SBNation.com User Blog: Kris Brauner

2013 MLB Draft Recap: Talent Is On The Way

Kris Brauner — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:08:05 -0000

The 2013 Major League Baseball Draft is in the books, and it's tough to imagine that it could have gone much better for LSU, especially in regards to their signing class. Many players from the current roster were expected to be drafted high, and they were. We also saw some seniors go a little higher than expected, which is excellent. A quick review of the current Tigers who were drafted.

Ryan Eades - 2nd round (#43)
Jacoby Jones - 3rd round (#87)
Mason Katz - 4th round (#125)
Nick Rumbelow - 7th round (#224)
Will Lamarche - 9th round (#276)
Ty Ross - 12th round (#372)
Chris Cotton - 14th round (#407)
Raph Rhymes - 15th round (#456)
Christian Ibarra - 32nd round (#959)

Eades, Jones, Ross, Rumbelow and Lamarche were all selected high and are near certainties to sign professionally. This is no real surprise. Christian Ibarra's selection in the 32nd round is probably nothing to worry about. He's a near lock to return to LSU and expressed those intentions to Paul Maineri prior to the draft.

All of the seniors selected were picked higher than I expected them to go. Katz and Cotton were undrafted a year ago while Rhymes improved from a 30th round pick last year to a 15th this year. Like everyone else, I'm very happy for these guys.

I'm a little surprised we didn't see Joey Borgeois or Cody Glenn picked anywhere.

So while things went as expected with the current roster, things went much better than expected with the signing class. Only four LSU signees were selected in the draft:

Justin Williams - 2nd round (#52)
David Palladino - 5th round (#164)
Nick Longhi - 30th round (#893)
Parker Bugg - 34th round (#1029)

Williams was always going to be picked very high in this draft and was never going to end up at LSU. So no surprise there.

I was hoping against hope that David Palladino would slide to double digit rounds and land at LSU. But with the way he finished his season at Howard Junior College this spring, the writing was on the wall that he was going to be a high pick. So come draft time, this wasn't a huge surprise, even though it's still a little disappointing. He's sure to sign.

But after those two....LSU hit the jackpot.

Nick Longhi was on a number of Top 100 lists and was thought to be a talent worthy of the top five rounds. He lasted until the 30th round. And while it's not a done deal that he comes to college, the odds are greatly in LSU's favor here. It's hard to believe that Boston will be able to offer him enough as a 30th round pick to justify him skipping college, but we'll still watch patiently until the Signing Deadline on July 12.

As for Bugg, the same situation applies. It's tough to believe his 34th round selection will be enough for the Orioles to sway him away from LSU. However, you do wonder about Alan Dunn's connection to Baltimore and what impact that could have possibly had on the pick.

Nobody else was even drafted...which is insane. This isn't a deal where LSU failed to sign quality players. It's quite the opposite. A number of the guys in LSU's signing class were thought to be Top-10 round talents, including:

OF Jake Fraley
OF Jarrett Dehart
IF Kramer Robertson
IF Connor Hale
IF Danny Zardon
LHP Jared Poche
RHP Dylan Williams

Why didn't they get picked? The truth is that these kids see LSU ranked so high and having so much success. They see the atmosphere of Alex Box stadium on television, and they legitimately want to be a part of the program. My guess is that most of the guys mentioned above got calls from pro teams at some point in the draft, but that the players told them "don't bother". Jake Fraley reportedly sent all the pro teams a letter just before the draft letting them know that he intended to honor his commitment to LSU. Then halfway through Day Two of the draft, Jarret Dehart sent this out:

Everything happens for a reason. Looks like I'm going to be heading to LSU @lsubaseball #GeauxTigers
— Jarret DeHart (@JartDeHart) June 7, 2013

For a lot of these players, if they weren't going to get big-time money, then they want to go to LSU. And I think that's awesome.

So what does this mean for LSU?

It means that the Tigers could have one of their more talented classes show to campus in a very long time. It also means that LSU will have competition everywhere in the fall, and that's a good thing. Alex Bregman, Christian Ibarra and Aaron Nola are really the only ones with spots cemented in the lineup. I'd probably include Cody Glenn in that number too, if not for his recent suspension and his need to win back Paul Maineri's trust.

A quick look at what next year's team could look like:

At catcher, expect Michael Barash, Chris Chinea and JUCO newcomer Cade Scivicque to battle it out. I'd give Chinea the edge at this point.

At first base, we'll see competition between Tyler Moore and Nick Longhi. If Chris Chinea doesn't win the job behind the plate, he could potentially get a look here, too. Same goes for freshman Jarret Dehart if he's not in the outfield somewhere. Freshman Danny Zardon could be in the mix here, too even though his natural position is at third base.

At second base, look for freshman Kramer Robertson to battle with JUCO Connor Hale. With so much depth in the outfield, I wouldn't be shocked to see Jared Foster move back to the infield. This seems like a likely place for him to compete. Robertson has a nice compact, quick swing that should make the transition to college ball a little easier than most, and he's also very slick defensively. I give him the edge. Freshman Dakota Dean will also compete here.

No competition at shortstop or third base. However, one option could be to play Ibarra at second base and to open competition at third base between Hale, Robertson, Zardon, Foster and Tyler Moore.

LSU returns four guys who have played a ton in the outfield this year in Sean McMullen, Mark Laird, Andrew Stevenson and Chris Sciambra. But no job is safe. Jake Fraley and Jarret Dehart are big-time talents and Cade Stone has some impressive high school stats as well. Competition for every spot will be intense. Fraley has similar speed and range as Stevenson and Laird, so defense alone won't keep a guy like Stevenson in the lineup next year. He's going to have to hit. Meanwhile, Dehart has a bat that is very highly thought of and is plenty athletic, too. Oddly enough, every one of the guys mentioned bats left-handed.

On the mound, you figure Nola and Glenn will be your Friday and Saturday starters. The Sunday job is totally up for grabs. Hunter Newman flashed some potential this year, as did Russell Reynolds before his injury. Will Reynolds be 100% by next fall? Kurt McCune will be in the mix, too. Joe Broussard returns from arm surgery this year and will compete. Mitch Sewald has a ton of potential but just barely scratched it during his freshman season. JUCO signee Brady Domangue put up excellent numbers at LSU Eunice. Then Jared Poche and Dylan Williams seem to be the closest to competing at a high level among the incoming freshmen, though you can't discount talents like Troy Whitty and Parker Bugg. In other words, it's WIDE OPEN. I suspect Newman, McCune and Reynolds (if healthy) will get the first crack at it. But I've got a feeling that Jared Poche will make some noise before next season is over.

Who is going to close? Good question. That's another job that will be wide open. Nate Fury could be the guy. Aside from one really bad outing this year against BYU, Fury was excellent this year. Zac Person, a lefty from LSU Eunice, had some excellent strikeout numbers this year (98Ks in 87.1 IP), but he has to limit his walks. He may get a look, too.

The rest of the above mentioned guys who don't win a starter's job will be fighting for roles in the bullpen.

The fact that this Signing Class has so many high caliber guys coming to LSU should ensure LSU remains a Super Regional caliber team, at a minimum, for years to come.

It looks like these guys have made good decisions too. The history of players coming to LSU and improving their draft stock is significant, especially in recent years.

Jared Mitchell
2006 - 10th round
2009 - 1st round

Ryan Schimpf
2006 - Undrafted
2009 - 5th round

Blake Dean
2006 - Undrafted
2009 - 10th round
2010 - 8th round

Louis Coleman
2005 - 28th round
2008 - 14th round
2009 - 5th round

Leon Landry
2007 - 36th round
2010 - 3rd round

Austin Ross
2007 - Undrafted
2010 - 8th round

Anthony Ranaudo
2007 - 11th round
2010 - Comp Round (#39 overall)

DJ Lamahieu
2007 - 41st round
2010 - 2nd round

Micah Gibbs
2007 - Undrafted
2010 - 3rd round

Mikie Mahtook
2008 - 39th round
2011 - 1st round

Austin Nola
2008 - 48th round
2011 - 5th round

Chris Cotton
2009 - Undrafted
2013 - 14th round

Mason Katz
2009 - Undrafted
2013 - 4th round

Kevin Gausman
2010 - 6th round
2012 - 1st round (#4 overall)

Jacoby Jones
2010 - 19th round
2013 - 3rd round

Ty Ross
2010 - 46th round
2013 - 12th round

Ryan Eades
2010 - 19th round
2013 - 2nd round

Raph Rhymes
2011 - 40th round
2013 - 15th round

2013 SEC Baseball Tournament Preview

Kris Brauner — Tue, 21 May 2013 01:31:31 -0000

The SEC Tournament kicks off on Tuesday. Some teams have a lot on the line while others don't have much to play for. Here is a look at what each time is looking to accomplish in Hoover.

Auburn (33-22, 13-17)

After starting conference play 1-8, Auburn was left for dead when it came to any discussions about the NCAA Tournament. But the team got their act together and played solid baseball from that point forward, winning 12 of their last 21 SEC contests. They finished the regular season by taking two of three from Arkansas. And with that, Auburn may have just played their way into the tournament. They have a strong RPI at #32 and find themselves squarely on the bubble. Their game against Alabama on Tuesday is really important for them...for both teams really. If they beat the Tide, they guarantee themselves at least two more games in Hoover. If Auburn can manage to win two games at the SEC Tournament, I think it will be enough to land in the NCAA Tournament. If they don't, then they'll really be sweating on Sunday. It's uncanny how similar this Auburn team is to LSU's 2011 team, which did not receive a bid to the tournament. Comparisons between the two teams are discussed at length here. The guys at College and Magnolia have an in-depth preview of their game against Alabama right here and an excellent breakdown of Auburn's NCAA chances as well.

Alabama (32-24, 14-15)

Alabama started conference play wit ha 7-2 record but have cooled considerably as their level of competition picked up, going just 7-13 since. They benefited from a favorable conference schedule, getting Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri from the East and winning seven of those nine. However, their RPI is #28, and they're still in excellent shape to make the NCAA Tournament. But if they lose the opening game to Auburn, they'll be awfully nervous when the selections are made. With a win against Auburn, I think Alabama is safe, even if they drop the next two. Roll Bama Roll takes a look at Bama's post-season chances as they head to Hoover.

Ole Miss (36-20, 15-15)

Ole Miss enters the SEC Tournament as a team that is a lock to make the NCAA Tournament but has virtually zero chance to host a Regional. If they were to win the entire tournament, they could perhaps get into the discussion as a host team, but it would still be highly unlikely. They do have a nice RPI of #18, which gives them a chance but for the most part, Ole Miss doesn't have anything to gain, or to lose, in Hoover. They'll play Kentucky in the first round.

Kentucky (30-24, 11-19)

Kentucky was once flying high and ranked in the Top-10, but it was fools good. They crashed HARD once the calendar turned to April. Their only chance of making the NCAA Tournament is to win the whole thing but with the way they've been playing lately, that seems really far fetched. Kentucky's RPI is actually decent at #39 and they have a respectable 13-17 record against RPI Top-50 teams. But the rest of the resume just isn't there.

Florida (29-27, 14-16)

Florida really dorked up the last two weekends by losing series to Auburn and Georgia. And that comes after getting swept by LSU, which means they're 2-7 in the SEC over the last three weeks. Florida started this season off slowly but seemed to get their feet under them and settle in. They were playing good baseball for a while and even swept South Carolina. But they surprisingly crashed again late. Their overall record is not good and their 14-16 SEC mark isn't that impressive either, especially playing in the East. But the Gators' RPI is #26 and they are 14-17 against the RPI Top-50. They may want to go ahead and win their first game at the SEC Tournament just to make sure, but their spot in the NCAA Tournament is pretty secure right now.

Texas A&M (30-25, 13-16)

The Aggies are on the outside of the NCAA Tournament right now. Their record isn't impressive, their RPI is down at #44 and they're just 8-19 against the RPI Top 50. However, they have a fighting chance, but it's going to take a pretty serious run in the SEC Tournament to put themselves back in the discussion. They face Florida on Tuesday in the first round. Obviously, a loss there means that they're done. A win against the Gators earns then a matchup with Vanderbilt. So needless to say, the Aggies have their work cut out for them. SEBaseball.com has the Aggies in the list of the "Next 10 Out" in their latest projections, which indicates they're close to the bubble.

Mississippi State (40-16, 16-14)

State absolutely needed a series win against South Carolina last weekend in order to put themselves back in the discussion as a host team, and they got it. They play against Missouri on Tuesday and with a win there, I think they will have done enough to lock up a regional in Starkville. If they lose, it's possible they lose that spot, but I tend to think they're in good shape either way. State's RPI is #10, their strength of schedule is #7, and they're 19-14 against the RPI Top-50. I suspect they won't have too much trouble with Missouri. With a win, they'll face South Carolina who will be looking for some payback after losing the series last weekend. If Mississippi State were to win the SEC Tournament, they could enter the discussion as a national seed, depending on what else happens around the country.

Missouri (18-31, 10-20)

What can you say, really? Missouri made the SEC Tournament, so that's a minor accomplishment. But short of winning the entire thing, which is impossible, they have nothing to play for in Hoover. Odds are, they play the last game of their season on Tuesday against Mississippi State.

Arkansas (35-19, 18-11)

Arkansas is trying to play their win into a host team for the NCAA Tournament, and they have an uphill battle to get there. The Hogs probably feel a little disrespected. Everyone is penciling in Mississippi State and South Carolina as host sites, despite the fact that Arkansas finished third in the SEC standings with an 18-11 record. The Hogs have a RPI problem, though. Their ranking is #48. Losing the series to Auburn on the final weekend did not help their cause, either. Could a deep run in the SEC Tournament change things? Absolutely. And they have an excellent, deep pitching staff to make such a run. They could run into trouble in their second game though, which could be against LSU ace Aaron Nola. But if the Hogs can get to the finals of the SEC Tournament, then they may just have a chance to play some post-season ball at home.

LSU (48-8, 23-7)

LSU doesn't have a ton to play for in Hoover. Whether they win the entire thing or go 0-2, they're assured a national seed and someone will have to beat them at home to knock them out of a trip to Omaha. LSU's primary goals in the tournament are to get their pitching staff lined up for the Regional and to build some confidence and momentum heading towards the post-season. Of course, the best way to build confidence and momentum is to win the entire thing. LSU's last two national championship teams won the SEC Tournament en route to Omaha. LSU is throwing Cody Glenn in their first game against the winner of Alabama vs. Auburn and ace Aaron Nola in Game Two. So they could very well get off to a good start.

Vanderbilt (48-7, 26-3)

Vanderbilt just wrapped up a record setting regular season, and they now face some pretty steep expectations for the post-season. While the SEC Tournament isn't anywhere near the top of their goals, it would still be a nice feather in their cap. I suspect head coach Tim Corbin would love to see his team win the tournament to show that they can win in this kind of format. Vanderbilt will face the winner of Florida and Texas A&M. Obviously, Vandy is locked into a national seed, regardless of what happens in Hoover.

South Carolina (39-16, 17-12)

The Gamecocks are in a situation where they're practically assured a host spot, but I don't see much possibility of them securing a national seed. If they win the entire tournament, they could possibly land in the discussion for a national seed, depending on what else happens nationally. But it's not very likely. The Gamecocks RPI is #11, but they have just an 11-12 record against RPI Top-50. In their incredible run over the last three years, appearing in three straight College World Series Finals and winning two of them, they have not won the SEC Tournament.

MLB Draft Preview - Part 2: Signing Class

Kris Brauner — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:48:30 -0000

After looking at how the draft may impact the current roster in Part 1 of the MLB Draft Preview, we'll now take a look at LSU's Signing Class and how they may be impacted.

In each signing class, it seems that LSU will take at least one super prospect...a guy that will almost certainly end up a high draft choice and turn pro. Guys like Joey Gallo, Jake Cave and Johnny Eiermann come to mind. But occasionally something will happen, and the circumstances will allow someone like Alex Bregman to slide through and play college ball.

Any high schooler picked in the top five rounds is a near certainty to sign a pro contract. Last year, 84 high school players were selected in the top five rounds and only five did not sign a pro deal.

This year, I see just one guy who falls into that category. Terrebone High School's Justin Williams is one of the best power hitting prospects in this draft. The 6'2" 215 pounder has put on an absolute show at many of the prospect showcase events over the last two summers, and he was at one point thought to be picked in the top half of the first round. However, all that attention brought increased scrutiny, and it sounds like the scouts have been a bit disappointed with what they've seen of Williams this spring. So while many flaws in his swing have been identified, his natural talent and raw power remain among the best in the draft. Williams plays third base in high school and sometimes shortstop, but projects as a left fielder or first baseman for the future.

The latest Baseball America rankings have Williams as the #68 prospect in the draft. And while that's still likely high enough to ensure Williams signs a pro contract, it's not a total slam dunk like it was when everyone thought he'd be taken in the Top 15 picks...especially if Williams has his mind set on receiving Top-15 money. But the slot value for Pick #68 is $820,000, and that's still an awful lot of money to turn down. Here is a solid breakdown of Williams' game from our SB Nation friends at The Crawfish Boxes. At the end of the day, don't expect Williams to play at LSU.

The next guy off the board will likely be Florida first baseman Nick Longhi, who is another guy that flashes excellent power potential. Listed at 6'2" 210 pounds, Longhi has a unique make-up in that he throws left-handed but bats from the right side. He's also a decent prospect as a pitcher, touching the low 90s at times with his fastball. Baseball America does not list Longhi in their Top 250 prospects, but several other publications have him in the Top 100. Based purely on his talents, Longhi stands a very good chance of being drafted in the Top 5 rounds. If he indicates to teams that he covets playing college ball, then he could slide way down the board if he's not taken by a certain point. It all depends on what Longhi wants to do. Questions about his position could also drive his stock down a bit, and that seems to be the opinion of our friends at MLB Bonus Baby. He says that it will take a "life changing" amount of money for him to not attend LSU. But every prospect will say those things in order to drive their bonus up as high as possible. In an interview with Perfect Game from January, you really get the sense that Longhi could be leaning towards playing professionally. He says,

"It always creeps into your mind as a 17-year-old kid that you could be playing professional baseball as a job," he said while seeming to marvel at such a notion. "But you can't get too hyped about it because I've still got my senior year and I still have a lot of work to do before I get there."

My guess is that LSU stands about a 35% of keeping Longhi.

Rounding out the infielders are Kramer Robertson, Connor Hale, Danny Zardon and Dakota Dean, .

Robertson is the son of Baylor women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey and will likely settle into second base at the college level after playing shortstop in high school. He should compete immediately for that position with the very likely departure of Jacoby Jones. At 5'11" 170 pounds, Robertson has excellent fielding ability and better than average speed. He could potentially form a very nice double play combination with Alex Bregman for a couple of seasons. At the plate, Robertson drives the ball and shows decent power for his size, but will mostly be a guy that hits line drives and gets extra base hits when those balls find the gaps.

It seems likely that Robertson will end up at LSU. He's on the fringe of being taken in the Top-10 rounds, and he's probably not a guy that needs to make a decision based on money.

Perfect Game says the following about Robertson:

"Right handed hitter, quick swing with bat speed, aggressive approach, loose hands, hits against hard front side, some lift, ball comes off the barrel hard. Tall open stance at the plate, easy loose swing, squares the ball up, has deceiving strength and bat speed, can pull the ball out of the park. "

Connor Hale comes to LSU via the JUCO ranks from the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota which happens to be the same school that produced Nick Goody. Hale swings a pretty good bat, hitting .330 as a freshman and .358 as a sophomore. He doesn't have great speed from home to first, but has shown the ability to steal bases, swiping 23 of 28 in two years. He struck out just 20 times in 209 at-bats with an on base percentage of .408. Despite a decent frame of 6'2" 175 pounds, he doesn't hit for much power with just two homers in two seasons. However, he does show decent gap power with 21 extra base hits and a .488 slugging. He played third base in JUCO but could compete for a starting job at second base, assuming Christian Ibarra is back at third. If he doesn't win a job, he seems like a valuable utility guy on the infield that could break into the starting lineup as a senior. He was highly thought of by the scouts and could still go in the Top-10 rounds of the draft, but his lack of power seems to be driving his stock down the boards. Unless he's really anxious to start his pro career, it seems likely that Hale will be at LSU.

Danny Zardon is a 6'1" 185 pound third baseman from the Fort Lauderdale, FL area who is a very good overall athlete. He's got a big arm that's plenty good enough for third base at the college level and a solid bat. As a senior, he hit .505/.544/.948 with six home runs in just 77 at bats. Zardon seems open to signing and playing pro ball if the situation is right. However, my guess is that he won't be selected high enough and that his decision to go to LSU will be easy.

Dakota Dean is the younger brother of former Tiger and current assistant coach Blake Dean. He's got good size at 6'1" 195 pounds and like his brother, is a lefty at the plate, despite throwing right handed. Dean is listed as a middle infielder but probably doesn't have the range that a guy like Robertson has or that we've become accustomed to at LSU. If his bat is good enough, then obviously they'll find a spot for him. With his frame, an eventual move to first base is not out of the question, especially if Longhi ends up signing professionally. At this time, I don't think Dean is a threat to be drafted high and, it looks like he is a near certainty to play for LSU.

Michael Barash was originally a part of this signing class, but he finished high school a semester early and joined LSU's team in time for the season. He has shown a few nice things this year and should compete with Chris Chinea for the starting catcher's job next year, assuming Ty Ross leaves. Despite him already being on the team, I thought it worth a mention since he was once a part of this signing class.

LSU is also adding catcher Kade Scivicque, a native of Maurepas, who found a home at Southwest Mississippi Community College. As a sophomore, he's hitting .310 4 HRs and 37 RBIs in 46 games. In fact, his team only has five home runs, and Scivicque has four of them. He leads his team in nearly every offensive category. He also logged 15 innings from the mound with a nice K/BB ratio of 15/9. He'll join the mix with Chinea and Barash to battle for playing time at catcher, and I don't think the draft is in play.

In the outfield, you'll see a pattern which started with last year's signing class, and that is speed and athleticism. Paul Maineri loves what guys like Mark Laird and Andrew Stevenson have brought to the table with their speed and defense, and you're going to see more of it with this signing class.

