LSU Tigers
Overall Rank: #7
Conference Rank: #3 SEC 
LSU Team Page
The 2014 season came to a premature end for the LSU Tigers as they were sent home in the Baton Rouge Regional by Houston in a 12-2 loss. The Tigers pitching staff just picked the wrong night to come up short against a talented Cougars team. There is ample talent retuning in 2015 for LSU and they should be plenty motivated to get the bad taste from the 2014 NCAA Tournament out of their mouth.
2014: 46-16-1, 17-11-1
2014 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Paul Mainieri
Field Players:
There will be a very balanced offensive attack this season for the Tigers. Outfielder Andrew Stevenson is the leading returning hitter as far as batting average is concerned and he hit .335, while driving in 32 runs and stole nine bases. Infielder Alex Bregman is the leading returning RBI producer as he drove in 47 runs. Catcher Kade Scivicque is the leading returning homerun hitter from last season, knocking out seven homeruns and he will be counted on heavily to carry the power hitting load once again this season for LSU. Another key offensive player to watch will be Mark Laird, who is a big threat to steal. He stole 10 bases in 15 attempts last season.
Pitchers:
Jared Poche’ will be the ace of the rotation on Friday nights. Poche’ is coming off of a very effective 2014 season when he was 9-3 with a 2.45 earned run average in 91.2 innings pitched. Poche’ limited hitters to a .222 batting average and he has nice control, walking just 26 batters while striking out 52. Kyle Bouman will also be in the weekend rotation. He was extremely effective last season for LSU while making 11 starts as part of his 17 appearances. Bouman was 5-2 with a 2.12 earned run average, walking just 16 batters and limiting opposing batters to just a .215 batting average. He also allowed just two homeruns to opposing hitters.
Who to Watch:
The need to find one or more closers to compensate for the loss of eight saves from Joe Broussard will be very important. Broussard was lights out with a 3-2 record and a 1.05 earned run average. It will be up to Parker Bugg to step up and take control of the closer role this season. Bugg went 2-2 with a 2.75 earned run average and made 25 of his 26 appearances last season out of the bullpen. His pinpoint control is going to be a huge asset in closing games this season. He walked just five batters in 36 innings pitched and limited opposing hitters to a .211 batting average.
Final Projection:
The schedule will keep the Tigers at home for the first three weeks of the season which will buy them time to get into a rhythm in all phases. Kansas, Boston College and Princeton will visit Alex Box Stadium and that will give LSU a nice mix of diverse looks heading into the Houston College Classic down at Minute Maid Park. The trip to Houston will give the Tigers a nice little gauntlet of games against Houston in a rematch from the Baton Rouge Regional along with Baylor and Nebraska. This stretch of three games should prepare LSU well for the typical SEC weekend series that they will see on a weekly basis. The Wally Pontiff Classic in Metairie against Louisiana-Lafayette will also be a crucial NCAA Tournament resume building game during the heart of SEC play on March 31st. The conference schedule overall is balanced as the Tigers avoid Florida and get Ole Miss at home to start conference play and they end conference play on the road at South Carolina.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
Returning Leaders:
At Bats: Alex Bregman, IF, 244
Hits: Alex Bregman, IF, 77
Home Runs: Kade Scivicque, C, 7
RBIs: Alex Bregman, IF, 47
Runs: Andrew Stevenson, OF, 41
Stolen Bases: Alex Bregman, IF, 12
Wins: Jared Poche’, P, 9
Innings Pitched: Jared Poche’, P, 91.2
Strikeouts: Jared Poche’, P, 52
Saves: Parker Bugg, P, 2
Madness 2015 MLB Draft Rankings:
#12 Alex Bregmann
Madness 2015 Baseball Recruit Rankings:
#4 Jake Godfrey
#6 Greg Deichmann
#37 Jake Latz
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