Kristen Young
By Hunt Palmer
Cade Arrambide‘s talent isn’t up for debate.
His readiness for SEC baseball could have been as a February. That is, for those who didn’t see him in the fall. As a freshman, Arrambide spelled Luis Hernandez in some Saturday games. He collected four hits in 17 at bats for a .235 batting average. He struck out eight times and walked once. When the lights turned brightest in the NCAA Tournament, Hernandez got the starts. Arrambide took just two at bats in postseason play.
He was adjusting to college baseball, and no one could be sure how his physical gifts would translate to the starting job.
Fast forward to the fall of 2025, and Arrambide led the Tigers in hitting during scrimmage play. But, that’s scrimmage play.
Over 18 regular season games from February 24 through April 4, the sophomore backstop was just 10-for-52, a .192 batting average. He was hitting .256 on the season until April 5 when he blasted four, yes four, homers at Tennessee on a wild Easter Sunday.
That was the start of his surge, but that was a flash of lightening. What he’s doing now is a sustained storm.
Over his last 12 games, Arrambide is 19-for-50 (.380) with six home runs and 16 runs driven in. He’s only gone two games without an RBI. He’s got at least one hit in 16 of 18 games and has multiple hits in five of his last seven.
Arrambide now has a season-long batting average of .331, just two points from Derek Curiel‘s team lead. His 15 home runs are second to Jake Brown (16) who won’t play again this season after breaking his hand. Arrambide’s OPS is now 1.092.
LSU’s offense is crippled. Brown is out. Chris Stanfield is injured. Omar Serna is dealing with back trouble. Seth Dardar is hobbling through pain, and John Pearson just returned from a hamstring issue. It’s Arrambide, Curiel and Mason Braun shouldering the offensive load.
LSU now travels to Athens, GA., to take on one of the most physical offenses in college baseball. If LSU is to stay afloat and win a series at No. 5, Arrambide will have to play a huge part.
There’s no question about that.
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