Jarret Dehart hails from Medford, New Jersey and is cousins with former LSU great, Brett Laxton. He hopes to follow Laxton's same path to professional baseball...through LSU. Dehart is a big guy at 6'2" 205, very athletic and with an excellent bat from the left side. He shows off a very patient approach at the plate, often due to teams pitching around him at the high school level. Dehart is another guy that could potentially end up at first base, but his athleticism will be tough to pass up in the outfield. Opinions are mixed on Dehart's draft stock, and he doesn't have a real good feel himself for where he could go. Somewhere in the Top-10 rounds is very possible if not likely, but I like LSU's chances of having Dehart suit up next spring.

Jake Fraley is another speedy outfielder from the northeast, coming from Middleton, Deleware. Fraley's speed really stands out and is in the Mark Laird / Andrew Stevenson category. In fact, thinking about the three of those guys in the outfield together at the same time is fun. Like Dehart, Fraley also bats from the left side. He's got good size at 6'1" 185. Even if Fraley struggles with SEC pitching initially, a guy like Andrew Stevenson has shown that you can still make an impact on games with speed and defense. Fraley is highly thought of by the scouts and could very well end up signing pro instead of coming to LSU. He's definitely one of the names to circle as you follow the draft, and I'd put things right at 50/50 in terms of him ever playing at LSU.

Barbe High School's Charlie Yorks is another big outfielder at 6'1" 190. Yorks also has nice speed, though he's not in the same league as Fraley. But like the others, he's also a lefty at the plate. Yorks is not as highly regarded as Fraley and Dehart when it comes to the draft, but it may not matter. He seems genuinely excited to play baseball at LSU.

West Monroe's Cade Stone is another lefty outfielder with athleticism. Doubling as a safety for the football team, he ought to know what it's like to play in front of 10,000 people. I don't see the draft being an issue with Stone.

Just like the outfielders fit a mold, the pitchers in this class do too. You'll see a lot of big power pitchers that are very projectable. We saw this last year with Mitch Sewald (6'6"), Hunter Newman (6'3") and Russell Reynolds (6'1"), and see a lot more if with this group.

At 6'2" 195, lefty Tyler Allen fits the mold. Allen's fastball already touches 90 mph but sits at 87-89. He's also got a nice curveball and a slider. In 2012, Allen struck out 49 batters in 25 innings. He's a guy that could eventually be a weekend starter but could also compete for innings next year as a much needed lefty. With Cotton and Bonvillain moving on, LSU needs some bullpen arms from the left side. Of the pitchers LSU signed, Allen could be drafted the highest; however, I feel comfortable that it won't be high enough for him to sign.

Dylan Williams out of Cartersville, GA was a late addition to LSU's Signing Class after previously being committed to Georgia Tech. One visit to LSU was all it took for Williams to change his mind. At 6'4" 205 pounds, Williams' fastball tops out at 92 but with his frame, you can easily project that he'll get stronger and increase that velocity a bit. As a senior, he struck out 106 batters in 61.1 innings with a 1.14 ERA. However, he did walk 33 batters, too. His draft projection is on the fringe of being in the Top-10 rounds and losing him is a possibility though probably not a terribly strong one.

Lutcher High's Jared Poche could be another to watch during the draft. Poche just recently led his team to a state championship and was completely dominant in the playoffs and for most of his senior season. The 6'1" 195 left hander was 12-0 as a senior with a 0.61 ERA. He struck out 143 batters in 80 innings. His excellent senior season has increased his draft stock quite a bit, but he likely won't go high enough to warrant turning pro. Like Allen, Poche is a guy with the potential to eventually start for LSU but could lend help immediately from the pen.

Christian Palaez is a left hander from Miami, FL is 6'0" 175 pounds. Though his fastball isn't as powerful as some of the other signees, he's got good "stuff" and several sites comment on his smooth, consistent delivery. Palaez had offers from several top programs including Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Clemson. His name pops up in a few draft conversations, and he's on a couple of Top-500 lists which would put him in the Top-15 rounds. In this interview from October, he seems fairly open to skipping in college and playing pro ball. But in more recent interviews, he seems legitimately excited about going to LSU and playing college ball. The odds favor him playing in college, but it's not a certainty.

LSU went all the way to San Deigo, CA to land 6'6" 205 pound righty Parker Bugg. Bugg can already touch 90 on the gun, but with his frame, you'd expect him to increase that velocity in a couple of years with some added strength and some fine tuning of his mechanics. Bugg's numbers don't blow you away from a power standpoint. As a senior, Bugg struck out 39 batters in 39 innings and walked just seven. His ERA was 0.90 and batters hit just .150 against him. Scouts typically love a guy with Bugg's size and potential, but from everything I could find, I don't believe the draft will be an issue here.

Easton, Massachusetts right hander Troy Whitty is yet another tall pitcher with excellent power potential from the mound. Whitty checks in at 6'5" 230 pounds with a fastball that has maxed out at 91 and also has a change-up and curve ball in his bag. His name pops up in some draft discussion, but I can't find him on any Top-500 lists. So I suspect he'll end up at LSU. He has also played some ball with fellow signees Jake Fraley and Jarrett Dehart.

Paul Maineri will also be looking to the junior college ranks to help replenish the talent.

One of the most intriguing guys in this class is David Palladino who comes from Howard Junior College in Texas. Palladino is 6'9" 240 pounds. Not a typo....the guy is 6-foot freaking 9 inches tall! He was drafted in the 11th round a couple of years ago, based solely on potential but did not sign. He landed at South Carolina Upstate for a year before transferring to Howard. This spring, he has finally started to realize some of his enormous potential with a consistent fastball in the 92-93 range that has peaked at 95-96. At Howard this year, Palladino went 7-3 with 99 strikeouts and 31 walks in 70.1 innings. He also threw six complete games, three of which were shutouts, showing that he has starter potential. His ERA was 2.18. My guess is that Palladino has pitched himself back into the Top 10 rounds of the draft and that the chances of seeing him at LSU are not that great.

LSU has also signed a pair of pitchers from LSU Eunice, which has been very good to the Tigers in the past. Raph Rhymes, Trey Watkins and Joey Bourgeois have all come to Baton Rouge via LSU Eunice. Right hander Brady Domangue and lefty Zac Person are on their way this year.

Domangue originally played at Vandebilt Catholic . He's 6'0" tall and doesn't have the overpowering stuff that some of the other guys in this class have. But he does have some awfully good numbers for LSU Eunice. This season, he's 12-2 with a 1.36 ERA. In 92.2 innings, he has struck out 99, allowed 71 hits and walked 27.

Person is 8-0 on the season with a 3.14 ERA. He has 87 strikeouts in 71.2 innings while allowing just 51 hits. But he has walked 41 batters. He'll need to get his control straightened out, but those are otherwise some excellent numbers.

Neither of the LSU Eunice guys look to be threats as far as the draft is concerned.

Right handers Alden Cartwright (Runnels) and Jesse Stallings (Grant), along with lefty Andrew Mitchell (Jesuit) will also be coming to LSU, though the draft should not be a factor. Stallings is an interesting story because he suffered an injury early in his senior year, but Paul Mainieri still wanted him. So he's recovering from Tommy John surgery right now and may not be ready next season.

At the end of the day, it's safe to assume that LSU is going to lose Justin Williams. Then you've got Nick Longhi, Jake Fraley and David Palladino as toss ups. Jarrett Dehart is in that mix, too. You can probably assume that we'll see another surprise in there somewhere, similar to last year when Evangel's Hayden Jennings was unexpectedly taken in the sixth round.

The best case scenario for LSU is that they lose Justin Williams and that's it....and that's not totally unreasonable to see that situation unfold.

Not At Full Strength, LSU Wins Series vs. Ole Miss

Kris Brauner — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:32:40 -0000

Paul Maineri had an interesting choice to make heading into this weekend. His team had already clinched the SEC West championship, and Vanderbilt had already clinched the overall SEC championship. LSU was also a lock to receive a national seed in the NCAA Tournament, regardless of what happened against Ole Miss. Essentially, nothing was going to be won, or lost, this weekend. So Maineri could have beat his fists on the table and tried like hell to convince his players that this series was still important in efforts to maintain some momentum heading into the post-season. Or, he could rest his regular players and let the team have some fun in the process. When it became clear that Aaron Nola could use a week off to rest his arm and that Jacoby Jones would have to miss this weekend anyway due to an injury, it really guided his decision to rest several players this weekend...and it certainly looks like he made the right decision.

LSU won the series and built momentum anyway.

Cody Glenn had yet another very good start, his fourth in a row. He was perhaps a tad less sharp than he has been recently. Ole Miss got some really good swings off Glenn but at the end of the day, he allowed just one run in seven innings. He also did not walk a batter, which tells me that he is getting more confident and was content to fill up the strike zone and to let his defense make plays behind him. Over his last four starts, Glenn has allowed just four earned runs in 28.1 innings (1.27 ERA) with 16 strikeouts against four walks. The consistency that Glenn has shown during the final stretch of SEC play has been extremely encouraging. To have a guy pitching that well as your number three starter bodes very well in a Super Regional format.

Thursday's game was also a lot of fun because LSU hit four home runs including one inside the parker by Raph Rhymes.

Friday night was a really special night at The Box. The 1993 National Championship Team was honored for the 20th anniversary of their title, and the field was dedicated to Skip Bertman. If that weren't enough, the game was outstanding. Paul Maineri went with a host of pitchers to try and fill in for Aaron Nola. Kurt McCune started and pitched four innings, allowing just one run. McCune wasn't great. He hit a couple of batters, walked one and surrendered three hits. But the results were fine. Then after LSU fell behind by a run, Raph Rhymes came through with some late inning heroics, launching a two run homer in the eighth inning to give LSU the lead for good.

On Saturday, everyone got to play. Mason Katz and Raph Rhymes started the game, but only for the formality of being pulled off the field to an adoring crowd on Senior Day. All of the other regular starters were on the bench, and many of the subs got the opportunity to play a full game. Going against Ole Miss ace and possible first round draft pick Bobby Wahl, it was tough to see LSU scoring many runs. Apparently, nobody bothered to tell LSU's backups that they weren't supposed to hit. LSU hammered out six runs on six hits and Wahl didn't make it out of the third inning. It was his shortest outing of the year. LSU established a 7-2 lead but unfortunately couldn't hold on.

Ryan Eades and the LSU bullpen got a little too carried away with the "we're just having fun today" theme and allowed Ole Miss to claw themselves back into the game and ultimately win it. Eades was not sharp, and this was his worst outing since his start against Alabama on April 20. Once Ole Miss got a little momentum going, it was tough for LSU to stop it. Brent Bonvillain and Kevin Berry didn't fare a whole lot better than Eades and could not hold the lead. So it's a little disappointing that LSU couldn't get a win when their second string performed so well against Bobby Wahl. But the vibe after this game was still a positive one and the team seems to have benefited from the way things played out. I think Randy Rosetta did a great job of capturing that in this game recap.

It was nice to see Mason Katz hit one out on Thursday. He has been stuck on 13 home runs for over a month and was probably feeling a little pressure to get #14. It seemed to have worked because Katz was 5 for 9 on the weekend with a pair of doubles to go along with the home run.

For the second straight weekend, Mark Laird hit the ball well. After going 4 for 8 against Texas A&M, Laird was 3 for 7 against Ole Miss. He was also 2 for 3 against UNO last Tuesday. After being in a free fall for over a month, his batting average has now creeped back up to .291. Needless to say, he's starting to hit again at exactly the right time.

LSU now heads to Hoover for the SEC Tournament and will face the winner of the Alabama vs. Auburn game on Wednesday. Aaron Nola will start Game 1 of the tournament for LSU. With the exception of being a little uneasy about Ryan Eades, I absolutely love where LSU is as a team as they head towards the postseason.

Game 1 Highlights

Game 2 Highlights

Game 3 Highlights

Around The SEC: Baseball Weekend Preview - 5/16/13

Kris Brauner — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:58:53 -0000

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	24 - 2	.923	46 - 6	.885	29-3	17-3	0-0	W13
South Carolina	16 - 10	.615	38 - 14	.731	28-6	10-6	0-2	W5
Florida	13 - 14	.481	28 - 25	.528	20-16	8-8	0-1	L1
Kentucky	10 - 17	.370	29 - 22	.569	19-11	7-10	3-1	W1
Missouri	8 - 19	.296	16 - 30	.348	11-12	5-17	0-1	L1
Tennessee	7 - 18	.280	21 - 28	.429	12-12	7-14	2-2	W1
Georgia	5 - 19	.208	19 - 31	.380	10-18	8-13	1-0	W1
Western
LSU	21 - 6	.778	46 - 7	.868	32-3	13-4	1-0	W3
Arkansas	17 - 9	.654	34 - 17	.667	24-9	9-4	0-4	W2
Ole Miss	14 - 13	.519	35 - 18	.660	22-9	13-7	0-2	L2
Mississippi St.	14 - 13	.519	38 - 15	.717	28-6	8-9	2-0	W2
Alabama	13 - 13	.500	31 - 22	.585	22-9	9-11	0-2	W1
Texas A&M	11 - 15	.423	28 - 24	.538	22-10	4-12	1-2	W1
Auburn	11 - 16	.407	31 - 21	.596	20-11	9-10	2-0	L1

Arkansas (34-17, 17-9) @ Auburn (31-21, 11-16)

This is one of the more interesting series of the weekend because there is a lot on the line for both teams. A look at the Hogs' record, national ranking and conference standing indicate that they should be in great shape to host a Regional. However, their RPI is way down at #40, and that is not going to help them. They need to win the series this weekend and have a nice showing in Hoover to solidify things.

Arkansas has now won four SEC series in a row. Most notably, their bats came alive against Tennessee last weekend, erupting for 21 runs in their final two games. Their pitching continues to be excellent.

Auburn....oh Auburn. After clawing their way out of the SEC cellar and into contention for the NCAA Tournament, Auburn traveled to Florida last weekend and won the series from the Gators. But then they turn around and lose a mid-week game to Jacksonville State on Tuesday. Ouch. They definitely didn't need that.

With that said, a series win against Arkansas would put them at 13-17 in the conference and 33-22 overall and their already solid #35 RPI should only go up. Combine that with a decent showing in Hoover, and they have a chance to make the post-season. Lose the series this weekend, and I think they're done.
Prediction: Arkansas Wins 2 of 3

Alabama (31-22, 13-13) @ Vanderbilt (46-6, 24-2)

Alabama has been slowly sliding down the conference standings for the past several weeks. They did win a series against lowly Missouri last weekend, and that was much needed because they're traveling to Vanderbilt this week. If they get swept, which has to be considered likely, their resume will be awfully similar to Auburn's. They'll be 31-25 with a 13-16 conference record and a nearly identical RPI. I wouldn't say Alabama is a lock to make the Tournament right now.

What can you say about Vanderbilt? They're on cruise control and accomplishing some amazing things. They are a lock for a national seed and have already clinched the regular season SEC title before the last weekend. They swept Kentucky on the road last weekend in relatively easy fashion. I suspect they'll do the same to Alabama this weekend.
Prediction: Vanderbilt Sweeps

South Carolina (38-14, 16-10) @ Mississippi State (38-15, 14-13)

Just when Mississippi State seemed to get over the hump, they lose a series to Ole Miss and take a step back. They have a chance to turn things back around this weekend with the Gamecocks in town. Winning a series against the Cocks on the last weekend would do wonders for them. Currently, their RPI is excellent at #10 and they're right on the fence of being a host team. College Baseball Daily currently projects them to host while Perfect Game does not.

Meanwhile, South Carolina still has an outside chance a national seed, but it will probably take a lot at this point. They would need to win the series this weekend and have a very good showing in Hoover, probably making the final game or winning the tournament. But they could work themselves back into that discussion.
Prediction: South Carolina Wins 2 of 3

Texas A&M (28-24, 11-15) @ Tennessee (21-28, 7-18)

This may be the least intriguing series in the conference this weekend. Texas A&M probably lost any chance they had at making the NCAA Tournament when LSU won the rubber match last weekend. Even with a sweep this weekend, they would still need a really strong showing at the SEC Tournament just to be considered again. I was really impressed with A&M's Mikey Reynolds and Daniel Mengden. Both guys had really good weekends against LSU.

Tennessee surprisingly managed to steal a game against Arkansas last weekend. But by and large, they are playing really bad baseball right now.
Prediction: Texas A&M Wins 2 of 3

Florida (28-25, 13-14) @ Georgia (19-31, 5-19)

Florida really goofed last weekend by losing two of three at home against Auburn. After going on a nice run of playing good baseball and seemingly righting the ship, they have now lost five of their last six SEC games. Luckily, they get Georgia this weekend, who will almost certainly finish in the basement of the SEC standings this year.

The Gators seem comfortably in the NCAA Tournament, and they have no chance to host. Despite their mediocre record, their RPI is still excellent at #23 and they have the #1 strength of schedule in the country.

Georgia did beat Georgia Tech again this week by a score of 14-13. That means that in their last two games against Georgia Tech, the Dawgs have scored 31 combined runs. That's crazy because they are a really bad baseball team. It doesn't seem THAT long ago when Georgia was in the College World Series finals, does it? It's crazy how quickly things can change.
Prediction: Florida Sweeps

Kentucky (29-22, 10-17) @ Missouri (16-30, 8-19)

Kentucky has been a train wreck over the last month and a half. At one point, they were 6-3 in SEC play, ranked high, and feeling pretty good about themselves. They are just 4-14 since then, and that includes a sweep at the hands of Vanderbilt last weekend. They face a weak Missouri team this weekend, and they almost need to sweep as they find themselves squarely on the bubble. Even a sweep only gets them to 13-17 in the conference, and they may still need to do some work in Hoover to make it.

In their favor is a RPI of #29 and a strength of schedule of #6.

Missouri isn't playing for anything but pride, but even their pride has been crushed at this point.
Prediction: Kentucky Wins 2 of 3

MLB Draft Preview - Part 1: Current Roster

Kris Brauner — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:06:34 -0000

The Major League Baseball Draft is now less than a month away and as always, it will have a major impact on the immediate future of LSU's Baseball Program. LSU has fared very poorly in the draft before, such as in 2009 when stud high school pitchers Zack Von Rosenberg and Brody Colvin signed pro contracts after assuring everyone they'd play in college. LSU was left scrambling to find starting pitching for the following season, especially when Anthony Ranaudo was injured for most of the year. But LSU has also made out well in the draft, at times. Look no further than Alex Bregman. A hand injury forced Bregman to miss his senior season, causing him to slide in the draft. LSU now has a stud shortstop for three years. You win some. You lose some.

Projecting the draft is as difficult as its ever been. 2013 will be the second year incorporating significant changes to how the draft operates. Each team receives a cap on the amount of money they can spend on their picks in the Top-10 rounds, and each pick has a bonus amount assigned to it. What we saw is that many college seniors, who have no negotiating leverage, were picked in the Top-10 rounds well above where they were projected to go. Then, the pro teams jammed those guys on their signing bonuses and used that additional money to ensure their top picks signed. For example, Austin Nola was unexpectedly selected in the fifth round (#167 overall) and signed for $75,000 despite the slot money for that pick being much higher. The slot money for #167 overall in the 2013 draft is $270,000.

For the same reasons, you may also see pro teams draft high school players in the Top-10 rounds that have indicated they're interested in playing pro ball ahead of college and will sign for under slot money. Former Evangel High School outfielder Hayden Jennings is an example of this. The LSU signee was not projected to go in the first 20 rounds of the draft but was taken in the sixth round and signed for well below slot value. All in all, these new rules seem to be positive for the college game. This article discusses the effect they had in the first year and has some quotes from Paul Maineri.

In this first part of a two part series, we'll take a look at the projections for current Tigers in the draft. Part Two will look at LSU's signing class.

First, the seniors...

Mason Katz may have helped himself the most this season. Undrafted a year ago, his excellent season for LSU could pay dividends. Despite his smaller size, he's now seen as a promising prospect and similar to Austin Nola a year ago, may find himself picked somewhere in the Top 10 rounds.

Raph Rhymes was selected in the 30th round a year ago, and I suspect his stock has not increased all that much, if at all. Rhymes didn't match his insane 2012 production, but he did further prove that he could hit the ball at a very high level and can do so consistently. In three seasons, his career batting average is .380. Rhymes doesn't project anywhere defensively, nor does he offer much speed or power. But he'll hit....and he'll make his managers in minor league ball very, very happy.

Joey Bourgeois went undrafted a year ago, but I expect him to get his name called somewhere this year. He'll get the chance to pitch professionally and try to work his way up through a farm system.

Chris Cotton, also undrafted a year ago, will likely get an opportunity somewhere. His stuff isn't great and not what scouts look for, but Cotton is effective and he gets people out. Nearly every Major League team has a lefty specialist who can pitch in spots to lefty hitters. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Cotton filled that role professionally.

Brent Bonvillain is also hoping to hear his name called. He was not selected a year ago, and despite having an excellent senior season, I'm not sure he's done anything to convince scouts they need to take him this year.

I don't expect Kevin Berry, Alex Edward or Casey Yocum to be drafted.

Now, the juniors....

Ryan Eades is considered by many to be a first round draft pick and is nearly a consensus Top 50 prospect in this draft. That means that Ryan Eades will likely be joining the millionaire's club pretty soon. Eades has not shown the consistent dominance that we've seen from guys like Louis Coleman in 2009, Kevin Gausman in 2012, or even Aaron Nola this year. But Eades has been awfully good for the better part of the last two seasons and when he's commanding his pitches, he's as good as anyone. The consistency is what he needs to fine tune. Out of high school, Eades could fall into the category of Alex Bregman, considering that LSU caught a bit of a break with him. Like Bregman, Eades suffered an injury late in his high school career which drove him down the draft boards a bit. Considering he's expecting to be picked so high in June, that has to be considered a blessing to Eades. We won't see Eades back at LSU.

