(Photo Credit: @LSUbaseball on X)
By Hunt Palmer
The 30-game gauntlet LSU just ran is as tough as any three-month stretch in college athletics.
What the SEC has become in baseball is frightening when compared to the rest of the country. Many of the best players from the west coast have migrated to the southeast. Just at LSU over the last four years players like Jacob Berry, Paul Skenes, Thatcher Hurd, Gage Jump, Derek Curiel, Daniel Dickinson and Anthony Eyanson have played huge roles in Baton Rouge.
Sure, the Brad Cresse’s and Aaron Hill’s showed up at times over the years, but the entire SEC is loaded with kids from out west as well as players who starred at the mid-major level who have taken the chance to jump up to the SEC.
It’s the big league of college baseball. Everywhere else is a feeder program. And it’s made the last 10 weeks wildly competitive. It’s also just a more difficult grind than the next three weeks for the Tigers. SEC aces are gone by the weekend of the SEC Tournament, and the 2-3-4 seeds that come to Baton Rouge next week won’t be as talented as the league teams LSU has locked horns with for 10 weeks.
So, the 30-game sample size in the league should inspire a lot of confidence in this LSU club. They won seven of 10 weekends and posted a 12-3 record at The Box.
TOP TWO
Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson took the ball every week in league play. They were excellent. I was curious to see how their numbers stacked up to Gage Jump and Luke Holman who really helped carry LSU down the stretch last year.
The 2025 guys have been much more dominant.
In terms of strikeouts in SEC Games, Anderson and Eyanson combined to strike out 52 more hitters
- Holman 69
- Jump 61
- Anderson 96
- Eyanson 86
Holman and Jump allowed 51 earned runs and pitched to a 4.24ERA in league play. This year’s duo allowed 43 in 10 more innings for a league ERA of 3.41, almost a full run lower with 52 more punch outs.
If you were curious about Paul Skenes in his SEC season. He struck out 116 and had a league ERA of 2.15. Ty Floyd’s ERA in league was 5.76, and he struck out just 55. Floyd certainly found his groove late and played hero in Omaha. But for the 10-week SEC grind it took him a little bit to find his way.
TRANSFER TRIUMPHS
Every June, Jay Johnson is going to have to work the phone lines to put together his next roster. You can’t win at the highest level without nabbing transfers like Tommy White, Skenes, Holman, Jump, etc. The same goes for everyone. Tennessee needed Billy Amick, Chris Stamos, Nate Snead and company last year.
Part of that sales pitch has to be NIL. That’s unavoidable at this point, and LSU has shown it can compete there. The other part is development and draftability.
It’s obvious that Eyanson has greatly enhanced his draft stock by using LSU’s resources and the competition against SEC foes.
But look at the offensive guys.
In SEC play, Daniel Dickinson hit .314, second on the team, with four homers and 14 runs driven in while playing an excellent second base.
Chris Stanfield was even better.
The Auburn transfer led the Tigers in hitting (.326) and doubles (14) in league play. Last season on The Plains, Stanfield had four doubles in 30 league games.
Johnson is garnering a reputation for really developing transfers in a short time. You can come to LSU, get better, win games and improve draft position.
LAGNIAPPE
Here are some more stats that caught my eye on the season ending stat sheet.
LSU is 26-3 when playing error free. That also means the Tigers did not commit an error in 29 of 55 games. When LSU does make an error, they’re just 17-10.
Steven Milam made one error in 30 SEC games. I could not find an instance where an LSU shortstop played a cleaner conference slate.
When LSU hits two or more home runs, LSU is 23-4. When the Tigers don’t hit a single homer, their record is 9-4.
LSU’s best inning in terms of run differential was the first inning. LSU won the first frame 75-21 this year.
