GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
The NCAA Transfer Portal has beamed college athletics into the new frontier with virtually complete new rosters every season.
LSU’s 2025 baseball team, however, has clung to a bit of an Old School philosophy, while tapping the top of the portal for possibly the most talented and deep roster in the country.
The No. 6 national seeded Tigers (43-14) open NCAA postseason play on Friday (2 p.m., SEC Network) against No. 4 Baton Rouge Regional seed Arkansas-Little Rock (24-32) at Alex Box Stadium.
THE GOONIES – LSU HAS PROWESS IN THE PINCH
No. 2 Regional seed Dallas Baptist (40-16) plays No. 3 seed Rhode Island (38-20) in the second game Friday at 6:30 p.m. The two winners play at at 5 p.m. Saturday. The two losers play an elimination game of the double-elimination tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday. There will be two games on Sunday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. A Monday game will be played if necessary at a time to be determined.
LSU PITCHER ANTHONY EYANSON EYES THE PRIZE
Eight remaining members from LSU’s 2023 team that won the national championship are on the 2025 roster. That team swept three NCAA Regional games and took Kentucky, two games to none, in the Super Regional at the Box. LSU returns to its home stadium this weekend for NCAA postseason play for the first time since ’23.
“That was a great memory,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said Thursday. “And it was good that we have eight players that were on that team still that were part of that. They’re all in different roles than they were.”
LSU’s “Great Eight” includes junior first baseman Jared Jones, junior outfielder/designated hitter Ethan Frey, senior outfielder/designated hitter Josh Pearson, redshirt sophomore pitchers Chase Shores and Jaden Noot, redshirt sophomore lefty reliever DJ Primeaux, redshirt sophomore outfielder Mic Paul and junior relief pitcher Gavin Guidry.
Only Paul has not played a lot this season, and Guidry has missed the whole season with a back injury, but he remains with the team. Jones leads the team with 19 home runs and 66 RBIs while third on the team in batting average at .333 with 57 starts in 57 games. Frey leads the team with a .358 average and is second in home runs with 12 and is fourth with 43 RBIs through 35 starts in 51 games. Pearson is hitting .305 with six home runs and 28 RBIs in 37 starts in 48 games.
Shores, who opened the season as the No. 3 starter but has moved to the bullpen, is 5-2 with a 4.80 ERA in 54 and a third innings with 57 strikeouts in 17 appearances. Noot has started and relieved and is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 30 and a third innings through 18 appearances. Primeaux is 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA an 13 strikeouts in 13 innings through 19 appearances.
“I really wasn’t much in the lineup in the post-season,” Jones said. “I wasn’t an every-day player, I was just trying to do my best, support my team and be the energy in the dugout. This year, I’m on the flip side of that.”
Jones did start 47 of 55 games – 34 at first base with 13 at designated hitter – and hit .304 with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs in 2023. He went 2-for-4 as a pinch-hitter in the Super Regional and national championship series against Florida with a pinch-hit double against Kentucky in a 14-0 win in the Super.
“It was crazy – the crowd,” he said. “That’s what I remember. I’m looking forward to it again. It means everything to me. Something I’ve dreamed about for a long time. Got a taste of it my freshman year, so super excited for it.”
Frey hit .263 in 2023 as a freshman in 19 games with two starts in right field.
Pearson hit only .226 as a sophomore in 2023 in 55 games and 36 starts. But he became the full-time starter in left field in the NCAA postseason and hit three home runs with eight RBIs and two triples. He had 11 hits in 13 postseason games, including a two-run home run in the national championship game win over Florida.
Jones expects him to come on strong again this postseason as Pearson hit .333 with two home runs, seven RBIs, five runs scored and three doubles in the NCAA Regional at North Carolina last season.
“He’s stepped up big for us in the postseason year after year,” Jones said. “He always seems to get going right at this time. He’s had a great year already. And I’m sure he’s looking to build on that.”
Shores was 0-1 with a 1.96 ERA through seven appearances and 18 and a third innings in 2023. Before his elbow injury that required surgery and made him miss all of last season, Shores struck out 15 in four starts and three relief appearances. Noot red-shirted with an elbow injury and surgery in 2023 and missed all but one inning last year. Paul played in 12 games in the outfield in 2023. Guidry was 3-0 with a 3.77 ERA with three saves in 2023. Primeaux red-shirted as a freshman in 2023.
“Every single one of them is in a different role, but they know what it was like,” Johnson said.
“There’s just a ton of energy in the place,” Jones said. “You can really feel it. The crowd’s always on their feet. They can kind of anticipate how baseball works and the situation of the game – whether its two strikes and two men on, two outs, and we need a big strikeout here. Or if we’re up to the plate, and it’s a big spot. They know when to get into it. So, just super energetic, and a lot of fun.”
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