Second baseman Jacoby Jones is another guy expected to go in the Top 100 picks. A few first round mocks even have Jones going in the first 31 picks. Has Jones played like a first rounder? No, not really. For all his talent, he has some really pitiful at bats and strikes out an awful lot. He's got speed. He's excellent defensively and can project at several different positions. And he's shown flashes of power. If he keeps making strides in his approach and discipline at the plate, he may put it all together. Some team will take a chance that he will do just that. You can pencil this in as Jones' last season in Baton Rouge.

Ty Ross will likely be the next off the board, probably somewhere before the end of Round 10. Ross has been a little bit of a disappointment at the plate, hovering around the .200 mark. That comes after an excellent sophomore season where he was above .300 for most of the season before finishing at .292. Regardless, Ross shows enough flashes of power and plate discipline that, when combined with his excellent defense, make him a top catcher prospect. The odds certainly favor Ross getting selected high enough for him to turn pro after this season.

After those three, the futures of a few others are a bit unclear.

Unlike Chris Cotton, Nick Rumbelow has the "stuff" that scouts look for. His 90 + fastball and sharp breaking ball could land Rumbelow in the Top 10 rounds of the draft. His excellent performance last summer in the Cape Cod league (53 strikeouts in 31 innings) did not go unnoticed. Anywhere in the Top 10 rounds nets a slot bonus of six figures, so that could be tough for Rumbelow to turn down, assuming he's offered slot money. If he returns, I suspect he'll receive strong consideration to be LSU's closer in 2014, and that could motivate him to return.

Will Lamarche was selected in the 18th round last year, and he's expected to go high again. Obviously, scouts are in love with his 95 + fastball, and some team will be willing to take a chance on the issues he's had with his control and command. I'd love to see Lamarche work with Alan Dunn for one more season, and maybe he'll be motivated to do so if he believes he's got a chance to be the closer or even a weekend starter. But I suspect he'll go pro if selected in a similar spot as last year.

Christian Ibarra is having an excellent season for LSU, both at the plate and in the field. However, it doesn't seem like the scouts are all that high on Ibarra. He's excellent defensively and is one of the top hitters in the Southeastern conference. He's also shown some pop in his bat with five home runs. But his name is nowhere to be found on any draft boards, and unless he's really just itching to get started on his professional career, I suspect he'll return to LSU for his senior season. However, he's certainly a name to watch.

I don't expect Nate Fury, Kurt McCune, or Sean McMullen to get drafted.

The best, realistic case for LSU is that the only damage done to the current roster is with Eades, Jones and Ross.

Recruiting Roundup; D'haquille Williams Commits!

Kris Brauner — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:43:46 -0000

The Class of 2011 is widely considered to be one of the most talent rich that the state of Louisiana has ever produced. That group included blue chip talent such as La'el Collins, Anthony Johnson, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., Jermauria Rasco, Jeremy Hill and Kenny Hilliard. However, the best football player in that class may very well have been East St. John wide receiver D'haquille Williams. Now starring at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Williams committed to LSU on Friday.

Williams spent his first two years of high school at an unaccredited school, so none of his classes counted towards NCAA eligibility. Therefore, he had zero chance of qualifying after his final two years at East St. John, and he was always bound for junior college. That's why he flew under the radar in terms of the national recruiting picture. Most of the recruiting sites didn't even bother ranking Williams.

Despite seemingly having his academics on the right path, Williams still presents a bit of a risk. He's also had his fair share of character and discipline related issues that forced him to bounce around Junior Colleges before finally settling down. But to his credit, he appears to have really matured over the last year, and that helped make LSU's decision to offer him very easy.

Despite him going unnoticed nationally a few years back, those who cover the state recognize his immense talent:

Can't oversell how big this D'haquille Williams commit is for #LSU. Best high school football player I've seen. Huge talent.
— Shea Dixon (@Sheadixon) May 11, 2013

If D'haquille Williams would have been academically qualified out of high school in 2011, I would have ranked him No.1 overall in the state.
— Mike Scarborough (@ScarboroughMike) May 11, 2013

If Cordarelle Patterson is a one-and-done, back half of 1st round NFL pick, D'haquille Williams is one-and-done and top half of 1st round.
— Mike Scarborough (@ScarboroughMike) May 11, 2013

As further validation of his talent, 247 Sports ranks Williams with a 100 score for his player rating. Only three others in the entire Class of 2014 have a 100 score (Leonard Fournette, Deshawn Hand and Lorenzo Carter). A year ago, just eight players ranked 100. So we're talking about elite, Top-10 overall type of talent with D'haquille Williams. After finally settling in at Mississippi Gulf Coast, Williams instantly found success, hauling in 67 passes for 1,295 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Right now, the plan for Williams is to finish things up at Junior College in December and to enroll at LSU in January of 2014. That will give him a head start on the 2014 season, and he's the type of talent that can really help LSU as they break in a new quarterback. If Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham remain in the program for their senior seasons, then LSU could be looking at one of the top receiving corps in the entire nation especially when factoring in continued development of guys like Travin Dural and Quantavious Leslie, not to mention the rest of the blue chip true freshmen LSU expects to sign in this class.

As a player, Williams is the big, dominant outside receiver that LSU has been looking for. He's in the 6'3" or 6'4" range and weighs around 210 pounds. He's got excellent speed, hands and leaping ability. He's also very good after the catch and can run routes that most guys his size cannot. He's the whole package. He could certainly use some more polish with his routes and understanding of the game, but that's not unusual. The odds are high that Williams is a "one and done" guy at the college level.

The commitment of Williams was not the only big news on the recruiting front over the past week. Parkway Bossier quarterback Brandon Harris has seen his stock soar during the spring evaluation period. He has recently landed offers from Texas A&M, Ohio State and Alabama along with a number of others. Last Wednesday, Cam Cameron went to see Harris throw in person and immediately offered him on the spot. Cameron was reportedly blown away by what he saw from Harris and in the fast improvement in some mechanical issues that had previously prevented LSU from offering. Harris now jumps to the top of LSU's board for quarterbacks.

The next two months should be interesting on the quarterback front. In addition to Harris, LSU is also hotly pursuing South Carolina's Mason Rudolph and Ohio's Deshone Kizer. LSU is in good shape with both Rudolph and Kizer, and both guys would like to make a decision soon. Harris wants to make several visits this summer before deciding at the end of July. Would LSU accept a commitment from Rudolph or Kizer and then still hope to land Harris? Or do they ask Rudolph and/or Kizer to delay their decision in hopes that LSU lands Harris? Would LSU take two quarterbacks in this class? Are the prospects OK with being in a two-quarterback class? Lots of questions...

I think Rudolph is the safest choice of the three. He's athletic but would be considered more of a pocket passer while Kizer and Harris can provide a true threat as runners. Rudolph has the highest floor as a prospect while Harris has the highest ceiling. So it depends on what you'd like to see LSU do. A year after signing two excellent quarterback prospects, this could be a year that LSU can go with more of a boom/bust guy like Harris.

Kentucky blue-chip quarterback Drew Barker committed to Kentucky over South Carolina and Tennessee over the weekend. With South Carolina missing on their top quarterback prospect, will they now turn their attention to Rudolph? It's certainly something to consider. If LSU decided to take Rudolph, they'd possibly push Harris away to another school, only to lose Rudolph to the home state school later in the process. These decisions can be tough.

Mobile, AL defensive end Justin Thornton made his decision on Sunday, committing to Auburn. After a great visit to Baton Rouge a couple of months back, LSU led for Thornton. However, his teammate committed to Auburn and combined with a recent visit to the Plains, it was enough to sway Thornton and push him to a decision. I love Thornton as a prospect, but his reported academic issues have me not sweating this one too much. He very well may end up eligible. But had he picked LSU, his presence on LSU's commitment list could have deterred some others from considering LSU. Then if he didn't make his grades, LSU would have been left with nothing. At the very least, now LSU can move on.

The Tigers are still the big leader for Oklahoma defensive end Deondre Clark, and his commitment (probably sometime this summer) will fill the void of "elite out of state pass rusher" just fine.

We'd love to see some of the big fish in-state start committing to LSU. I really believe it could set off a domino effect of guys wanting to play together and be a part of a special class, especially among the New Orleans area players. But that first domino has to fall, and it looks more and more likely that these players want to wait until after their high school season before going public with a decision. LSU hosts the "Bayou Picnic" recruiting event at the end of May and then hosts two summer camps, one in June and one in July. Those will be the next big weekends to circle on the calendar.

Some out of state guys could be the next to fall for LSU. Currently, LSU leads for Illinois linebacker Clifton Garrett, and New Jersey wide receiver Saeed Blacknall and both may decide this summer.

D'haqhille Williams Story

Brandon Harris Highlights

Around The SEC: Baseball Weekend Preview - 5/9/13

Kris Brauner — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:39:30 -0000

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	21 - 2	.913	41 - 6	.872	27-3	14-3	0-0	W8
South Carolina	13 - 10	.565	33 - 14	.702	23-6	10-6	0-2	L2
Florida	12 - 12	.500	27 - 23	.540	19-14	8-8	0-1	W2
Kentucky	10 - 14	.417	28 - 19	.596	18-8	7-10	3-1	W2
Missouri	7 - 17	.292	15 - 28	.349	11-12	4-15	0-1	L4
Tennessee	6 - 16	.273	18 - 26	.409	10-12	6-12	2-2	L2
Georgia	5 - 16	.238	17 - 28	.378	10-18	6-10	1-0	W1
Western
LSU	19 - 5	.792	43 - 6	.878	31-3	11-3	1-0	W4
Arkansas	15 - 8	.652	32 - 16	.667	22-8	9-4	0-4	L1
Mississippi St.	13 - 11	.542	36 - 13	.735	27-6	7-7	2-0	W3
Ole Miss	12 - 12	.500	33 - 16	.673	20-8	13-6	0-2	L2
Alabama	11 - 12	.478	28 - 21	.571	19-8	9-11	0-2	W1
Texas A&M	10 - 13	.435	26 - 22	.542	20-8	4-12	1-2	W4
Auburn	9 - 15	.375	28 - 19	.596	19-10	7-9	2-0	W3

Tennessee (18-26, 6-16) @ Arkansas (32-16, 15-8)

The Hogs are playing well right now. Since losing the series to LSU, Arkansas has won seven of nine conference games, and they're right on the bubble in terms of hosting a regional. College Baseball Daily's latest projections have Fayeteville as a host location and with Tennessee and Auburn the only SEC teams remaining on the schedule, the Hogs could go to Hoover as one of the hottest teams in the league...and the country.

In classic Arkansas style, the Hogs took a road series at Kentucky and scored just ten runs all weekend. But that's how this team rolls...with one of the best pitching staffs in the nation. Over their last seven games, Arkansas is averaging just 3.14 runs per game. That's not good. But they've won six of those seven games. They lean heavily on their pitchers to be nearly flawless, but they seem to figure out a way to win each night.

Tennessee was only able to get in one game last weekend against Georgia due to weather, and they lost 8-7. The Vols appear to have hit the skids on the season, simply playing out the string. They have lost eight of the last nine, including a pair of mid-week contests to Middle Tennessee State.

Arkansas has only swept one series this year which was, oddly enough, at South Carolina. The timing, momentum, etc all seem right for another one here. If I'm right, that will keep the pressure on LSU a bit in the SEC West standings.
Prediction: Arkansas Sweeps

Mississippi State (36-13, 13-11) @ Ole Miss (33-16, 12-12)

State earned a much needed sweep of Alabama last weekend, and after a slow start in league play, their conference record is starting to catch up to their RPI and to the quality of team they are. State's RPI is all the way up to #9, and they're a host site in every projection I can find. Short of going on a crazy run, I can't see them entering the national seed discussion, so their focus is on remaining a host site at this point.

Ole Miss, on the other hand, is limping into this weekend after losing their second straight series...the latest to Auburn. Things seemed to be looking up for the Rebs after consecutive sweeps of Alabama and Tennessee a few weeks back, but going 2-4 against Kentucky and Auburn has brought them back to reality. For now, the Rebs are still squarely in the post-season with a solid RPI of #20. But with a tough series against State and a road trip to Baton Rouge in their near future, they need to be careful.

This series features two of the league's top hitters in State's Hunter Renfroe (.394 / .488 / .781, 15 HR, 49 RBI) and Ole Miss's Stuart Turner (.397 / .454 / .580, 5 HR, 46 RBI). Along with LSU's Mason Katz and Alex Bregman, Renfroe is among the favorites to win the SEC Player Of The Year.
Prediction: Mississippi State Wins 2 of 3

Missouri (15-28, 7-17) @ Alabama 28-21, 11-12)

After a hot start, most figured Alabama would eventually fade and come back to Earth. And that's exactly what happened. After starting SEC play with a 7-2 record, they've gone 4-10 since. Despite still being in good shape for making the NCAA Tournament, this weekend is an important one for the Tide. Next week, Bama travels to Vanderbilt, so they really need to win the series this weekend. Losing this weekend could put them in position where they only end up with 12 conference wins and a mediocre overall record.

Not much to say about Missouri. They were swept by a very average Texas A&M team last weekend, and they scored just seven runs in those three games. They're dead last in the league in hitting, 12th in pitching, and 13th in fielding. But for now, they're head of Georgia and Tennessee in the standings, so there's that.
Prediction: Alabama Wins 2 of 3

Auburn (28-19, 9-15) @ Florida (27-23, 12-12)

Florida had really pulled themselves together after a rough start to the season. They were playing very good baseball, which included a sweep of South Carolina. But last weekend, the ran into a LSU team that was angry after losing a series the previous weekend and were swept. So they'll be looking to have a rebound of their own this weekend against an Auburn team that could be running into a buzz saw.

Auburn is coming off an unexpected series win against Ole Miss and suddenly, they MIGHT have something to play for. They have a solid overall record and a RPI of #41. Their strength of schedule is also up there at #37. With Florida and Arkansas on the schedule, it won't be easy, at all. But they may...MAY be able to play their way into the NCAA Tournament discussion if they can somehow manage to win four or five of the next six and then have a nice showing in Hoover. It's highly unlikely, but they may have something to play for now, which is a stark contrast to just a week ago.

In the end, I believe they're going to hit that buzz saw though.
Prediction: Florida Sweeps

Vanderbilt (41-6, 21-2) @ Kentucky (28-19, 10-14)

At this point, Vanderbilt is playing against the SEC history books. 21 conference wins is usually enough to win the league and earn a national seed. LSU won the SEC outright with 20 wins in 2009 and 19 last year. In 2008, LSU was 18-12 and earned a national seed. Vandy is accomplishing unprecedented things. But, the league title is not totally wrapped up because LSU is having a really fine season, too. The Tigers are 2.5 games behind Vandy with six to play. It's unlikely they can catch the Dores, but it provides Vandy with a reason to stay motivated.

Remember when Kentucky was ranked in the Top-10 and when LSU's sweep of them was a big deal? Counting the LSU series, they're 4-11 in conference play over the last five weekends, and their star is fading quickly. They still have a good RPI of #28, and they have the luxury of finishing the season against Missouri. But suffering a sweep this weekend would put Kentucky at 10-17 in SEC play, and that's not a good thing.
Prediction: Vanderbilt Sweeps (I'm an idiot not to predict this)

Georgia (17-28, 5-16) @ South Carolina (33-14, 13-10)

South Carolina is a really good team and after a confidence building series win in Baton Rouge, I thought they'd return home and win the series against Vanderbilt. In a two game series cut short by rain, the Cocks lost both. Oops. But Carolina is still an awfully good team, and they'll get the chance to take out their frustrations on the league's worst team this weekend, at home. Ranked #8 and with a RPI of #11, it's not out of the question that the Cocks receive a national seed with a strong finish. Barring a collapse, they should at least host a Regional.

They'll travel to Mississippi State for the final regular season series, so taking care of business this weekend is a must.

I don't see any way Georgia surprises and wins this series, but they could posisbly steal one game. They're overmatched and in a tough spot this weekend.
Prediction: South Carolina Sweeps

LSU Gets Back On Track; Brooms Florida

Kris Brauner — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:39:27 -0000

After dropping their first series of the year a week ago, LSU stormed back to sweep a Florida team that had been rolling lately. LSU played extremely well this weekend, highlighted by excellent starting pitching on each day. LSU's starting pitchers pitched 21.2 innings and allowed just 12 hits.

With Thursday night's game threatened by rain, Paul Maineri decided to go with Cody Glenn as the starting pitcher. The rationale was to not use up your best pitcher on a night that might get cut short after a couple of innings due to weather. Plus, it allowed Aaron Nola and Ryan Eades to stay in their usual Friday and Saturday spots whereas Cody Glenn did not pitch the previous weekend. If LSU could get a win against Florida's best on Thursday with Glenn on the hill, then they'd be set up very well for the remainder of the weekend. And that's exactly what happened.

Cody Glenn was excellent on Thursday night and going back to the Arkansas series, that's his second straight quality start. LSU needed Glenn to be excellent, too as they won a one-run game. Jacoby Jones had a big home run to give LSU a lead in the fourth inning and Ty Ross came through with a clutch sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to give LSU the lead for good. Chris Cotton looked like his old self in the ninth inning, sitting down Florida quickly with two strikeouts.

On Saturday, Aaron Nola pitched another complete game...this time allowing zero runs. No big deal. It's Nola's fourth straight complete game. LSU was good enough at the plate, scoring five runs on nine hits.

Then on Sunday, LSU quickly fell behind 2-0 in the first inning but quickly re-took the lead with three runs in the second. Then, they just beat Florida's pitching senseless. LSU had the bases loaded four times in the game and each time, they came through with a big-time hit. Jacoby Jones doubled in two runs. Bregman doubled in three. Jones hit a grand slam. And then Chris Chinea cleared the bases with a double. For the last few weeks, it seems that LSU routinely failed to get the timely hit, and they took all their frustrations out on Florida on Saturday.

Jacoby Jones had a weekend full of big hits. His home run on Thursday night to give LSU the lead was a big one. He had two his Friday including a key RBI. And then he came through twice with the bases loaded on Saturday. When he makes contact, he's hitting the ball very hard. But he's still having an awful lot of at bats where you think "geez, that was bad." He struck out six times this weekend. Jones was piling up walks earlier in the season, but that has not continued. But at the end of the day, his production is SO much better than it was a month ago that you've got to be pleased with where he's at heading towards the post season.

Alex Bregman did Alex Bregman things this weekend. Six hits. Two doubles. A stolen base. No big deal.

Christian Ibarra remains one of LSU's most consistent hitters and if anything, he's improving. He was 5 for 8 on the weekend and reached base 9 times in 12 appearances. His bases clearing double on Saturday was the hit that really opened the flood gates. He's all the way up to .363 and is second on the team with a .458 on base percentage.

I can't say enough about the job that Sean McMullen continues to do at the top of LSU's order. He had another nice weekend with four hits and a pair of walks and his leadoff double helped spark the big fifth inning on Saturday. McMullen hasn't been in the starting lineup all year but comparatively, his numbers are excellent. His .424 on base percentage is one of the best on the team. If you take his numbers and extend them over what would be a complete season to this point, he'd have 19 doubles, 27 BBs and just 19 strikeouts.

For the second straight start, Ryan Eades struggled in the first inning, only to settle down and really find a groove after that. On Saturday, Eades allowed two hits in the first inning and didn't allow another one until the sixth inning. His start against South Carolina was pretty similar.

Paul Maineri is still trying to find the outfield/lineup combination he's most comfortable with. Andrew Stevenson, Jared Foster and Tyler Moore all get opportunities from time to time. When Stevenson is in there, LSU's speed in the outfield is just insane. He also showed off how valuable his speed can be on the base paths by beating out a fairly routine grounder to short which caught the Gators off guard, allowing two LSU runs to score. It's not often you see a 2 RBI infield single, but that's the kind of stuff that Stevenson can bring to the table that the others can't.

LSU is off this week before heading to College Station for their last road trip of the season. The Aggies aren't very good, but they're fresh off a sweep of Missouri so they may have a bit of renewed confidence. This will be another Thursday-Friday-Saturday series as will the last weekend against Ole Miss. So I expect Paul Maineri to bump everyone up a spot with Nola going on Thursday, Eades on Friday and Glenn on Saturday.

At 43-6 overall and 19-5 in the conference, LSU is all but assured a national seed at this point.

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	21 - 2	.913	41 - 6	.872	27-3	14-3	0-0	W8
South Carolina	13 - 10	.565	33 - 14	.702	23-6	10-6	0-2	L2
Florida	12 - 12	.500	25 - 23	.521	17-14	8-8	0-1	L4
Kentucky	10 - 14	.417	27 - 19	.587	17-8	7-10	3-1	W1
Missouri	7 - 17	.292	15 - 28	.349	11-12	4-15	0-1	L4
Tennessee	6 - 16	.273	18 - 26	.409	10-12	6-12	2-2	L2
Georgia	5 - 16	.238	17 - 28	.378	10-18	6-10	1-0	W1
Western
LSU	19 - 5	.792	43 - 6	.878	31-3	11-3	1-0	W4
Arkansas	15 - 8	.652	32 - 16	.667	22-8	9-4	0-4	L1
Mississippi St.	13 - 11	.542	36 - 13	.735	27-6	7-7	2-0	W3
Ole Miss	12 - 12	.500	33 - 16	.673	20-8	13-6	0-2	L2
Alabama	11 - 12	.478	27 - 21	.562	18-8	9-11	0-2	L3
Texas A&M	10 - 13	.435	26 - 22	.542	20-8	4-12	1-2	W4
Auburn	9 - 15	.375	27 - 19	.587	19-10	6-9	2-0	W2

Game 1 Highlights

Game 2 Highlights

Game 3 Highlights

Around The SEC: Baseball Weekend Preview - 5/3/13

Kris Brauner — Fri, 03 May 2013 04:16:56 -0000

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	19 - 2	.905	39 - 6	.867	27-3	12-3	0-0	W6
South Carolina	13 - 8	.619	33 - 12	.733	23-4	10-6	0-2	W2
Florida	12 - 10	.545	25 - 21	.543	17-14	8-6	0-1	L2
Kentucky	9 - 12	.429	26 - 17	.605	16-6	7-10	3-1	W1
Missouri	7 - 14	.333	15 - 25	.375	11-12	4-12	0-1	L1
Tennessee	6 - 15	.286	18 - 25	.419	10-11	6-12	2-2	L1
Georgia	4 - 16	.200	16 - 28	.364	10-18	5-10	1-0	L2
Western
LSU	17 - 5	.773	41 - 6	.872	29-3	11-3	1-0	W2
Arkansas	13 - 7	.650	30 - 15	.667	22-8	7-3	0-4	W5
Alabama	11 - 9	.550	27 - 18	.600	18-8	9-8	0-2	W4
Ole Miss	11 - 10	.524	32 - 14	.696	20-8	12-4	0-2	W1
Mississippi St.	10 - 11	.476	33 - 13	.717	24-6	7-7	2-0	L3
Texas A&M	7 - 13	.350	23 - 22	.511	17-8	4-12	1-2	W1
Auburn	7 - 14	.333	25 - 18	.518	17-9	6-9	2-0	L2

Arkansas (30-15, 13-7) @ Kentucky (26-17, 9-12)

The Hogs have won their last four conference games and are giving LSU a late run for the SEC West crown. They continue to win with the league's best pitching staff while doing just barely enough at the plate...but they're winning right now. The Hogs lead the SEC with an insane 1.78 team ERA.

