had eight walks and 34 strikeouts in 30.2 league innings

He pitched brilliantly in a starting role versus Arkansas in the College World Series on June 16, working 5.1 innings and allowing just one run on four hits, no walks and six strikeouts.

Milam, a product of Las Cruces, N.M., was named to the 2025 College World Series All-Tournament Team, hitting .350 (7-for-20) in five games with two doubles, two RBI and four runs.

He hit .385 (15-for-39) in LSU’s 11 NCAA Tournament games last season with five doubles, one homer, a team-high 13 RBI and 13 runs scored. Milam was voted to NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team, batting .417 (5-for-12) in four games with one double, three RBI and five runs.

Milam committed only five errors at shortstop over the entire 2025 season, posting a .979 fielding percentage in 234 chances. He hit .295 (71-for-241) on the year with 14 doubles, two triples, 11 homers, 57 RBI and 50 runs.

Milam was named a 2025 Third-Team Academic All-American, posting a 3.72 GPA as a sport administration major, with a business administration minor.

Brown, a native of Sulphur, La., played in 64 games last season, hitting .320 (57-for-178) with nine doubles, two triples, eight homers, 48 RBI and 45 runs. He was named to 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team with a 3.68 GPA as a sport administration major.

Brown batted a team-high .385 (5-for-13) in the College World Series with four RBI and two runs scored. He delivered a clutch two-run single versus Arkansas in the CWS semifinal to give LSU a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Brown batted .324 (11-for-34) in LSU’s 11 NCAA Tournament games with one double, one homer, nine RBI and six runs. He was 3-for-5 with two RBI in a CWS win over UCLA, tying his career high with three hits. He was 2-for-4 in NCAA Super Regional Game 2 versus West Virginia, blasting a two-run homer and collecting four RBI.