The Hogs' hosting picture right now is very murky with a poor RPI of #47. But if they were to conceivably catch LSU in the SEC West, that would certainly change. Their last three opponents (@ Kentucky, vs. Tennessee, @ Auburn) may allow them to really make things interesting down the stretch.

On the other hand, Kentucky had been in a serious slide before showing signs of life last weekend by taking two of three from Ole Miss in Oxford. At just 9-12 in the league and with Vanderbilt still on the schedule, their chances of hosting a regional are pretty much zero. But they're still squarely in the post-season mix and are hanging on in the national rankings at #23. A series win against Arkansas would help solidify their spot in the post-season.
Pick: Arkansas Wins 2 of 3

Alabama (27-18, 11-9) @ Mississippi State (33-13, 10-11)

After a hot start, Alabama has cooled a bit in SEC play. But to their credit, they haven't cooled off quite as much as people assumed they would. While it hasn't been pretty, they have won enough games to stay above .500 in league play and stay in the post-season mix. With a road series to Vanderbilt looming on the last weekend of the season, this weekend's contest in Starkville is a big one for the Tide.

On paper, the Tide are over-matched this weekend. State is a far superior team who was really starting to play to their potential before running into a buzz saw in Nashville last weekend when Vandy broomed them. They're looking to rebound.

With a nice overall record and a RPI hovering around #10, State is in the mix to host a regional and is likely fourth in line in the SEC behind Vandy, LSU and South Carolina. They're hoping to stay there. But at some point, their conference record will have to surge ahead of .500. Things aren't that easy down the stretch either, traveling to Ole Miss and hosting South Carolina. They really need to win the series this weekend.

And I think they will.
Prediction: Mississippi State sweeps

Ole Miss (32-14, 11-10) @ Auburn (25-18, 7-14)

Ole Miss had won six SEC games in a row and seemed to be finding their groove before unexpectedly losing a home series to Kentucky last weekend. Ole Miss is a good team that does a lot of things very well, but they just can't seem to quite get everything together at the same time. This weekend provides them a good opportunity to start.

The Rebs are in good shape for the post-season but have very little chance to host at this point. They are ranked #24 and have a RPI of #20, but it would take a serious run to be anything other than a #2 seed. They must also still play two of the league's top teams in LSU and Mississippi State, so it's tough to see them finishing with any better than 16 conference wins. Life in the SEC is tough and the Rebs seem to be resigned to that fact.

Ole Miss starter Bobby Wahl continues to dominate, now at 8-0 with a 1.22 ERA.

As for Auburn, they're not a very good baseball team. But they have won at least one game in each of the last four series, which tells me they're still playing hard and that they're capable. The Auburn faithful are getting restless and even HC John Pawlowski's strongest supporters believe the winds of change are blowing.
Prediction: Ole Miss Wins 2 of 3

Missouri (15-25, 7-14) @ Texas A&M (23-22, 7-13)

This is the battle of the SEC's newcomers, and neither have impressed in their inaugural SEC season. In fact, they've both been just....really bad. The Aggies started conference play at 5-1 before the wheels just fell off. They're just 2-13 in the conference since then. That's a little surprising because traditionally, A&M has a strong baseball program.

Missouri has just been consistently bad, but they have won two of their last four conference series. So that's something.

At this point, it's really, really tough to see either team in the post-season. Missouri is definitely out, and it's pretty much over for the Aggies too.

Not much intrigue here.
Prediction: Texas A&M Wins 2 of 3

Vanderbilt (39-6, 19-2) @ South Carolina (33-12, 13-8)

This should be a really fun series. Vandy is obviously RIDICULOUS right now. They're on fire and just got finished sweeping a good Mississippi State team. But South Carolina is fresh off a road series win against LSU, and their confidence is sky high, too. It should be a fantastic atmosphere in Columbia all weekend.

Both teams are among the league leaders in both hitting and pitching. Vandy leads the SEC in team batting average but South Carolina leads the team in home runs. Vanderbilt does an excellent job of executing and moving runners all over the bases. They lead the conference in both walks, on base percentage (.414!!) and stolen bases. They're also way up there in sacrifices. They also lead the conference in doubles, triples, and slugging. So they really put a lot of pressure on the opposing pitcher and defense. To top it off, they do have 30 home runs which isn't awful.

South Carolina's lefty-heavy rotation can, at times, be a neutralizer. It will be fun to see if they can slow down Vandy right now.

Vanderbilt is cruising towards a national seed while South Carolina is in great position to host a regional. They'd like to get into the conversation for a national seed, as well. Winning a series against Vanderbilt would really put them in the mix. Ranked #15 and with a RPI of #9, they're not far off from where they need to be.

This is the time of year when South Carolina starts really, really playing well. It has been a little too easy for Vanderbilt and South Carolina is a really tough place to play. I think the Cocks get it done this weekend.
Prediction: South Carolina Wins 2 of 3

Georgia (16-28, 4-16) @ Tennessee (18-25, 6-15)

There's really not anything interesting going on in this series. These two are battling for the cellar. Neither team has a prayer of any kind of post-season. Not surprisingly, these two bring up the rear in the conference in team ERA.

Georgia does have a win over Vanderbilt on their resume and they beat Georgia Tech 17-0 last week. So they have that going for them. Regardless, I think Tennessee takes the series.
Prediction: Tennessee Wins 2 of 3

LSU Drops Series to Gamecocks

Kris Brauner — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:09:50 -0000

After winning on Friday night behind another dominant performance by Aaron Nola, LSU dropped the next two games to lose the series to South Carolina. Despite the howls that this team is slipping or that they "peaked too early", I don't see it that way. At all. In fact, I was pretty encouraged by a lot of things that I saw over the weekend.

First...the bad. Obviously, LSU didn't score enough runs in two of the three games. The little things in baseball get magnified a thousand times over in close games. Things such as hitting with runners in scoring position, executing a sacrifice, sound defense, or even just making a complete stop with your hands before throwing a pitch. We have taken these things for granted on this LSU team, especially the outstanding defense. But at times this weekend, the team did not do these little things. This is the second weekend in a row that I'm mentioning these things, and hopefully it will be the last.

Saturday had a ton of examples. In a tie game, Alex Bregman boots a relatively routine ground ball in the ninth inning to put a runner on base which starts a rally from South Carolina. Later in the inning and perhaps not totally focused after giving up a run, Chris Cotton balks in another run. In the bottom half of the ninth, LSU managed to get runners on the corners with nobody out. If they were down just one run instead of two, perhaps they can get one across. Both innings where Carolina scored runs were helped by errors.

I still believe this is an excellent defensive team. I just believe they may have lost a tad bit of focus with such an impressive start to the season and a comfortable lead in the SEC West standings.

The failure to knock in runs on Saturday had to be damn near historic. LSU managed 14 hits and got the leadoff man aboard in eight of the nine innings. However, they managed to produce just two runs. That included two situations with a runner on third base and less than two outs and failing to get the run home. Frustrating, for sure. But also not characteristic of this team.

Having said all of that, I'm still not that upset about losing the series. A lot of evidence exists that this team is excellent on defense, and I feel confident they'll show that for the rest of the season. And yes, it sucks that LSU couldn't string the hits together, but the fact that they managed 14 hits on Saturday and 30 for the weekend against a team like South Carolina is a good thing.

Overall, Katz and Bregman aren't destroying the ball any more. But it was unrealistic to think they'd both hit .450 all season. However, a number of other guys in the lineup are hitting now. Jacoby Jones rebounded nicely from his benching last weekend with five hits against the Cocks. He's all the way back to .260 now. Ty Ross is hitting the ball well right now, back over the Mendoza line at .209. and showing the ability to deliver some clutch at bats. Right now, there is not an easy out in the lineup, and that can often be more beneficial than what we saw earlier in the season when Katz and Bregman were on fire while Jones/Ross/Sciambra couldn't hit a thing.

Sean McMullen continues to produce at the top of the lineup, adding five more hits to his total and bringing is average up to .313.

LSU has been searching and searching for another right handed stick in the lineup to face lefty pitching. Jared Foster may have won that job. He had a nice weekend, going 5 for 11 at the plate while also drawing a walk.

Against righties, LSU still has the option of playing Andrew Stevenson or Chris Sciambra in the outfield or putting Sean McMullen in right with Tyler Moore in the DH spot. Based on his meeting with the media on Monday, it sounds like Paul Maineri likes having Stevenson in the lineup for his defense and speed. But Stevenson sure looked over-matched at the plate on Sunday.

On the mound, you obviously have to love what you've seen from Aaron Nola. There's just not much to say about him. He's really dialed in right now.

I really liked what I saw from Ryan Eades on Saturday. His last two starts were really shaky, and I was one who was questioning whether we were about to see a repeat of last year when he fell apart. Then on Saturday, he comes out and the first inning doesn't go real well. He gave up three hits and with the aid of an error, Carolina gets two runs on the board. Here we go again, right? We were all thinking, and you can bet that Eades was thinking it too. Instead of caving in, Eades really, really dug deep and found his stuff. He gave up just three more hits over the next six innings without allowing a run. He deserved to win the game, but LSU just couldn't get enough runs across. That was a gutsy performance, and let's hope it carries over. It sounds kind of silly but LSU needed Eades to find his confidence again more than they needed to win that game. It's a shame they couldn't both, though.

Obviously, the Kurt McCune experiment on Sunday didn't go real well. McCune had a disaster of a first inning which set the tone for the entire game. The entire LSU team couldn't pull out of their funk after that. But the sliver lining is that Brent Bonvillain came in and pitched four excellent innings. That seems like the fifth time this year he has done that. Maineri has already said that Cody Glenn will be back in the rotation next Sunday. I don't blame Maineri for giving McCune a shot. Glenn has often been good but has grossly inconsistent. McCune had looked excellent after returning from injury and deserved the opportunity. But for now, it appears the experiment is over.

Lastly, I don't think losing this series is such a bad thing because it gives this team some adversity to overcome. To this point, they really haven't had any. They're sure to face some in the post season, so it's not a bad thing to see what this group is made of ahead of time. Remember, it took an unexpected series loss to shake up the 2009 team before they really got rolling. I also recall a year ago when South Carolina lost a home series to LSU, but regrouped and went on a run to the CWS Finals.

Overall, LSU is still in great shape. They've got a 2.5 game lead over Arkansas in the SEC West. The problem is that the Hogs have some relatively easy opponents left on the schedule (@Kentucky, vs. Tennessee, @Auburn), so they're not going away. But if LSU can just manage to go 5-4 the rest of the way, they're all but a lock for a national seed...which is really the goal of any regular season.

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	19 - 2	.905	39 - 6	.867	27-3	12-3	0-0	W6
South Carolina	13 - 8	.619	33 - 12	.733	23-4	10-6	0-2	W2
Florida	12 - 9	.571	25 - 20	.556	17-14	8-5	0-1	L1
Kentucky	9 - 12	.429	26 - 17	.605	16-6	7-10	3-1	W1
Missouri	7 - 14	.333	15 - 24	.385	11-11	4-12	0-1	W2
Tennessee	6 - 15	.286	18 - 24	.429	10-10	6-12	2-2	W1
Georgia	4 - 16	.200	16 - 28	.364	10-18	5-10	1-0	L2
Western
LSU	16 - 5	.762	39 - 6	.867	27-3	11-3	1-0	L2
Arkansas	13 - 7	.650	29 - 15	.659	21-8	7-3	0-4	W4
Alabama	11 - 9	.550	27 - 18	.600	18-8	9-8	0-2	W4
Ole Miss	11 - 10	.524	31 - 14	.689	19-8	12-4	0-2	L1
Mississippi St.	10 - 11	.476	33 - 13	.717	24-6	7-7	2-0	L3
Texas A&M	7 - 13	.350	22 - 22	.500	16-8	4-12	1-2	L5
Auburn	7 - 14	.333	25 - 18	.518	17-9	6-9	2-0	L2

Game 1 Highlights

Game 2 Highlights

Game 3 Highlights

Recruiting Roundup; Brumfield Commits!

Kris Brauner — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:32:55 -0000

LSU hosted a number of big-time prospects on campus Saturday to take in the spring game. The biggest news of the day came after the game when U-High offensive lineman Garrett Brumfield ended his recruiting process and committed to LSU. With an absolutely loaded Louisiana class, Brumfield ranks among the state's best.

The 6'4" 285 pound guard falls in line with what LSU seems to be seeking from their offensive line prospects lately. He's on the quick, lean side with the frame to add good weight. Will Clapp Ethan Pocic (2013), KJ Malone (2013) and Jerald Hawkins (2012) are similar, and this differs from some guys in the past such as Trai Turner and Jonah Austin who carried a lot of bad weight that they needed to shed upon arriving to LSU. You'll still see some big guys such as Josh Boutte, but he's put together extremely well and doesn't really need to lose weight so much as he just needs to fine tune his body a bit.

Brumfield is widely considered to be one of the top guard prospects in the nation. At a Rivals camp in Houston, TX last month, Brumfield was named the MVP among linemen. The recruiting sites rank Brumfield as follows:

247 - #8 OG, #107 overall
Rivals - #3 OG, #131 overall
ESPN - #4 OG, #98 overall
Scout - #10 OG, #238 overall

As expected, Brumfield has outstanding feet and quickness. He shows off a very good initial punch and fires off the ball quickly in the run game. He may be a decent candidate to play center, if the depth chart situation presents itself. Unlike most offensive lineman in the high school ranks, Brumfield shows a decent amount of polish in pass protection. He predominantly plays left tackle at U-High and, he handles the edge well, albeit against mostly weak competition.

Trai Turner and Jonah Austin are just sophomores. Combined with incoming freshmen Josh Boutte, Andy Dodd and KJ Malone along with 2014 commitments Clapp and now Brumfield, the interior of LSU's line looks to be in truly outstanding shape for years to come.

Brumfield's commitment will also help strengthen LSU's relationship with U-High...one that was already very strong but may have, in the eyes of some, taken a slight hit when LSU essentially passed on Tim Williams last year who signed with Alabama. With running backs Nic Brossette (2015) and Dylan Moses (2017) looking like some of the top players nationally in their class, it can't hurt to firm up that relationship.

In addition to Brumfield, LSU hosted a number of others. The biggest name on hand was St. Aug running back Leonard Fournette, the #1 prospect in America according to some. He attended the game with his mother, who was decked out in LSU gear, and the Tigers continue to be the big leader for Fournette at this point.

Momdukes said she had a good time at LSU😎😎😎😎 twitter.com/_fournette/sta…
— button (@_fournette) April 20, 2013

John Curtis wide receiver Malachi Dupre attended the spring game, which marks his second visit to see LSU scrimmage in three weeks. Dupre doesn't seem ready to make a decision just yet, but his actions sure seem to point to LSU at this point.

Barbe wide receiver Trey Quinn was also in attendance. Reportedly, Quinn was eager to see Cam Cameron's impact on the passing game and how he might fit into the offense. With the quarterbacks and receivers having nice days, he had to like what he saw on Saturday. I think his visit only pushed him closer to making a decision, which I expect to come before the end of the summer.

LSU commitments Will Clapp, Chris Hardeman and Devin Voorhies were all in attendance. Ole Miss has recently turned up the heat on Voorhies and for the first time, he seems open to hearing their pitch. So it was nice to see him at LSU bonding with coaches, players and other recruits.

Hardeman's teammate, receiver Kennen Brown, also made the trip. Brown has an offer from LSU; however it's not clear if LSU would accept a commitment from him at this time. His offer was issued prior to Tony Upchurch committing, so things may have changed. Regardless, he seems fairly high on LSU right now.

The big out of state visitor was Illinois linebacker Clifton Garrett, one of the top middle linebacker prospects in the nation. The 6'3" 225 pounder is ranked no lower than #59 overall by the recruiting sites. He's the real deal. LSU rolled out the red carpet for Garrett and from the reports surfacing after his visit, they made an enormous impression on him. Garrett has visited Ole Miss before, and he visited Alabama the day before coming to LSU. But LSU was the one that really stood out to Garrett. It's always possible that the luster of his visit wears off over time, but LSU seems to be in a very good spot right now. His recruitment will be an interesting one to watch over the next several months to see if he considers making a return trip to LSU this summer.

On the 2015 front, U-High's star running back Nic Brossette was in attendance as was Catholic High running back Derrius Guice. Brossette already holds an offer from LSU, and Guice received one on Saturday. That means that LSU has more offers to in-state running backs for the Class of 2015 than they do 2014.

Speaking of in-state running backs, John Ehret's Darrell Williams was on hand. Williams is an excellent looking prospect with some SEC offers, but it looks like he'll have to compete at LSU's camp this summer to earn one from the Tigers. I think that's exactly what he'll do, and I think he ultimately ends up signing with LSU.

John Curtis safety Mattrell McGraw was also at the game. McGraw also has a number of SEC offers, but does not yet have one from LSU.

A trio of other Texas prospects made it in, to include defensive end Myles Garrett, safety John Bonney and linebacker Josh Mabin. At this point, Mabin seems the most likely to end up at LSU. He does not yet have an offer, but is planning on camping at LSU in efforts to earn one. Depending on what happens with Clifton Garrett and Kenny Young, Mabin could certainly be an option for the Tigers down the line.

The news was not all good though.

Three of the state's top prospects elected to attend Alabama's spring game in favor of LSU's. West Monroe offensive tackle Cameron Robinson, Neville defensive back Hootie Jones and John Curtis linebacker Kenny Young all made their way to Tuscaloosa on Saturday. That could mean nothing, or it could be indicative of what's on the minds of these prospects. Either way, it surely would have been nice to have them in Baton Rouge instead.

Robinson's visit marks the second time in a few weeks that he's been to Alabama, and I understand that LSU's coaches were expecting him in Baton Rouge as late as Thursday of last week. This interview from Bayou Bengals Insider details some of his thoughts on the visit.

I'd say LSU has a tough battle on their hands for Robinson

Most feel that LSU is in a good spot with Hootie Jones, despite his decision to go to Alabama this weekend.

It's also very curious to me that Kenny Young elected to go to Alabama while two of his teammates went to LSU. We'll have to see what transpires there. A few weeks back, Young took a special trip to LSU to take in a practice and talk to the coaches. After LSU took a commitment from another linebacker, Young wanted to make sure he still had a spot, so he's definitely still considering the Tigers. But while he was in Alabama this weekend, LSU was rolling out the red carpet for another blue chip linebacker, so things could certainly get interesting.

LSU commitment Sharieff Rhaheed visited Alabama this weekend as well. Alabama offered Rhaheed shortly after he committed to LSU, so he decided to check them out.

Karr tight-end Anthony Jones seemed to be on the verge of committing to LSU and many thought he would pull the trigger this weekend at the spring game. Last week, Jones received a flurry of offers including one from Florida State and Jones elected to visit Tallahassee instead of Baton Rouge. So while that was disappointing in the short term, it still seems like LSU is in a good spot for Jones.

Brumfield's pledge gives LSU nine commitments for the Class of 2014, and I expect that number to be in the 15 to 18 range before the end of the summer.

LSU Wins Series In Tuscaloosa

Kris Brauner — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:23:01 -0000

LSU did what they needed to do this weekend, which was to win the series. Any time you go on the road in this conference, winning two games is a big deal. When you get a poor start from one of your team's ace pitchers and uncharacteristically make three errors in a game but still manage to win the series, then you count your blessings and move on.

LSU outclassed Alabama on Friday night. Aaron Nola was excellent, pitching a complete game shutout while allowing just three hits and striking out 10. At the plate, LSU rapped out 11 hits. When LSU put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning, that game was over.

Saturday was quite different. For the second straight week, Ryan Eades did not have his stuff. He got roughed up pretty good, allowing eight hits and five earned runs in just four innings of work. Luckily, LSU had some clutch hits, highlighted by a pair of three-run bombs...one each from Alex Bregman and Ty Ross. After Nick Rumbelow gave LSU a solid two innings of work, Joey Bourgeois came in to pitch the seventh with LSU leading 8-5. For some reason, Paul Maineri did not stick to the usual script and lifted Bourgeois in favor of Chris Cotton in the eighth inning. Cotton was not sharp in the eighth but he got through the inning unscatched. The ninth was a different story though. After a single and an error by Jacoby Jones, Cotton gave up a game tying 3-run blast.

That started an extra innings affair that would go on well into the night. LSU's bullpen during this stretch was fantastic. Cotton exited the game after the 10th inning, and LSU turned to Matt Fury who pitched four scoreless innings. Is was a pretty high pressure situation since any Bama run would have ended the game, but Fury did not flinch. He was excellent. After getting abused by BYU earlier in the year in LSU's lone non-conference loss, his innings decreased drastically...certainly his weekend innings. But in my book, he earned another hard look as someone they can count on. Kurt McCune was equally as impressive pitching the 15th and 16th inning.

Tyler Moore's big two out double in the 16th inning deserves mention. His playing time has decreased quite a bit lately, though I'm not really sure why. After sitting in the dugout for about five hours, he grabs a bat and smacks a crucial double that really got the Tigers' two-out rally going. I'll point this out again....through 53 official at bats on the season, Tyler Moore strikeout total remains....ZERO.

I'm not sounding the alarm bells or anything just yet, but I will say that I am concerned about Ryan Eades. Every pitcher will have a shaky start from time to time, but he's had two in a row and we've seen this before. Last year at almost the exact same point in the season, Eades started to lose his stuff and he was grossly unreliable down the stretch. A solid Ryan Eades-like start next weekend would be awfully nice to see.

On the flip side, Cody Glenn was excellent on Sunday, allowing just four hits and one earned run in eight innings. It's a shame that LSU's bats had an off day and could not capitalize on Glenn's performance. Since SEC play has started, Glenn has fallen into a pattern of alternating a very good performance with a pretty bad one. I've got no real explanation for it, but hopefully he can find some consistency, especially with Eades struggling.

Sunday's game had an unusual feel to it. The team seemed out of sorts for the first time in a while. The 16 inning marathon the night before almost certainly had something to do with it, but they had very little energy. They also made three errors, which ultimately proved to be the difference in another close game. The little things make such a huge difference in close games, and LSU has been insanely good at those little things this year. Sunday's contest serves as a great reminder of just how important they are.

It was odd that in a series that features two extra inning games, we didn't see Brent Bonvillain at all. Maineri was obviously saving him for Sunday, to relieve Cody Glenn. But Glenn was so good that Bonvillain wasn't needed.

Jacoby Jones had an interesting weekend. He missed Friday's game due to a stomach illness. On Saturday, he made an error in the ninth inning which helped keep Alabama's rally alive. He also failed to deliver in a bases loaded, no outs situation. But he did redeem himself a bit in the 16th with a big double to add to LSU's lead. Then on Sunday, another error got him quickly yanked from the game. It will be interesting to see how his situation unfolds moving forward.

LSU hosts Tulane at The Box on Wednesday before hosting a huge series against South Carolina next weekend.

SEC Standings

STANDINGS	SEC Win	SEC Loss	SEC %	Games Back	Overall Win	Overall Loss	Overall %	Last 10	Streak	Next Game
Eastern Division
Vanderbilt	16	2	0.889	--	35	6	0.854	8-2	W-2	at Louisville (4/23)
South Carolina	11	7	0.611	5	31	10	0.756	7-3	W-4	vs Gardner-Webb (4/23)
Florida	10	8	0.556	6	22	19	0.537	8-2	L-1	South Florida (4/23)
Kentucky	7	11	0.389	9	24	15	0.615	2-8	L-6	at Western Kentucky (4/23)
Tennessee	5	13	0.278	11	17	21	0.447	4-6	L-3	at Middle Tennessee State (4/23)
Missouri	5	13	0.278	11	13	22	0.371	4-6	W-1	Murray State (4/23)
Georgia	4	14	0.222	12	15	26	0.366	4-6	L-2	vs Georgia Tech (4/23)
Western Division
LSU	15	3	0.833	--	37	4	0.902	8-2	L-1	Tulane (4/24)
Arkansas	11	7	0.611	4	27	15	0.643	4-6	W-2	Oklahoma (4/23)
Mississippi State	10	8	0.556	5	32	10	0.762	8-2	W-2	vs Memphis (4/23)
Mississippi	10	8	0.556	5	29	12	0.707	6-4	W-3	at Arkansas State (4/23)
Alabama	9	9	0.500	6	24	18	0.571	5-5	W-1	at Southern Mississippi (4/24)
Texas A&M	7	11	0.389	8	22	19	0.537	3-7	L-2	at Texas State (4/23)
Auburn	6	12	0.333	9	24	16	0.600	6-4	L-2	at Missouri (4/26)

Game 1 Highlights

Game 2 Highlights

Around The SEC: Baseball Weekend Preview 4/19/13

Kris Brauner — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:04:55 -0000

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	14 - 1	.933	33 - 5	.868	24-3	9-2	0-0	L1
Florida	8 - 7	.533	20 - 18	.526	14-13	6-4	0-1	W6
South Carolina	8 - 7	.533	28 - 10	.737	20-5	8-3	0-2	W1
Kentucky	7 - 8	.467	24 - 12	.667	16-6	5-5	3-1	L3
Tennessee	5 - 10	.333	17 - 18	.486	10-7	5-9	2-2	W3
Missouri	4 - 11	.267	12 - 20	.375	8-7	4-12	0-1	L3
Georgia	3 - 12	.200	14 - 24	.368	9-14	5-10	0-0	W2
Western
LSU	13 - 2	.867	35 - 3	.921	25-1	9-2	1-0	W2
Arkansas	9 - 6	.600	25 - 14	.651	19-7	5-3	0-4	L3
Mississippi St.	8 - 7	.533	30 - 9	.769	22-5	6-4	2-0	W4
Alabama	8 - 7	.533	23 - 16	.590	15-6	8-8	0-2	W1
Ole Miss	7 - 8	.467	26 - 12	.684	18-6	8-4	0-2	L2
Texas A&M	6 - 9	.400	21 - 17	.553	16-8	3-7	1-2	L4
Auburn	5 - 10	.333	23 - 14	.622	17-9	4-5	2-0	W1

Vanderbilt (33-5, 14-1) @ Georgia (14-24, 3-12)

Coming off three straight sweeps, Vanderbilt takes their league leading 14-1 conference record to Georgia this weekend to play the league's worst team. It's tough to say that any SEC team should sweep when they're playing away from home, but I think we'd all agree it would be a mild shock if the Dores didn't bust out the brooms for the fourth straight time come Sunday.

Vandy has overtaken LSU as the SEC's top hitting team with a .314 batting average (LSU is at .309), and they also lead the league in stolen bases with 87. Nobody is even close to matching them in steals. They're led by spark plug Tony Kemp who leads off for Vandy and leads the team in hitting, runs, steals, and on base percentage.

Vandy's schedule does toughen up some after this weekend. Out of conference, they travel to play a good Louisville team next Tuesday. Within the conference, they must still face some of the league's better teams, including Mississippi State, South Carolina and Kentucky. Regardless, Vanderbilt is steamrolling towards a National Top-8 seed.

As for Georgia, they have no hope of reaching the post-season and despite a few decent sticks in the lineup, they're probably just playing out the string at this point.
Pick: Vanderbilt Sweeps

Texas A&M (21-17, 6-9) @ Arkansas (25-14, 9-6)

After seemingly righting the ship, the Hogs have had a rough go of things lately. Losing a home series to LSU is nothing to be ashamed of. But following that up by losing a double-header to Nebraska doesn't help, especially when you go hitless in one of the games. Suddenly, Arkansas has lost four of their last five and six of their last eight.

Regardless, the Hogs are not struggling as much as the Aggies. After a 5-1 start in the conference, the Ags have won just one of their next nine and that includes a series loss at home to Auburn. Eesh. In Perfect Game's most recent projection for the Field of 64, the Aggies don't make it.

My guess is that Arkansas bounces back this weekend to win this series and possibly sweep, but the Aggies may come out swinging and could benefit from the "backs against the wall" effect.
Pick: Arkansas Wins 2 of 3

Florida (20-18, 8-7) @ Missouri (12-20, 4-11)

The real story here is the Gators and how well they've been playing lately. They have won two of their last three SEC series, all against quality teams, with their most recent including a sweep of South Carolina. They also notched a win over Florida Gulf Coast this week, a team with a #34 RPI that had swept the Gators earlier in the season. So despite their really rough start to this season, Florida is definitely playing their best baseball right now.

Missouri is just not very good, and they don't have a whole lot to play for. Barring something really silly, it's tough to see them winning more than one this weekend. I'm sure the Gators will be thinking about a sweep though. If they get it, they'll be in nice position with a 11-7 conference record and a very healthy RPI (currently #11). It's tough to see them working their way back into the conversation to host a Regional, but a #2 seed seems likely if they keep it up.
Pick: Florida Sweeps

Kentucky (24-12, 7-8) @ South Carolina (28-10, 8-7)

Like the Arkansas/A&M series, this one also features a pair of teams looking to rebound. Kentucky peaked a couple of weeks ago in terms of national perception. But getting swept at LSU and losing a home series to Tennessee has sent their stock plummeting. Add in a mid-week loss to Louisville and the fact that star pitcher Corey Litrell has been knocked around in his last two starts, and their confidence can't be too high right now. They're still ranked #17 in the polls with a RPI of #25, so they could potentially work their way back into the conversation to host a Regional, but they better start this weekend. A series win in Columbia would look nice on the resume.

Carolina is looking to bounce back after suffering a sweep at Florida. Surprisingly, that's the second time the Cocks have been swept this season. Prior to that, the Cocks were playing pretty good ball, winning six straight conference games. In their last four SEC series, Carolina has either swept the opponent or been swept. They are very much in the picture to host a Regional and would like to stick their nose into the discussion for a National Top-8 seed too. Beating a quality Kentucky team this weekend is a must in order for that to happen.

South Carolina's ace, Nolan Belcher, has been outstanding in SEC play and is currently fourth in the league with a 1.63 ERA.
Pick: South Carolina Wins 2 of 3

Ole Miss (26-12, 7-8) @ Tennessee (17-18, 5-10)

Ole Miss pulled themselves off the mat last weekend by sweeping Alabama. That comes after losing five of six to Florida and Vanderbilt the previous two weekends. However, they've had a rough week so far dropping mid-week games to Memphis and Southern Miss. Memphis shut out the Rebs.

Tennessee is not very good, but they can hit a little bit and they did just win a home series against Kentucky. So perhaps they have some confidence brewing. But the odds favor Ole Miss to win the series.

Ole Miss must still travel to Auburn and LSU while hosting Mississippi State and Kentucky. So their remaining schedule isn't overwhelming, but it's not easy either. Unless they really start playing better, it's tough to see them climbing into the discussion to host a Regional, but they're squarely in the post-season mix. Both their ranking and RPI is #21 this week.

Stuart Turner (.380 / .550 / .452) is one of the better hitters in the league and Bobby Wahl (7-0, 1.48 ERA, .196 BA against), is one of the SEC's top arms.
Pick: Ole Miss Wins 2 of 3

Auburn (23-14, 5-10) @ Mississippi State (30-9, 8-7)

State is grinding their way through this SEC season but steadily climbing back up the rankings after a 3-6 start to conference play. They faced solid opponents in the first three weekends in LSU, Kentucky and Arkansas. But since then, they have won five of their last six, including a series win against Florida and a sweep of Texas A&M. They also notched a "non-conference" win against Ole Miss last week. At #16 in the polls and #9 in the RPI, the Dawgs are squarely in the mix to host a Regional. Hosting Auburn this weekend provides them a great opportunity to notch some SEC wins so that their conference record can catch up with their overall record and RPI. They better get the wins this weekend because they travel to Vanderbilt next weekend and still must host South Carolina and travel to Ole Miss.

Auburn....well, they're not last in the SEC, and that's more than their football team or basketball team can say. So there's that. In all honesty, the War Eagles have won their last two SEC series, albeit against Texas A&M and Georgia. They have won seven of nine overall and might have some confidence cooking up. Auburn is likely toast as far as qualifying for any kind of post-season, but they could relish playing the role of spoiler during the last month of conference play.

UPDATE: This is this week's Thursday series. Play was suspended last night due to lightning, 6-3 State in the bottom of the 7th. It will be resumed late on Friday after the conclusion of today's game

Pick: Mississippi State Sweeps

Tigers Dig Deep, Win Series in Arkansas

Kris Brauner — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:20:25 -0000

LSU faced their toughest test of the year this weekend, traveling to face 10th ranked Arkansas, a team that sported one of the best pitching staffs in the country. LSU passed the test, earning a series win despite the fact that two of their starting pitchers did not have their best stuff.

Aaron Nola pitched an incredible game on Friday night, throwing a complete game with 10 strikeouts in a 6-2 LSU victory. Sean McMullen hit a three run home run to give LSU the lead and Ty Ross knocked a two out, two-run single to give them some cushion. Nola's awesome performance not only helped win Friday, but it helped win Sunday too. Since Game Three turned into a "all hands on deck" affair with LSU's bullpen, the fact that everyone was fresh was a huge asset. LSU was flashing some serious, serious leather in the last few innings of the game. Rhymes and Stevenson both made great catches in the outfield while Ibarra and Bregam matched them on the infield. It was fun to watch.

On Saturday, Ryan Eades just didn't have his stuff. His control was off, which led to some walks and to too many balls being left out over the plate. A four run inning in the fourth would be all the damage that Arkansas needed, as they cruised from that point forward. On the flip side, LSU faced Hogs' ace Ryan Stanek who was as good as advertised. The Tigers just could not seem to get anything going, and Stanek would squash any potential rally before it got off the ground.

Cody Glenn wasn't real sharp on Sunday. He walked the first batter of the game on four pitches, and that walk came around to score. His outing didn't start well, and he never really found a groove. After getting hit with a line drive in the fourth inning, his day was done. Had that ball not hit his leg, it was likely headed into centerfield for a RBI single in which case he would have likely been pulled anyway. LSU's bullpen was the story on Sunday. They retired 20 of 23 batters faced with the only Hogs to reach base did so with a single, a walk and a bunt single.

At the plate, Sean McMullen and Ty Ross stood out to me. Both guys only had two hits all weekend, but they were all in big spots. McMullen of course had the three run blast to get things started on Friday night. He reached base four times in five plate appearances. But he also had the sac fly in the 10th inning on Sunday to give LSU the lead for good. By the way, that sac fly was absolutely blasted and if the wind wasn't blowing in so strongly, he'd have two home runs on the weekend. McMullen has really come along these last few weeks and has given LSU another excellent bat at the top of the order. Ross had a clutch two out, two RBI single on Friday. His double to lead off the 10th inning on Sunday was one of the biggest hits for LSU this season.

Overall, LSU didn't have a great weekend at the plate but that was to be expected going against one of the top pitching staffs in the country. For the series, LSU batted just .211 with only 22 hits. That's a stark contrast to last weekend. So, it's tough to take too much from some of the weak numbers at the plate. Both Alex Bregman and Mason Katz saw their hitting streak come to an end, and I'm actually just fine with that. Sometimes, those streaks tend to take on a life of their own and become a distraction. Bregman did bounce back with a three hit game on Sunday, including a two run homer.

This weekend was a good one for LSU and not just because they won a series on the road against a quality opponent. The Tigers faced some real adversity, and they showed the ability to battle through it and dig deep. Things were starting to seem a little too easy for this club, and we all know it's not going to be like that in the post-season. Beating a pitcher like Ryan Stanek would be the next logical thing for this team to accomplish. They'll get their chance against Ole Miss's Bobby Wahl and South Carolina's Nolan Belcher.

LSU plays Grambling on Wednesday night before traveling to Alabama next weekend. The Tide were swept at Ole Miss this weekend and have lost five of their last six SEC games. Following that series, LSU plays three of the final four weekend at The Box. At 34-3 overall and 13-2 in the conference, LSU is in excellent shape to close strong and earn a national Top-8 seed.

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak
Eastern
Vanderbilt	14 - 1	.933	33 - 4	.892	24-2	9-2	0-0	W14
Florida	8 - 7	.533	19 - 18	.514	14-13	5-4	0-1	W5
South Carolina	8 - 7	.533	27 - 10	.730	19-5	8-3	0-2	L3
Kentucky	7 - 8	.467	24 - 11	.686	16-6	5-4	3-1	L2
Tennessee	5 - 10	.333	16 - 18	.471	10-7	5-9	1-2	W2
Missouri	4 - 11	.267	12 - 20	.375	8-7	4-12	0-1	L3
Georgia	3 - 12	.200	13 - 24	.351	8-14	5-10	0-0	W1
Western
LSU	13 - 2	.867	34 - 3	.919	24-1	9-2	1-0	W1
Arkansas	9 - 6	.600	25 - 12	.676	19-7	5-1	0-4	L1
Mississippi St.	8 - 7	.533	30 - 9	.769	22-5	6-4	2-0	W4
Alabama	8 - 7	.533	22 - 16	.579	14-6	8-8	0-2	L1
Ole Miss	7 - 8	.467	26 - 10	.722	18-6	8-3	0-1	W3
Texas A&M	6 - 9	.400	21 - 16	.568	16-8	3-6	1-2	L3
Auburn	5 - 10	.333	22 - 14	.611	17-9	3-5	2-0	L1

Game 1 Highlights

Game 2 Highlights

Game 3 Highlights

LSU @ Arkansas: Q&A with Arkansas Expats

Kris Brauner — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:38:15 -0000

Ahead of this weekend's massively important series in Fayetteville, we talked with Doc Harper, one of our counter parts at the excellent Arkansas Expats, to find out what makes these hogs tick.

Kris: After being a bit unsettled early on with the rotation, it appears that Arkansas has really settled in with Barrett Astin on Fridays, Ryan Stanek on Saturdays and Randall Fant on Sundays. It seems the whole team has found its groove and starting to play like most figured the Hogs would this year. Is that an accurate observation?

Doc Harper: They're better but still not as consistent as we'd like. Everyone freaked out when they lost all four games in Arizona, but they've settled in a bit. Lost their first SEC series to Ole Miss in Fayetteville when they lost the Sunday game in 13 innings and lots of fielding errors. But since that series, they sweep South Carolina in Columbia (scored 15 in Game 1), which was huge, then they win series against Mississippi State and against Alabama, so we think everything is back to normal. But they got shut out in the last Alabama game and the first game against New Mexico this week. They went 20 innings without scoring, which raised another red flag. Then they scored enough in the second game against New Mexico to pull out a win in the 9th with a walk-off single.

All this to say, we have no clue what to expect from our bats. At all. 1.7 runs per game in losses, 7.2 rpg in victories. So it comes and goes.

Kris: Arkansas has some seriously good numbers from the bullpen guys. You normally look forward to getting into another team's pen, but that may not be the case for LSU this weekend. Just how good has the bullpen been?

Doc Harper: We've got 10 pitchers with ERAs below 2. 9 of them have pitched at least 11 innings this year. The highest ERA on our staff is 2.73. There's not a pitcher on staff that makes us think "oh no, not that guy".

Kris: The Hogs' woeful fielding jumps off the stat sheet. A league leading 58 errors as opposed to 22 for LSU. What's going on there? Is it just a mental thing or do the Hogs have a few too many guys who are in the lineup due to their bats...and their bats only?

Doc Harper: It's definitely frustrating. Arkansas lost the Ole Miss series because of it. It's why the Hogs lost some of those games in Arizona. Our third baseman, Brian Anderson, is our leader with 15 of them. The next worst offender has seven. Our shortstops and second basemen have also been unreliable. It's scary. More scary than shaky hitting. When you don't have confidence that a routine grounder is an easy out, it's not good.

Kris: There is no question that Arkansas is so successful due to their pitching. With the league's top hitting team coming in this weekend, something has got to give. What's the confidence level that the Hogs can take the series?

Doc Harper: I'd be shocked if the Razorbacks didn't think they could win. The team and the fans have total respect for this LSU team and the quality of the overall program, so everybody's really excited for this series. There's not a series result that would shock me. Sweeping South Carolina in Columbia, which no one had done in many years, gave the team the confidence they can play with anybody.

Kris: Is anyone really hot right now at the plate that LSU fans should know about?

Doc Harper: Tyler Spoon is a newcomer and he's been our best offensive player. Joe Serrano has been very good. Matt Vinson has also been coming on as of late. Dominic Ficociello has been a great offensive player the last couple of years but got hurt early in the season and hasn't fully recovered yet, but he is playing and you have to respect his ability as a hitter, even if his average is down.

Kris: How freaking fun is Saturday going to be with Stanek (3-2, 1.90 ERA) vs. Eades (7-0, 1.30 ERA)?

Doc Harper: Saturday's going to be outstanding. The whole series should be great. I believe at least Friday and Saturday are sold out. I know they released 500 extra general admission tickets for Friday and I'd be surprised if they haven't sold them all. I applied for media credentials for Friday and Saturday but was denied due to the press box already being fully reserved. That may be true, it may be just because they don't want me drinking my strawberry Abitas in the press box.

Recruiting Roundup; LSU Expecting Visitors

Kris Brauner — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:27:42 -0000

Even though LSU hasn't secured any commitments over the past couple of weeks, a number of current commitments and targets have been busy taking visits and participating in camps.

LSU's most recent commitment, Florida outside linebacker Sharrief Rhaheed, was recently offered by Alabama. To some, that will validate him a bit as a "take" for LSU. Others believe that Alabama likes to screw with LSU's commitments and targets by feigning interest and making LSU's staff work harder.

I talked to coach Saban today and he made the #Bama offer is official
— Sharieff Rhaheed (@reef_15) April 10, 2013

Rhaheed maintains that he is solid to LSU.

Mobile defensive end Justin Thornton has long maintained that Florida is his leader, but a recent visit to LSU brought the Tigers much closer. On Tuesday night, Thornton released a new Top 5 via Twitter:

#LSU #Florida #Florida St. #Tennessee #Auburn
— Justin Thornton #4 (@JTbigdreams6) April 10, 2013

That's in order
— Justin Thornton #4 (@JTbigdreams6) April 10, 2013

I've made it no secret that I love Thornton as a prospect. He's a beast and a perfect fit in LSU's scheme. He'd be a tremendous pick-up for LSU if they can make it happen. Word has leaked out recently that Thornton may have some academic issues to deal with, so that's something to consider. But the fact that LSU has passed Florida as Thornton's favorite is significant.

Sticking with defensive ends, it looks like Georgia's Andrew Williams has significant interest in LSU after recently picking up an offer. Williams is a pretty similar player to Thornton, listed at 6'4" 230 and a very speedy, explosive pass rusher. Some schools want Williams as an outside linebacker, but he wants to play defensive ends and is really impressed by what LSU was able to do with Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo, guys with similar builds as him. He plans on visiting LSU later this summer before making a decision.

Bossier Parkway quarterback Brandon Harris has seen his stock rise over the last couple of months and holds offers from schools such as Arkansas and Nebraska. There was some chatter on Monday night that LSU had offered Harris:

Huge news for Bossier City (LA) Parkway QB Brandon Harris tonight, as he says LSU has offered him after strong Elite 11/NFTC weekend.
— Wescott Eberts (@SBN_Wescott) April 9, 2013

However, it seems that offer may not be the "commitable" kind and that LSU wants to see him in camp first. Harris is planning on visiting LSU this weekend to take in LSU's scrimmage and meet with the coaches.

I'm sure that LSU will have some other visitors this weekend for the scrimmage, though it's not clear who. I suspect a number of the in-state guys will make it in, especially those from the New Orleans area.

Five star defensive back Jabrill Peppers is planning on visiting LSU all the way from New Jersey. His initial plan was to visit for LSU's spring game on April 20, but now that visit may take place this weekend. Peppers is an elite prospect, ranked the #9 overall player in the nation by 247 Sports and #2 overall by Rivals. LSU's recent success with defensive backs has his attention. Most think Peppers will stay up north for college but with a good visit to LSU, who knows?

Nike hosted a NIke Football Training Camp (NFTC) event in Allen, Texas over the weekend and a number of LSU commitments and targets attended.

Defensive back commitments Chris Hardeman and Ed Paris were both in attendance and both shined. Texas cornerback Tony Brown, a top target for LSU, was also one of the top performers at the event.

John Curtis receiver Malachi Dupre attended and was singled out as one of the top receivers in attendance. In fact, Paris, Brown and Dupre all earned invitations to The Opening which is Nike's premier camp event, held in Oregon at the end of the summer. From the few videos from the camp that I've seen, Dupre really looks the part of the big, physical receiver that LSU needs in this class.

Brandon Harris was also at the event and while he was a bit inconsistent, he also showed off the talent that has plenty of college coaches calling.

LSU Pounds Kentucky; Earns Third Straight Sweep

Kris Brauner — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:15:39 -0000

LSU throttled Kentucky in what was easily their best and most complete series of the year. What the Tigers did this weekend would have been extraordinary against anyone. But the #7 team in the country? It was very, very impressive and I can't remember a weekend like it in recent memory. LSU took control of each game early and never looked back.

A few quick stats from the weekend:

LSU outscored Kentucky 31 to 6
LSU outhit Kentucky 41 to 18
LSU's starting pitchers allowed just three earned runs in 21.2 innings pitched.
LSU had zero errors for the entire weekend

We've known for a while that the #2 thru #6 spots in LSU's batting order are rock solid. For the last few weeks, those guys have been the story, and it seems that everyone agreed that if LSU could get some production from the leadoff spot and get veterans Jacoby Jones and Ty Ross straightened out a bit, then the lineup suddenly goes from "very good" to "holy shit". Well...that's what we got this weekend and it looked a lot like this....

Despite all of the good things that happened this week, the most encouraging was what Jacoby Jones and Ty Ross did at the plate. Jones was hitting a lot of balls extremely hard, but couldn't get any to fall for hits. Then, he started to press and look really bad at the plate. So this weekend...he hiked up his socks, dug deep and blasted the ball all over the park. Jones was 8 for 13 with a HR and three doubles. Jones is back up to .239 and his OBP is all the way back to .370. It was exactly what he needed.

To a slightly lesser extent, Ty Ross also got rolling. He was 4 for 9 on the weekend, but he also walked twice to reach base in six his 11 plate appearances.. It's always a bonus when youre #9 hitter can get on base and set the table for your best hitters and that's exactly what Ross did, scoring four runs.

LSU could also be finally settling in on a lead off guy. Sean McMullen got an opportunity starting with the Saturday contest in Missouri and has really produced. The two stats I always look at for a lead off man are OBP and runs scored. On the weekend, McMullen was 4 for 8 at the plate with two doubles. He reached base nine times in 14 plate appearances and scored six runs. And that's after reaching base five times in nine plate appearances up in Missouri. That's getting it done.

It's crazy that I haven't mentioned Alex Bregman or Mason Katz yet. Once again, those guys hit the cover off the ball. Bregman is now up to .441/.654/.477 while Katz is at .436/.863(!!)/.518. All of those numbers are insane. If the season ended today, I really think Katz would be National Player of the Year while Bregman would be the nation's top freshman.

On the mound, Nola was really good and it was great to see Cody Glenn get back on track a bit. But Ryan Eades' performance on Saturday stole the show. After eight innings, he had allowed just two hits. He ran out of steam in the ninth which foiled his complete game and his shutout, but he was excellent.

As for Glenn, he has been up and down in SEC play. He has two very nice performances at home against Auburn and Kentucky but a couple of dreadful ones on the road at Mississippi State and Missouri. Glenn likely earned another Sunday start with his performance against Kentucky. Unfortunately, we found out this week that Russell Reynolds has been lost for the season due to a torn labrum. So the most likely candidate to push Glenn for that Sunday spot in the rotation is gone. However, Kurt McCune should return to action shortly.

LSU may still tinker with their designated hitter spot, especially against lefties. Chris Chinea had been the guy for a couple of weeks but after a strong mid-week game, Paul Maineri gave Alex Edward a shot this weekend. He was just 1 for 8 on the weekend but did knock in a couple of runs. Against righties, it seems that Tyler Moore is the guy, especially with McMullen settling into right field. A note on Moore: In 45 at-bats this year, he has yet to strike out. I apologize in advance for pointing this out and ensuring he Ks in his next at-bat.

The Tigers face Southern twice this week, once in New Orleans and once in Alex Box stadium. Then, LSU travels to Arkansas for what will certainly be their toughest test of the season so far. With Reynolds out of commission, it will be interesting to see how Paul Maineri handles his pitching staff during the week. Brent Bonvillain had a quiet weekend, and I suspect he'll eat up some innings on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Highlights

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Mason Katz talks LSU's sweep of UK (via BayouBengalsInsider)

Tigerbait Baseball Recap: Week of 4/4/13

Kris Brauner — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 02:13:53 -0000

Non-Conference

At one point, we were saying "Hey, that Maryland team that LSU swept is actually pretty good." Well...that idea dies a little more each week. The Terps are still hanging around with a decent RPI of #50, but they're just 4-8 in the ACC, having lost two of three each weekend. Last week, they lost a mid-week game to George Mason before losing a road series to NC State.

BYU continues to build a decent, but not great resume. They're just 14-14 overall but the RPI is at #49. Last week, they lost a mid-week game at Utah before taking two of three from Pepperdine. They also blanked Utah Valley 8-0 this Tuesday.

Southeastern has a perfect conference record and is 21-9 overall with a RPI of #53. But they're losing outside of the conference. They dropped a game to ULL last week and lost 9-1 to Alabama on Tuesday.

Brown was 2-11 when I wrote last week's update. Now, they're 2-15. So...yea.

The Huskies of Washington haven't fared much better. They traveled to Oregon and got swept last week, but bounced back to pound Seattle 14-1 on Tuesday. They're just 7-19 overall and 2-7 in the PAC-12.

Louisiana-Lafayette has had a rough couple of weeks. After seeing their RPI climb into the 30s, they have lost five of their last six conference games, including a sweep at the hands of Middle Tennessee a couple of weeks back.

Tulane dropped two of three to Rice last weekend and lost to Nicholls State on Tuesday. That is, of course, after getting mercy ruled by LSU last week. Overall, they're now 15-16 on the season with a RPI of #106.

The SEC

Mississippi State

Despite being a pretty good team, the Dawgs have lost all three of their SEC series thus far and stand at 3-6 in the conference. Regardless, their RPI is at #11. Their first three opponents were awfully tough in LSU, Kentucky, and Arkansas. When you consider two of those three were away from home, the slow start in SEC play is easy to understand. Their schedule doesn't get a whole lot easier though. They don't draw Georgia, Tennessee, or Missouri from the East. They host Florida this weekend in what must be considered a "must win" series for them.

Auburn

Auburn managed to take one game from Alabama this weekend, but they're in deep trouble with a 1-8 league mark. Next up, they travel to College Station to face a pretty good Aggie team who is looking to get well after getting broomed at South Carolina last weekend.

Missouri

We know that LSU handled Mizzou last weekend and helped turn their 2-4 SEC record into a 2-7 one. At just 8-16 overall, there is not much to get excited about right now for Missouri baseball. This weekend, they travel to Georgia in a very winnable series.

Kentucky

The Wildcats have won each SEC series and sit at 22-6 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Somewhat quietly, they're ranked #7 in the nation according to Baseball America. Their RPI is a bit lower though, at #31. Last week, they took two of three from Georgia at home and had to feel a bit disappointed they couldn't get the sweep. They also defeated a very good Louisville team on Tuesday. Of course, they travel to Baton Rouge this weekend.

Arkansas

It's still tough to tell just how good this Arkansas team is. But they have won five of their last six conference games, including a sweep on the road against South Carolina, and they have won seven of their last eight overall. Their RPI is way down there at #63. With a 6-3 SEC record, they travel to Alabama this weekend to face the Tide who surprisingly sits at 7-2.

Alabama

Speaking of the Tide, they have really found a groove after struggling earlier in the year. Following a sweep at the hands of Louisville, the Tide are 11-3 overall and 7-2 in the SEC. Granted, they have built that conference record at the expense of Tennessee, Georgia and Auburn...but 7-2 is still 7-2. As would be expected, their schedule picks up considerably in the coming weeks.

South Carolina

The Cocks have been a little tough to figure recently. After a blistering start, they shockingly let Arkansas come into Columbia and sweep them. But they bounced back and swept Texas A&M only to turn around and lose to Furman on Wednesday night. At the end of the day, they are still 23-7 overall with a RPI of #19. Their 5-4 conference mark will likely get a boost from playing Tennessee this weekend.

Florida

Florida took two of three from Ole Miss last weekend, including shutout wins on both Saturday and Sunday. They travel to Starkville this week and a series win there could really demonstrate that they've righted their ship a bit. Some of the teams that beat them earlier this year have turned out to be pretty good, including Florida Gulf Coast (with a RPI of #37), Indiana (#8), Miami (#18) and Florida State (#4). It's no wonder that the Gators' RPI is #20 despite having an overall losing record. I suspect they'll be playing very good baseball by the time they head to Baton Rouge in early May.

Texas A&M

The Ags began conference play 5-1 but got knocked back to Earth after getting swept by South Carolina. However, they can certainly get well this weekend as Auburn comes to town. At 19-11 overall and a RPI of #19, they're sitting in pretty decent shape for a team coming off a sweep.

Ole Miss

Ole Miss is having a nice season. They are 23-6 overall with a RPI of #14. But they only have a 4-5 conference record and they play the conference co-leader Vanderbilt this weekend. After Vandy, their schedule eases up quite a bit until the season finale at LSU.

Tiger Bait Baseball Recap: Week of 3/28/13

Kris Brauner — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:14:21 -0000

LSU is obviously in great shape right now with a 23-2 record, #4 national ranking according to Baseball America (the one I like to use) and a #2 RPI according to both Boyd's World and Warren Nolan's rankings. Those RPI rankings are a bit unexpected because LSU's non conference scheduled looked pretty "bleh" prior to the season. However, LSU has a very respectable strength of schedule ranking of #41. That will only improve as LSU goes through conference play.

Non-Conference

Maryland was thought to be a relatively weak season opening opponent for LSU. However since getting swept by LSU to start the season, the Terps have gone a somewhat respectable 14-7 and have a decent RPI of #66. They are just 3-6 in the ACC, but they've had to face national heavyweights Florida State and Virginia.

BYU has the rare distinction of having defeated LSU this year when the two teams split a pair of games in mid February. The Cougs don't have a great record at just 11-13, but their RPI is a respectable 43rd. They have a nice series win over UC-Irvine. They seem like a team with enough juice to beat just about anyone with the right guy on the hill, but just don't have the depth to be really good, consistently.

One team that beat BYU twice was Southeastern and LSU defeated them pretty handily that same weekend. The Lions are not bad though. They're 18-8 with a RPI of #50. They split a pair of games with Tulane and let Ole Miss beat them twice.

Brown gave all LSU they wanted in one game, but the Tigers ultimately took two from them. They haven't done so hot since then. They're 2-11 overall.

Remember when LSU swept Washington rather easily? The Huskies are struggling. They're 6-16 with a RPI of #127. They did take two of three from SoCal this past weekend though.

As for some of the other in-state programs that LSU has defeated...Nicholls St. has just been OK, even by their standards, but they did beat Tulane. ULL has a somewhat impressive 18-6 record and #36 RPI despite getting housed in Alex Box Stadium. Northwestern State, who took LSU to 13 innings, is struggling otherwise at 9-18. And Tulane? They're 14-13 with a RPI of #90. And in the most "please let a meteor hit" matchup possible, they took a series from Alabama in Tuscaloosa. LSU gets Tulane at the Box on April 24.

The SEC

Mississippi State

After losing the opening conference series to LSU, Mississippi State had to travel to Kentucky where they suffered the same fate...losing two of three. Despite the 2-4 conference record, the Bulldogs are still 22-6 overall, ranked #25 and have a RPI of #17. Things don't get much easier for them this weekend, as they're traveling to Arkansas.

Auburn

Auburn is probably not as bad as their 0-6 conference record indicates. They're 15-10 overall with a RPI at #67. All things considered, that's not too bad. They just had the misfortune of starting their conference schedule with Vanderbilt and LSU. Earlier in the year, they beat Alabama in a mid-week "non conference" game. However, Troy beat them 11-2 on Tuesday night, so they're definitely trending in the wrong direction. They host Alabama this weekend.

Missouri

LSU's next opponent, Missouri, has not been terribly impressive this year. They were swept by both Southern Miss and Memphis to start the season but have improved....slightly since then. They have managed to beat South Carolina and Tennessee on Sunday of each of their first two conference series for a 2-4 SEC record. Overall, they're 8-12 with a RPI of nearly #200. If the chilly weather doesn't mess with their head, then LSU has a great opportunity for two or three more conference wins this weekend.

Kentucky

Somewhat quietly within the conference, Kentucky is ranked in the Top-10 and has a 4-2 conference record, winning series against Florida and Mississippi State. They should pad their record again this weekend as lowly Georgia comes to town. But then, it's off to Baton Rouge.

Arkansas

Arkansas started the season off very hot, finding their way to the very top of the national rankings for a while. They were brought down to Earth a bit on a road trip out west when they lost twice to Arizona State and once to Gonzaga. They started conference play with two pretty difficult teams in Ole Miss and South Carolina, but they won four of those six and host a Mississippi State team this weekend who has their backs against the wall.

Alabama

The Crimson Tide didn't look all that hot earlier this season, but all of a sudden, they're 5-1 in the conference and tied with LSU, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt for the SEC lead. Those five wins came against two of the league's weakest teams in Georgia and Tennessee, but the team seems to be playing with some confidence right now. They go to Auburn this weekend, and then their schedule gets a lot tougher.

South Carolina

South Carolina was off to their typical, excellent start. They won a series against Clemson and had just two losses entering conference play. After a fairly ordinary series win at Missouri to start the season, they were shockingly swept by Arkansas at home this past weekend. The Gamecocks started last season off very slow as well before finding their groove, so I doubt they're worried much. They host Texas A&M this weekend, and we'll see if they can shake off that sweep from last week.

Florida

What in the world has happened to Florida this year? They have struggled and have a shockingly bad 11-15 overall record. They were swept at home by Florida Gulf Coast (DUNK CITY!). They lost a series to Indiana and have started conference play 2-4, albeit against quality opponents Vanderbilt and Kentucky. They host Ole Miss this weekend, so let's hope they right the ship a little bit. Despite their record, their strength of schedule is ranked #1 in the nation, and their RPI is holding at #28. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see this team find their groove and be real trouble later by the time they visit Alex Box Stadium.

Texas A&M

Texas A&M will be interesting to watch all year. Historically one of the elite programs from the Big-12, we'll now see how they stack up in their inaugural season in the SEC. So far, so good. They're unranked, but have a solid 18-8 record and 5-1 conference mark. They go to South Carolina this weekend and could get knocked back to Earth a bit.

Ole Miss

Lastly, there is Ole Miss. They were off to a very hot start this season and looked like one of the better teams in the conference. Impressively, they went to Arkansas to open the conference schedule and won the series. But they followed that up by returning home to lose the series to A&M. This weekend, they travel to Florida. They are ranked #11 nationally with a RPI of #10 and their 21-4 overall record looks impressive, despite their 3-3 conference mark. Ole Miss boasts the SEC's leading hitter in Stuart Turner.

Recruiting Roundup: Blue Chippers Visit Scrimmage

Kris Brauner — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:11:44 -0000

LSU's football team took part in their first scrimmage of spring practice on Saturday. As usual, the coaching staff invited some recruits to attend. It's always good to get these players around the team and the coaching staff and perhaps most of all...around each other. Relationships can be built, and it's those relationships which ultimately result in signatures on the first Wednesday of each February.

A lot of big-time prospects decided to take accept LSU's invitation and before you knew it, the coaching staff had a full blown recruiting event on their hands. In fact, LSU had more talent on hand Saturday than they did for their second Junior Day.

A lot of the familiar names were on hand such as CB Tony Brown, DB Hootie Jones, WR Trey Quinn, LB Kenny Young, and LSU Commitment Will Clapp. LSU didn't squeeze any commitments out of these guys during their visit, but they were not really expecting to. In each case, the staff simply built on their already strong relationship. As things stand now, I'd be really surprised if LSU missed on any of these prospects. Clapp and Quinn have developed a friendship recently, so it's good that they were both on campus together. I understand that watching a Cam Cameron-led LSU practice made a big impression on Quinn, inching him closer to pulling the trigger for the good guys.

A pair of teammates from Mobile, AL made the trip as well. Linebacker Deshaun Davis and defensive end Justin Thornton both have LSU among their favorites. Davis seemed set to commit to LSU on his visit until LSU let him know that they wanted him as a fullback and not as a linebacker. The word is that after seeing him in person, LSU realized that Davis was much smaller than his listed weight of 6'0" 220 pounds. We will have to see what transpires but for now, Davis wants to play linebacker at the next level.

I absolutely love Thornton as a prospect. At 6'5" 220, Thornton has the perfect frame for a defensive end in LSU's scheme. He's a really special player with an almost perfect blend of size, quickness and strength. He reminds me a bit of LSU signee Frank Herron. Thornton really likes Florida, and it will be hard for LSU win this battle, but his visit this weekend was the first major step.

LSU also hosted South Carolina quarterback Mason Rudolph. The 6'4" 210 pound passer holds an offer LSU along with Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech and a few others. Rudolph is a good looking prospect, despite not being rated terribly high by the recruiting services at this point. I think that if he goes to some camps this summer to showcase his skills, he'll climb the boards. He put up some nice stats as a junior, completing 346 passes in 536 attempts (65%) for 4,010 yards with 41 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. LSU is the highest profile school on Rudolph's list right now but also one of the furthest from home. He seems pretty high on LSU at the moment, and we'll have to see if that excitement sticks once the newness of his visit wears off. He plans to make a decision sometime this summer.

One guy who could not make it to campus was Karr athlete Speedy Noil. Noil was tied up elsewhere with a track meet but will try to get to campus sometime this week to take in a practice and spend some time with the coaches. At this point, I'm not too worried about Noil and feel very strongly that he'll be a Tiger. For those who care about such things, Noil was recently bumped up to a five star prospect on 247 Sports and is now ranked as the nation's #1 receiver and #17 overall prospect in the nation.

NUC Combine in Zachary

On Sunday, The National Underclassman Combine hosted a camp at Zachary High School which attracted some of the top talent across the region, including some LSU targets. Shreveport quarterback Brandon Harris took home the quarterback MVP Award, and Harris said he plans on camping at LSU this summer. It will be interesting to see whether LSU is able to see Harris at camp before Rudolph makes his decision.

Also listed among the top 2014 performers included LSU tight-end commitment Jacory Washington, East Ascension running back Sione Palelei and Ville Platte tight-end Kendall Ardoin. Palelei and Ardoin are both guys that will get strong looks from LSU this summer. Palelei is up to 5'9" 197 pounds and took home the overall MVP Award at the event.

The combine also gave us a glimpse into what the state has to offer for the Class of 2015 and a few players stood out. First was Loreauville receiver Rhashid Bonnette. The 6'0" 165 pound speedster was reportedly one of the top overall players at the combine. He looks absolutely electric on his highlights. Catholic-New Iberia quarterback Jason Pellerin gave Harris a run for the top quarterback at the event. He's already got nice size at 6'3" 210 and is one to watch next year. The state's top two offensive line prospects for 2015 were both on hand in Many's Garrett Thomas and Evangel's Jerry Tillery. Both guys could be elite prospects. Tillery stuck around the area and attended LSU's practice on Monday. Lastly, a pair of defensive backs really stood out. East St. John's Xavier Lewis and East Jefferson's Deshawn Raymond, brother of LSU's Derrick Raymond, both impressed. Lewis looks like a Top-10 player in state next year.

More Visitors This Week - Commitment Coming?

Fort Pierce, Florida defensive end Sharieff Rhaheed is scheduled to visit LSU on Tuesday. Rhaheed is a bit under the radar but is someone that LSU's staff really, really likes. Word briefly broke that Rhaheed had committed to LSU late last week, but the staff apparently wants him to come to campus before making things official. Jimmy Smith over at NOLA.com thinks that's exactly what will happen on Rhaheed's visit Tuesday. Rhaheed also has offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee, Louisville and Penn State among others. He's on the smaller side for a defensive end, listed at 6'4" 215 pounds. Is he really that big? Maybe that's what the staff wants to find out Tuesday.

Lastly, according to TigerSportsDigest's Hunter Paniagua, New Jersey wide receiver Saeed Blacknall will take a visit to LSU on Wednesday of this week. Blacknall has seen his stock rise a lot lately, with offers from schools such as Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and more. After this visit, I'm sure we'll have a better picture of where LSU stands.

Better Know A Freshman: John Diarse - Mr. Steady As They Come

Kris Brauner — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:19:40 -0000

Background

John Diarse has been on the radar of folks who cover recruiting and/or high school football in Louisiana for several years now. But why? John Diarse does not have prototypical size for a star receiver. Nobody is going to mistake him for Michael Clayton or Dwayne Bowe anytime soon. LSU lists Diarse as 6'1" 205 pounds. He's also not blazing fast. He's a 4.6 guy who is not going to beat SEC corners down the sidelines on go routes or turn short catches into huge gains. So why all the fuss?

Yes, it's cliché, but John Diarse is a "play maker." From the moment he stepped onto the field as a high school freshman, Diarse excelled and made huge plays in big games. In the state championship game against Franklinton, Diarse hauled in touchdowns of 58 and 95 yards and added an interception for good measure. As a freshman! The following year, Neville wanted the ball in Diarse's hands as much as possible so, he took over as quarterback where he remained for the rest of his career. He would go on to lead his team back to the state championship game as a junior and a senior. The number of big plays he turned in from the quarterback position is too high to count.

Diarse is a guy that won't be overwhelmed by playing in big games or by playing as a freshman, if needed. I expect leadership to come naturally for Diarse too when the time is right. Being a leader is all he knows. He is a high character guy with a strong work ethic, and those types of players tend to work out and contribute at a pretty high rate.

Diarse isn't totally new to playing receiver. He did play there as a high school freshman and occasionally split out wide as an upperclassmen. He has also worked out as a receiver on the camp circuit for the last few summers. At the U.S. Army All American Game in January, he played receiver and was mentioned as one of the best at the event. So while he may have a bit of a learning curve, it's not as steep as you might think. Diarse makes his hay by running precise routes, having excellent hands, and using his strong lower body to work the middle of the field and excel after the catch. His legs look like they belong on a running back, and that gives him excellent balance and the ability to cut on a dime.

Sound familiar? It should. LSU has had a lot of success over the past 12 years with similar guys. Josh Reed, Early Doucet and Jarvis Landry all come to mind. Diarse may not ever be a home run threat, but he projects as a guy that you will look to on third downs to move the chains.

Diarse also offers some versatility. Some believe that his best position in college may be safety.

Film Study:

John Diarse (2013 ATH) Sophomore Highlights - Elite Scouting (via Charles Fishbein)

#13 QB John Diarse Senior Highlights (via lascouting)

Diarse's highlights are littered with him making throws from the quarterback position, but we still see plenty of evidence of his talents that make him a nice receiver prospect.

In the first video, check the play at the 1:13 mark. Diarse scores on a keeper on the zone-read play but makes a few very sharp cuts and explodes out of each one. That's the kind of balance and ability that gets Diarse open as a receiver, especially when working out of the slot in the middle of the field.

The play at the 1:30 mark shows off Diarse's toughness and ability to make plays after the catch. Again, he doesn't have jets that he can turn on and run away from defenders, but he runs like a running back, blowing through arm tackles and showing off some nice vision to turn what should have been a short gain into a long touchdown.

In the second video, which shows highlights from Diarse's senior season, you've got several good examples starting at the 2:30 mark, but one that stands out starts at 3:20. It's only about an 18 yard gain, but Diarse again shows off excellent balance, strength and cutting ability.

I wish we had some more highlights of Diarse actually catching the football.....but we don't.

Immediate Impact

Where does Diarse fit right away? He's certainly good enough to make an impact in 2013 but barring any injuries, I suspect his contribution will be minimal. Diarse graduated high school early and is already at LSU and participating in spring drills. I think that helps gets him on the field in 2013. Ultimately, I see him as a guy to fill Jarvis Landry's role as a slot receiver that works the middle of the field and gobbles up receptions.

High End: Two or three year starter and all-conference selection with approximately 60 receptions/year as starter.

Low End: Contributor and spot starter as upperclassmen

Realistic: I think Diarse starts for one or two years as an upperclassman and is a big contributor, though does not ever reach All-SEC status.

LSU Impressive In Sweep of Auburn

Kris Brauner — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:28:16 -0000

LSU impressed in all phases this weekend on their way to a relatively easy sweep of the boys from the Plains. I know one thing: Auburn wants no part of Alex Bregman...ever again. Even though LSU was hitting on all cylinders, Bregman became the talk of the weekend, racking up three hits in each game of the series. And that follows a three hit performance against Northwestern State on Wednesday night. His average is all the way up to .422.

LSU did just about everything well this weekend. They outscored Auburn 22 to 7 and racked up 34 hits in the process. LSU made just one error on the weekend, which was a booted grounder by Jacoby Jones on Sunday. On the very next batter, Jones turned a double play to wipe out his mistake. Lastly, LSU's starting pitching went a combined 21 innings and allowed a total of just five earned runs.

The only blemish...and this is nitpicking... is the bullpen on Friday night. Brent Bonvillain and Nick Rumbelow struggled and forced Paul Maineri to go to Joey Bourgeois to settle things down. Kevin Berry also had a rough ninth inning but he still finished the game with only minimal damage done.

Ryan Eades turned in his second straight one run performance. He seems to be hitting his groove. The true test for Eades will come later in the year. Remember that Eades was equally outstanding a year ago until about halfway through SEC play when he hit a wall.

Cody Glenn rebounded nicely after a rough outing against Mississippi State last weekend. Auburn hit a lot of balls hard, but Glenn gave up just six hits and two runs through 7.2 innings. Unlike a week ago, Glenn was locating the strike zone and LSU played some nice defense behind him. Glenn found a groove from the third inning through the seventh where he gave up just two hits, one of which was a bunt single. After looking a little shaky in the first two frames, Glenn was really sharp until the eighth when he just ran out of gas.

Paul Maineri continues to tinker with the lineup a bit. Jacoby Jones responded well to moving into the leadoff spot against Mississippi State but did not produce much this week. On Sunday, he was back to hitting seventh in the order. Jones was just 1 for 16 this week at the plate and that one hit was against Northwestern State. His average is back down to .215. It still seems like he is hitting a lot of balls really hard but just not dropping them in for hits. I'm frustrated for him and hopefully things come together soon. He is still walking at a much higher clip than a year ago, drawing four free passes this weekend including one with the bases loaded. Jones's on base percentage is still a respectable .385 but is trending the wrong way. He's not the right guy to leadoff right now, and it looks like Maineri recognized that.

So if Jones doesn't leadoff, then who does? That question probably goes hand in hand with who is LSU's third outfielder. We know that Raph Rhymes and Mark Laird are locked in. Chris Sciambra started the season hot but has struggled lately. Andrew Stevenson has been given opportunities but has been unable to produce at the plate. Sean McMullen and Jared Foster have not received quite as many opportunities as Sciambra and Stevenson but perhaps they will soon.

At designated hitter, Maineri continues to look for the right guy to handle the duties against left handed pitching. Chris Chinea got the nod in each game this weekend and was OK. He found his way on base three times on Saturday and had a very nice two run single on Sunday. He may be settling into this role.

Going back to Wednesday's game against Northwestern State, I thought Russell Reynolds looked excellent, allowing three hits and no runs through five innings. I expect him to start against Tulane on Tuesday.

Bregman's weekend was excellent, but Mason Katz was not far behind. Yea, he "only" hit one home run. But he had multiple hits in each game and was 7 for 13 on the weekend with five runs batted in. Katz's batting average is all the way up to .379 on the year but more impressive is his insane .809 slugging % and .486 on base %.

Next weekend, LSU travels to Missouri to face a pretty weak team. Missouri has managed to win their Sunday game against both South Carolina and Tennessee for a 2-4 conference record. LSU has a great opportunity to have seven or eight wins in their first nine conference games before the schedule really toughens up.

PodKATT's Notes:

Paid Attendance through Sunday : 214,264

Actual Attendance through Sunday: 108,763

Unused Tickets through Sunday: 105,501

The Unused Tickets rate is hovering at 49% and has been most of the year. The Auburn series was actually the worst sold series of the year, but the best attended one since opening weekend. If anything the numbers point out that a standing room only ticket is pretty good value over any ticket someone might be selling over face value. Hopefully, as the weather warms over the next few weeks, more folks will decide to use the tickets they have already bought.

Before Saturday's game, LSU Baseball SID Bill Franques was honored for his 25 years of service to the baseball program. Since Franques is also the Alex Box PA, Tiger Stadium legend Dan Borne subbed in for a few innings, though he was much more subdued than he usually is during football games.

Bill Franques throws out the first pitch tonight. twitter.com/valleyshook/st…
— Pod Katt (@valleyshook) March 23, 2013

The dancing grounds crew briefly returned for the first time in quite a while on Friday night. The routine needs work, but the crowd loved it

Because of the way the wind was blowing, there were a large amount of foul balls leaving the park on the first base line on Sunday. This was their intended target

@valleyshook welp twitter.com/cfbsection/sta…
— Michael Shamburger (@cfbsection) March 24, 2013

HIGHLIGHTS

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Tony Upchurch Commits; LSU Targets Shine In Houston

Kris Brauner — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 23:10:48 -0000

Pearland, TX wide receiver Tony Upchurch visited LSU with his family on Friday and took in a spring practice. After practice, Upchurch talked to Les Miles and pulled the trigger, giving the head man his verbal pledge and becoming LSU's seventh commitment in the class...the third from the state of Texas.

Upchurch is a thick receiver at 6'2" and a very well put together 215 pounds. However, he moves like someone closer to 190 or 200 pounds. He's not a burner by any means, but he's fast enough. He uses his powerful lower body to his advantage, getting in and out of his cuts very well and then running like a running back after the catch. He's pretty similar to John Diarse but with a bit more size. Eric Martin is another good comparison. He should be an asset working the middle of the field with the strength to fight linebackers for position on slant routes or crosses, but he has enough size to work on the outside too. He shows a nice ability to find the ball in the air and put himself into position to catch it.

Upchurch caught 46 passes for 1,006 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior. He also ran the ball from the backfield a good bit and averaged 11 yards per carry, which shows off his versatility.

Rankings-wise, Upchurch is ranked as a three star on 247 Sports and unranked by Rivals. Scout has him as the #253 overall player in the nation. I have a feeling that if Upchurch hits some camps this summer, he'll end up as a solid four star prospect.

Tony Upchurch Video Highlights

I really like the pickup. LSU is in very good position with in state receivers Trey Quinn, Malachi Dupre and Speedy Noil. Assuming they're able to land those guys, the big question was who the fourth receiver would be in this class. Upchurch looks like the answer. Will LSU take a commitment from anyone not named Quinn, Dupre or Noil from this point forward? I don't think so...at least not for a while. They'll continue to recruit several other receivers very hard in case they don't land who they want.

What about Cameron Sims? The Ouchita standout will no doubt get a serious eval from LSU's staff this spring and hopefully at LSU's camp again this summer. LSU's staff saw both Sims and Upchurch at camp last summer, and Upchurch was the one who earned the offer. Would a strong showing by Sims shake things up?

LSU hosted another Texas prospect in running back / athlete Kevin Shorter on Friday. While on his visit, LSU extended an offer to Shorter, and he now claims that the Tigers are the leader for his services. Texas A&M has also offered Shorter and is LSU's primary competition.

Shorter is 6'0" 185 pounds and shows off really good burst, acceleration and speed on his highlights. He's lighter than your typical LSU back, but it's easy to see him bulking up to the 205 - 210 range at the next level. At this stage, he reminds me of Richard Murphy coming out of high school. I think Shorter would be a very nice compliment to guys like Leonard Fournette and Nic Brosette, who LSU hopes to land in the next couple of years.

John Curtis stud receiver Malachi Dupre was a visitor at LSU's practice Saturday. The more times LSU's staff can get guys like Dupre to campus to continue building relationships with them, the better.

A number of LSU's top targets were in Houston over the weekend at a Rivals camp event, and many performed extremely well. On offense, Rivals named Speed Noil as the top skill guy at the entire event while U-High's Garrett Brumfield won the offensive line MVP. Others names in Rivals' top offensive standouts Karr tight-end Anthony Jones, LSU commitment Jacory Washington and Texas receiver Keenen Brown, who holds an offer from LSU.

On defense, Plaquemine defensive lineman Davon Godchaux won the defensive line MVP and was the top defensive player there according to Rivals. I've questioned whether Godchaux has the burst needed to play defensive end at a place like LSU. I thought he may be better suited playing inside at tackle. But after seeing some video clips from his performance this weekend, I may be changing my mind a bit. Granted, camp settings are much different than actual games, but Godchaux looked excellent. If his academics check out this semester, I suspect LSU will offer and put the press on.

Other notables mentioned as defensive standouts include Karr defensive linemen Gerald Willis and Joyan Williams, St. Aug corner Jermaine Roberts, Covington defensive lineman Garrald McDowell, New Iberia defensive tackle Tae Thibodaux and LSU commitment Donnie Alexander.

One last note...the guys at Land Grant Holy Land had a great interview with Illinois linebacker Clifton Garrett. While most expect Garrett to end up a Buckeye, LSU has offered and he routinely mentions the Tigers as one of his top schools. He did so again in this interview. If LSU can get Garrett in town for a visit, then anything can happen. The Tigers' lone commitment from Illinois a year ago, Ethan Pocic, is proof of that.

LSU Takes Series In Starkville

Kris Brauner — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:18:16 -0000

LSU faced a pretty stiff challenge to open SEC play, traveling to Starkville to face a team ranked in the Top 15. The Tigers won Friday and Saturday to win the series and take their overall record to 18-2.

Despite Aaron Nola not having his best stuff on Friday night, Mississippi State could not overcome Mason Katz. After falling behind 4-1, Katz smashed a two run homer to bring LSU to within a run. LSU botched some opportunities in the seventh inning but still scratched a run across to the tie the game. Then in the 10th inning, Katz went yard again, leading LSU to a 6-4 victory.

As if Katz's two homer night on Friday didn't set the tone enough, he went ahead and hit another one in the second inning on Saturday night. LSU never trailed in the game and a late three run home run by Alex Bregman was the crushing blow in LSU's 7-3 win. Ryan Eades was excellent on Saturday, allowing just six hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out eight.

As good as Eades was on Saturday, it was the opposite on Sunday. Cody Glenn just didn't have his stuff and by the time he got yanked in the fourth inning, LSU was trailing 6-0. They just couldn't get any momentum going offensively to fire everyone up or spark any kind of rally. The game got away from them, and they lost 10-2.

I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet on Cody Glenn. The whole team had a bit of a let down on Sunday after knowing they had the series already won. In a big road series, winning those first two can set you up for an off day mentally on Sunday, and I think that's what happened to LSU's entire team. A year ago against this same Mississippi State squad, Aaron Nola got knocked around pretty good in his first career SEC start, and he turned out just fine.

We saw Paul Maineri tinker with his lineup a bit this weekend. On Friday, Chris Chinea got the nod as the designated hitter against the lefty pitcher but went 0 for 3. Then on Saturday and Sunday, we saw Andrew Stevenson get the start ahead of Chris Sciambra. Stevenson played in centerfield, moving Mark Laird to right. Stevenson was 1 for 4 in those two games but scored a couple of runs on Saturday. He also had a great catch early in the game on Saturday.

With Sciambra sitting down, Maineri moved Jacoby Jones up to the leadoff spot in the order, and he responded very well. In his two games at the top of the order, Jones was 4 for 7, reaching base five times in eight plate appearances. In those games, Stevenson hit 9th in the order, and I really like having that Stevenson/Jones/Laird string in the order. That's a lot of speed on the bases for Bregman/Rhymes/Katz/Ibarra.

Jared Foster came to the plate twice on Sunday and hit a home run in one of his at bats. He continues to look strong, albeit in very limited time, thus far this season. In just nine at-bats, Foster has five hits including a double and a home run.

As for Katz, he now leads the SEC in home runs (9), RBIs (32) and total bases (58). He's pretty locked in right now.

After hitting three home runs against Mississippi State on Friday and Saturday, State wasn't too happy about it and they decided to get a little silly. Whether intentional or not (pretty sure it was), State's pitcher threw a ball behind Mason Katz. Needless to say, Paul Maineri and Mason Katz were not too happy about it. They didn't really hold back when asked about it by WAFB's Jacques Doucet:

EDIT: Graveman gave his own excuse for what happened, though it's obvious even the State beat writers aren't buying it. Matt Sevens at The Dispatch got further quotes from other players and a smarmy "No Comment" from MSU's Coach Cohen

Advanced Stats via dr.awesome504

SEC Standings via D1Baseball.com

STANDINGS	SEC Win	SEC Loss	SEC %	Games Back	Overall Win	Overall Loss	Overall %	Last 10	Streak	Next Game
Eastern Division
Vanderbilt	3	0	1.000	--	19	2	0.905	9-1	W-4	at Middle Tennessee State (3/20)
South Carolina	2	1	0.667	1	17	3	0.850	9-1	L-1	at The Citadel (3/19)
Kentucky	2	1	0.667	1	16	3	0.842	8-2	W-2	Western Kentucky (3/19)
Tennessee	1	2	0.333	2	10	9	0.526	7-3	L-1	Western Carolina (3/20)
Florida	1	2	0.333	2	9	12	0.429	5-5	L-2	North Florida (3/19)
Missouri	1	2	0.333	2	6	9	0.400	6-4	W-1	Arkansas State (3/19)
Georgia	0	3	0.000	3	8	12	0.400	4-6	L-4	Furman (3/19)
Western Division
Texas A&M	3	0	1.000	--	14	7	0.667	7-3	W-4	Dallas Baptist (3/19)
Mississippi	2	1	0.667	1	20	2	0.909	9-1	W-1	Texas A&M (3/22)
LSU	2	1	0.667	1	18	2	0.900	9-1	L-1	Northwestern State (3/20)
Alabama	2	1	0.667	1	11	9	0.550	4-6	W-1	at Samford (3/19)
Mississippi State	1	2	0.333	2	19	4	0.826	6-4	W-1	Alcorn State (3/19)
Arkansas	1	2	0.333	2	14	7	0.667	7-3	L-1	at South Carolina (3/22)
Auburn	0	3	0.000	3	13	6	0.684	7-3	L-3	Alabama State (3/19)

HIGHLIGHTS

Game 1 and Game 3 "highlights" come from the Mississippi St streaming service and noticeably skip over anything positive accomplished by LSU.

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Mid-March Recruiting Roundup

Kris Brauner — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 02:14:30 -0000

Donnie Alexander and Ed Paris both committed to LSU in the same week at the end of February. Since then, things have seemed relatively quiet on the recruiting front. We have not seen any new commitments and LSU has not hosted any recruiting events. But behind the scenes, the LSU staff has been busy doing evaluations and offering numerous out of state prospects. At the same time, a number of other programs have been busy offering Louisiana prospects.

Here is a position by position look at what's going on with some of LSU's top targets:

Quarterback

Parkway Bossier's Brandon Harris continues to emerge as the state's top quarterback prospect. He was recently offered by Arkansas and is also showing strong interest in Baylor and Texas A&M in addition to LSU. Per Nola.com, Harris talked with Les Miles for a while on Sunday. It sounds like LSU wants to get a close look at Harris at camp this summer, but they may not have the luxury of waiting that long. I suspect LSU will put some eyes on him during the spring evaluation period. Harris definitely fits the "dual threat" mold and put up some awfully impressive numbers as a junior.

LSU also extended an offer to Toldeo, OH prospect DeShone Kizer a couple of weeks back. Kizer is 6'5" 205 pounds. He looks like a great athlete but seems a bit raw as a passer. His offer list is impressive and includes Alabama, Nebraska, Louisville and Tennessee in addition to LSU.

Rock Hill, SC quarterback Mason Rudolph is also a prospect with an offer from LSU that is showing a high level of interest.

Running Back

St. Aug's Leonard Fournette continues to be the big prize here, and LSU seems to be in great shape. If nothing else, no other school is ahead of LSU at this point. Fournette has not taken too many visits this spring. Originally slated to visit Alabama this upcoming weekend, Fournette will instead be at a camp in Houston, TX. Anytime he seems to be scheduled to visit another school, whether it's Bama, FSU, Texas or Texas A&M, he never seems to make the trip. However, he did visit LSU for their "Boys From The Boot" Junior Day. Fournette still plans to wait until January to announce his decision.

John Ehret's Darrell Williams is garnering more and more attention and recently gained offers from Georgia and Mississippi State. LSU has their eye on Williams but is taking their time with his recruitment. I would not expect to see an offer any time before the summer. Williams has nice size at 6'1" 210 and plenty of speed.

East Ascension scat back Sione Palelei and Sotlandville's Dontrell Hilliard are two other in-state guys to keep an eye on.

Out of state, LSU has only issued a handful of offers to the nation's elite. Oxford, AL star Racean Thomas could be one to watch. Originally thought to be a heavy lean to Alabama, Thomas now seems much more open. LSU signed Kwon Alexander a couple of years ago from the same high school as Thomas. He's likely to stay to stay in the state of Alabama for college but if he leaves the state, LSU could be his top option.

Wide Receiver

LSU issued three early offers to in-state receivers in Speedy Noil, Trey Quinn and Malachi Dupre. Those guys continue to be at the very top of LSU's wish list and rightfully so. They are all nationally ranked prospects with huge offer lists. At this stage, LSU seems to be in pretty good shape with all three.

Aside from those three, LSU also has a very close eye on Ouachita's Cameron Sims, a highly ranked player in his own right. Sims claims offers from Alabama and Georgia among many others. At camp last summer, Sims reportedly didn't run the fastest time in the world and LSU would like to get a closer look before offering him a valuable spot in what should be an elite receivers class. I'd expect an offer to come out this summer, if it comes at all.

A few out of state players with LSU offers to keep an eye on include Keenen Brown form Houston, TX, Markell Pack from Purvis, MS and Saeed Blacknall from New Jersey. Pack's film is especially impressive, and he's very good after the catch.

Dutchtown's Corey McBride is another in state guy to watch for an offer as is Pearland, TX receiver Tony Upchurch.

Personally, I like Sims as a player over any of the out of state guys mentioned with the possible exception of Pack. No, Sims doesn't show off crazy speed on his highlights, but he looks fast enough and despite his 6'3" frame, he's pretty solid after the catch.

LSU commitment Devin Voorhies could also end up at wide receiver so he may factor into the numbers at the end of the day.

Tight-End

With a commitment in hand from Westlake's Jacory Washington, LSU has already nabbed one of the best receiving tight-ends in the country. With new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron's history of throwing the ball to the tight-end, a guy like Washington has to be thrilled. LSU will look to add at least one more tight end to this class, and they may not have to leave the state to do so.

LSU has offered Karr tight-end Anthony Jones who is an intriguing prospect. An athletic 6'5" 215 pounds, Jones hasn't played a ton of football. He has only played football for a couple of years and even then, he was Karr's second tight-end behind Miami signee Standish Dobard a year ago. LSU may want to see Jones this spring or at camp this summer before accepting a commitment from Jones if he decided to do so.

Other in-state options include Clay Moffitt (son of LSU strength and conditioning guru Tommy Moffitt) and Ville Platte's Kendall Ardoin.

Offensive Line

The state of Louisiana has three blue chip prospects on the O-line, and LSU has them atop their wish list. Brother Martin guard Will Clapp has already committed to LSU, and his commitment seems as solid as it can be. West Monroe's Cameron Robinson may be the most important player in this entire class for LSU. Robinson is a unanimous Top-10 overall prospect in the nation and a guy that Alabama has made a top priority. University High guard Garrett Brumfield is a blue chipper in his own right with offers from the likes of Alabama, Floirda, Florida State, Texas A&M and others.

I suspect LSU will look to sign four offensive linemen in this class. If LSU can land those three in state prospects, then anyone else they add to the class will just be gravy in my opinion.

In state, St. Aug's Joseph Paul is getting a lot of attention and claims offers from Texas, FSU, Florida, and Texas A&M. That's an impressive offer list, but LSU hasn't shown significant interest to this point.

Out of state, St. Louis tackle Andy Bauer and North Carolina tackle Bentley Spain both hold offers from the Tigers and have shown some interest. Bauer is friends with 2013 signee Ethan Pocic, so there is at least a small connection working in LSU's favor.

Defensive Line

After signing four defensive ends and three defensive tackles in 2013, LSU can afford to be picky along the DL in 2014. And thus far, they have been, issuing only one offer within Louisiana to this point.

Karr's Gerald Willis is the top defensive line prospect in the state and is currently the only in-state defensive lineman with an offer from LSU. Willis could find a home as either an end or a tackle, but I think he'll eventually settle into tackle if he plays at LSU, Along with LSU, Willis favors Florida and Texas A&M, but I think LSU is comfortably in front at this point.

Plaquemine defensie lineman Davon Godchaux looks the part of a SEC D-lineman and has an Ole Miss offer to show for it. To me, I'm not sure Godchaux has the explosiveness needed to play end at a place like LSU but if he can put on a lot of good weight, I can easily see him playing on the interior. Reportedly, Godchaux was a star at LSU's camp last summer.

Covington's Garrald McDowell is a SEC talent but is undersized as a tackle, at least for now, at just 6'2" 255-ish. He sports offers from Arkansas and Ole Miss, but it looks like LSU wants to see if he can fill out and gain some more weight prior to offering. He's one to watch this spring/summer. McDowell's former Covington teammate, linebacker Otha Peters, plays at Arkansas so he does have a connection to the Hogs.

Westgate's Tae Thibodaux should also be on the watch list for in-state players.

Out of state, Oklahoma's Deondre Clark is the big name to watch right now. The blue chip defensive end has stated that he wants to play in the SEC. Furthermore, he raved about a trip he took to LSU for camp last summer...and his Mom raved about it too. LSU is in good shape for Clark right now.

LSU has issued some offers out of state, to include one to Mobile, AL's Justin Thornton who has the Tigers in his Top 3 along with Florida and Texas A&M. Thornton is a big time player and looks perfect as a big, complete defensive end for a 4-3 defense. But he seems like a heavy lean to Florida right now.

Miami defensive end Chad Thomas also has a LSU offer and could be one to keep an eye on.

Linebacker

LSU is looking to sign no more than three linebackers in this class and with Karr's Donnie Alexander already on board, space is already tight.

Kenny Young of John Curtis is the clear priority for LSU. He's an in-state stud and will have a spot in this class all the way until Signing Day if he wants. So the question is where LSU is looking for that third spot, or if Young decides to go elsewhere.

Illinois linebacker Clifton Garrett is one of the top linebacker prospects in the nation and recently received an offer from LSU. It seems that distance isn't a huge factor for Garrett, and that he is open to visiting LSU. But Ohio State is thought to be his big leader.

Spring, TX (just north of Houston) linebacker Josh Mabin is one that LSU is watching very closely. Mabin visited LSU for Junior Day and is very high on the Tigers. He is invited back for camp and if LSU offers, it will be after that camp performance. He looks like a middle linebacker all the way.

Memphis, TN prospect Petera Wilson is another that LSU is watching closely and that is planning to camp this summer.

Cornerback

LSU already has commitments from Texas prospects Chris Hardeman (scouting report) and Ed Paris. Hardeman is likely a nickel guy while Paris is one that is versatile enough to play either corner or safety.

The big prize for LSU is Beaumont's Tony Brown (scouting report), possibly the best defensive back in the nation. Many believe LSU is Brown's clear leader. Brown's sister is committed to run track for LSU, so there is a big time connection working in LSU's favor.

Dallas's Nick Watkins also has an offer from LSU as does California's Adoree Jackson. Jackson is a ridiculous athlete and once called LSU his "dream school." Despite that, it's probably an uphill climb for LSU to land either guy.

In state, look out for a pair of undersized guys in John Curtis's Terrance Alexander and St. Aug's Jermaine Roberts. Alexander has offers from Ole Miss, Arkansas, Nebraska, Stanford, Vanderbilt and others. Roberts has been on fire lately, racking up offers from Alabama, Florida State, Texas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Nebraska and others. Roberts is a play maker on his film but with guys like Tony Brown potentially leaning LSU's way and Adoree Jackson still in the picture, LSU is going to be extremely picky with what could be the last cornerback spot. I think both Roberts and Alexander need a strong showing at LSU's camp to be considered for an offer.

Out of state, watch for Gulfport's Lashard Durr, who recently took a visit to LSU at the request of Corey Raymond. Durr is flying under the radar right now but that's probably about to change. He's another guy who can earn an offer with a strong camp showing. His highlight tape is awfully impressive.

Safety

Potentially, LSU could have two Top-100 safeties already committed depending on where Ed Paris and Devin Voorhies settle in once they get to Baton Rouge. But both could end up elsewhere too, so that makes recruiting the safety position a bit confusing.

One thing that's not confusing is that LSU has Neville's Laurence "Hootie" Jones at the very top of their wish list for this class. The 6'2" 205 physical freak is a natural in the secondary and is one of the nation's top defensive back prospects. LSU will have to battle Alabama for his services.

In the state, Marksville's Ricky Gibson is a guy to keep an eye on but with LSU chasing so many elite defensive backs, it's tough to see him getting an offer.

LSU has issued a few other offers outside the state. Brandon Simmons,(scouting report) a high school teammate of Ed Paris, has an offer and is a strong possibility to land at LSU. USC, Stanford, Tennessee and Notre Dame are just some of his other offers. Houston's John Bonney and Texarkana's Davion Hall, a Baylor commitment, also hold offers from LSU as does Miami's Michael Johnson, a Louisville commitment. Bonney's mother is a LSU grad but despite that, he appears to favor Texas.

If LSU has the kind of success in the state of Louisiana that they are accustomed to and you throw in some out of state guys they feel very good about (Paris, Voorhies, Hardeman, Brown, D.Clark,), then it's easy to peg about 18 to 20 spots in this class already.

A lot of people get nervous when they see an in state player like Jermaine Roberts and Cameron Sims start racking up some serious offers with LSU standing on the sidelines. "What if we wait too long and miss him?!" I'd preach patience. It's only March and we have 11 months to go. Plus, nobody knows these in state players, especially those in the New Orleans area, better than Frank Wilson. My only disagreement with the staff right now is regarding Cameron Sims, but I understand why they want to see him in person again before pulling the trigger.

I like where LSU sits right now and think things are shaping up well to have one of the best classes in LSU history. They're in great shape for the in-state players, even though they will have at least a couple of real battles on their hands.

WEEKEND RECAP: Tigers Cruise To Sweep Washington

Kris Brauner — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:54:26 -0000

LSU did not do much worrying over the weekend. LSU essentially cruised in all three games against Washington. The Tigers jumped out to early leads and answered any rally by Washington with one of their own. LSU was in control in all three games.

Aaron Nola set the tone for the weekend by pitching six perfect innings on Friday night to start things off. Once Nola's bid for perfection got busted up in the seventh, the floodgates opened. One hit turned into two...and before you know it, Nola had surrendered five hits and four earned runs before the bullpen took over. It's a shame that such a great outing got blemished with an inning like that, but Nola was sure fun to watch on Friday night.

Ryan Eades had a similar outing on Saturday. He allowed zero runs except in the fourth inning where he gave up four. He also walked three through 6.2 innings pitched. The story on Saturday; however, was Mason Katz who hit two home runs in his first two plate appearances helping LSU get out to a 5-0 lead. After closing the gap to 5-4, LSU responded by scoring the games final three runs.

Cody Glenn was not as sharp on Sunday as he has been during his last few outings. Washington manged two hits off Glenn in the first, second, and third innings each. Glenn then settled in and gave up zero hits over the next two innings before leaving the game in the sixth inning. Mason Katz and Ty Ross both homered and Mark Laird had four hits to lead the way at the plate.

Alex Bregman was ridiculous this weekend, going 7 for 12 with three doubles and a triple. He also added a stolen base. His average is all the way up to .391 and he leads the team with 25 hits. He's got a very healthy slugging percentage (.578) and on base percentage (.467) and is a perfect 5 for 5 on stolen base attempts. He did make his first two errors of the season this weekend but he sure looks as good as advertised thus far.

Mark Laird, LSU's other star freshman, also had seven hits on the weekend including four on Sunday. He's now leading the team with a .411 batting average and a .484 on base percentage. The two freshmen are tied for the team lead in runs scored.

Jacoby Jones continues to struggle swinging the bat. He managed a hit on Saturday, his only hit in his last 16 at bats, going all the way back to the Saturday contest against Brown last weekend. Despite having just 10 hits on the season, Jones is getting on base. He leads the team with 16 walks and has a solid .424 on base percentage. A year ago, Jones had 15 walks for the entire season so it's obvious that his approach at the plate is much improved. For two weeks now, it seems that Jones has been hitting a lot balls very hard. But they're going juuussstt foul or he's lining them right to someone. If Jones can keep his head up and continue having some patience at the plate, those balls will eventually start falling in for hits, and he'll go back to being a real asset in the lineup.

The bullpen was solid for the most part this weekend. Chris Cotton earned two saves and Joey Bourgeois pitched two perfect innings. Nick Rumbelow looked quite good on Friday night but struggled in his outing on Sunday.

Mark Laird appears to have taken over for Chris Sciambra as the every day center fielder. Sciambra played in right on both Friday and Saturday with Laird in center. For much of the season, that had been reversed. It looks like the smart play. Laird is a natural out there and can cover a bit more ground than Sciambra. Laird once again made several outstanding plays on defense this weekend.

Andrew Stevenson got a start on Sunday to try and show he deserves to be in the everyday lineup but he unfortunately went 0 for 4 at the plate. I really like Stevenson and think he has a big future at LSU, and it could be this year.

LSU's weekend starters (Nola, Eades, Glenn) have given up just six extra base hits combined all season. That's really good.

LSU will face Nicholls on Wednesday before heading to Starkville to kick off SEC play.

HIGHLIGHTS

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

WEEKEND RECAP: Starting Pitching Leads Tigers To Sweep

Kris Brauner — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:16:10 -0000

Aaron Nola and Ryan Eades both dominated in their starts against Brown. Both guys struck out 11 while walking nobody. Eades notched his 11 Ks in six innings while Nola went seven. Unfortunately, Nola could not get the victory since the game on Friday was in doubt until the very end. Both guys are off to excellent starts on the season and even though that was expected, it's still a great sign.

After consecutive scoreless starts in mid-week contests, Paul Maineri promoted lefty Cody Glenn to the Sunday starter. Glenn responded by throwing a gem against Nicholls St., allowing just three hits and no runs through seven innings. In three starts and 19 innings this year, Glenn has yet to allow an earned run. Batters are hitting under .150 against Glenn on the year.

I'll admit that I'm a little surprised at Glenn's early season success. Highly regarded out of high school, Glenn struggled as a freshman. He just couldn't get anyone out. He also got knocked around pretty good in summer ball. Even in his first start this season, I thought that Glenn struggled with his command. But his last two starts have been superb, and he looks like a totally different, very confident guy on the mound. If he can keep pitching this well, then LSU may have answered one of the biggest questions they had coming into the season, which was whether someone would emerge as a legitimate Sunday starter.

As a whole, LSU's bats were pretty timid this weekend. After blasting Southeastern and ULL last Sunday and Tuesday respectively, I was hoping to see the hot hitting continue. Instead, LSU scored just 13 runs combined. The Tigers trailed Brown 3-2 heading into the eighth inning on Friday and managed to scratch across a run in each of the last two innings for the walk off victory. LSU controlled Saturday's game from the start but then struggled again on Sunday where they were hitless through four innings and finished with just seven hits in a 2-0 win.

On Friday, LSU routinely had runners all over the bases but just couldn't find that one hit to break the game open. But at least they hit the ball hard for the most part. On Sunday, LSU just couldn't get much of anything going aside from one inning.

After really struggling over the last 10 days or so, Chris Sciambra sat down on Sunday while Sean McMullen took his place in the lineup. McMullen led off but played in right field while Mark Laird played center. McMullen was 1 for 4 on Sunday but his one hit was a big one, setting up LSU with runners at the corners and nobody out. Paul Maineri said after the game Sunday that he just wanted to get McMullen a game, and that this move had nothing to do with Sciambra's recent struggles. But it will be interesting to see if McMullen continues to get the opportunity to win that job. Andrew Stevenson continues to be an option there, too.

After a shaky outing by the bullpen on Friday where both Nick Rumbelow and Will Lamarche struggled, they were otherwise solid. Chris Cotton earned a win on Friday and a save on Sunday. Lamarche rebounded to pitch well on Saturday, as did Hunter Devall and Kevin Berry. We haven't seen Nate Fury since he got knocked around last weekend. But with two mid-week games coming up, I suspect he'll get a chance to redeem himself.

Some Other Observations:

Mark Laird had another outstanding weekend. After going 8 for 13 last weekend, Laird was 5 for 9 this weekend while reaching base 10 times in 14 plate appearances. His batting average is all the way up to .385, and his on base percentage is .489. Laird was also outstanding defensively once again. He has probably made a dozen plays this season where I've thought to myself, "that's a play we just don't make last year.". He looked very good in centerfield on Sunday.

Tyler Moore had a big week. He started against ULL and against Brown twice and was 7 for 13 in those three games. His batting average is up to .346 now. On the other side of the righty / lefty platoon at DH, Alex Edward played on Sunday and was 0 for 2. He's all the way down to .176.

Jacoby Jones has not been tearing the cover off the ball. In fact, his .257 batting average is almost identical to his .253 mark from a year ago. But after walking only 15 times a season ago, Jones already has nine walks this year. The more patient Jones has a .435 on base % as opposed to a meager .308 in 2012.

Joey Bourgeois has recorded 11 strikeouts in just 5.1 innings of work. In case you're not sure, that is REALLY GOOD. While I love Bourgeois as a setup guy who can bridge the gap between the starting pitcher and the closer, those numbers suggest he'd be quite good at getting LSU out of some jams, too. We shouldn't be that surprised though, since Bourgeois struck out 45 in 41 innings in 2012.

LSU hosts Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday and Sacred Heart on Wednesday. I'm curious to see how Maineri handles the pitching duties. Brent Bonvillain will start Tuesday and probably won't go more than four or five innings so that he will still be plenty fresh for the weekend. After that, it could be a deal where we see "Johnny Allstaff" with plenty of guys getting an inning or two of work.

HIGHLIGHTS

Brown Game 1

Brown Game 2

Nicholls St.

Weekend Recap: Tigers Dodge Rain, Take 2 Of 3

Kris Brauner — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 06:15:27 -0000

Despite the rain, LSU managed to get all three games in this weekend. Two against BYU and one against Southeastern.

The Cougars of BYU packed a bigger bite than anyone thought they would this weekend. BYU gave LSU all they wanted in the first game Thursday night, and it took some ninth inning heroics from LSU to get the win. Aaron Nola looked human and did not have his best stuff. He allowed only four hits through six innings but also had a career high three walks. He had one of those really tough innings where he allowed four runs, highlighted by a three run homer. However, LSU battled back and entered the ninth inning trailing by just one. A Christian Ibarra homer tied the game before Raph Rhymes hit a deep fly ball with the bases loaded to win it. Will Lamarche and Hunter Devall struggled out of the pen, but kudos to Joey Bourgeois who pitched the last 1.2 innings, striking out four.

Friday's game got postponed as soon as it was started. On Saturday night, LSU looked lackadaisical and BYU took advantage. Brent Bonvillain got the start for LSU and was very solid through nearly five innings, giving up just three hits and one run. In relief, Nate Fury had a very tough outing, allowing four hits and five runs in just one inning. BYU led 6-1 at that point and never really looked back, cruising to a 9-4 win.

After the loss, LSU came out Sunday with their piss on fire and clobbered Southeastern 13-1. Ryan Eades pitched awfully well again and LSU's veterans, namely Raph Rhymes and Mason Katz, had big days. The two combined for seven hits and 11 RBIs in the game.

Regarding the loss, I'm really not that concerned about it. LSU looked like a team going through the motions, and you had a relief pitcher get bombed. While you prefer not to see a team play in such a nonchalant manner, I'm quite sure they won't repeat that once conference play starts. A year ago, LSU lost two of three to Appalachian State, scoring just one run combined in the two losses. That team went on to win the SEC and earn a national seed.

Some other observations:

Mark Laird had an absolutely blistering weekend. When Paul Maineri wasn't asking him to bunt (which has seemed like way too much), Laird was 8 for 13 this weekend and scored seven runs. After a somewhat slow start last weekend, Laird appears much more comfortable now and his batting average is all the way up to .357. What I like most is that he has just one strikeout thus far on the season, which is exactly what you like to see from your #2 hole hitter.

Chris Sciambra came back to Earth a bit after his ridiculous opening weekend. With just one hit on the weekend, Sciambra still found ways to get on base and leads the team with a .586 OBP.

After a slow start last weekend, Raph Rhymes and Mason Katz combined to hit .500 against BYU and SLU.

In my recap after last weekend, I wrote this:

A big reason for the struggles is that Raph Rhymes and Mason Katz combined to go just 4 for 21 on the weekend. Combine that with Mark Laird going 2 for 12, and you've got pretty sub par production from your 2-3-4 hitters.

Well this weekend, those 2-3-4 guys were 19 for 35.

LSU's designated hitter spot has been a platoon between Alex Edward and Tyler Moore. Thus far, the two have combined for just a .185 batting average. It's too early to consider a move but LSU does have some other options in Andrew Stevenson, Sean McMullen and Chris Chinea.

Freshman lefty Hunter Devall pitched very well against Lamar on Tuesday, and he saw action in all three games this weekend. He was called upon Thursday to face a left handed hitter but instead gave up a RBI double. On Saturday, he was brought in to stop the bleeding in BYU's big inning and struck out the only batter he faced. Then on Sunday, he pitched one scoreless inning giving up one hit. At this point, it looks like he could be a big part of LSU's plans in the bullpen this season.

LSU travels to Lafayette on Tuesday to take on ULL. Cody Glenn should get the start again. It also sounds like Nick Rumbelow is healthy again and should throw at least an inning against the Cajuns.

HIGHLIGHTS

BYU Game 1

BYU Game 2

LSU Lands Commitment from LB Donnie Alexander

Kris Brauner — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:04:39 -0000

In a bit of a surprise, LSU landed a commitment over the weekend from Donnie Alexander, an outside linebacker prospect from Karr High School. In a year when the state of Louisiana is loaded with top shelf talent, Alexander is a guy that was a tad overlooked. That's partially due to the fact that he plays on a team where he is overshadowed, with blue chip talent such as defensive end Gerald Willis and receiver Speedy Noil stealing the headlines. It's also due to the fact that Alexander played his sophomore season in the 185 - 190 pound range, very light for a SEC linebacker prospect.

As a junior, Alexander filled out his frame and now stands at 6'1" 210 pounds with long arms and a frame to pack on even more weight. He has exceptional speed and burst and looks like a great fit in John Chavis's scheme as an outside linebacker. He could compare favorably to current Tigers Tahj Jones and Deion Jones.

At this point, Alexander is not all that highly thought of by the recruiting services but that could certainly change, especially if he attends a camp or two this summer. He's currently a solid three star at 247 Sports and unranked by Rivals. While some may wonder why LSU would take an underrated prospect this early in the process, I can only defer to John Chavis. The Chief is the best linebackers coach in the country and if he wants a guy to play that position, then I do too.

According to this article on Nola.com, Alexander seems very solid to LSU and is genuinely excited about becoming a Tiger. Also from the same article, former Karr head coach Jabbar Juluke had this to say about Alexander in October:

"He may be a better prospect than any of the other (Karr) guys, including 'Speedy'"

That is obviously very high praise from someone who would know, and LSU clearly shares Juluke's evaluation of Alexander. Juluke is now an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech.

LSU has told a few prospects that they plan on taking two linebackers in this class. With Alexander on board, the obvious remaining target is John Curtis prospect Kenny Young. Young just picked up an offer from Alabama this weekend after attending their Junior Day. LSU is also pursuing several out of state prospects such as Clifton Garrett (Illinois), Josh Mabin (Texas), Greg Mclisse (Florida) and Petera Wilson (Tennessee). My guess is that LSU may ultimately take three linebackers in this class, especially if they get a look at Kendell Beckwith and Melvin Jones this fall and decide that one of them may be a better fit at defensive line.

Alexander makes LSU's fifth commitment for the Class of 2014, and LSU could add number six on Monday. Five star defensive back Ed Paris from Arlington, TX is announcing his decision Monday at noon, and LSU is the huge favorite.

Sophomore highlights:

Donnie Alexander Highlight Tape 2011 (via Mike12Dunn)