LSU Handles Notre Dame, 9-4, To Go To 7-0 On The Season

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU catcher Cade Arrambide hit a two-run home run to pace a 12-hit attack as the No. 1 Tigers defeated Notre Dame, 9-4, Saturday afternoon at the JAX College Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Florida.

Arrambide’s second home run of the season put the Tigers (7-0) up 7-0 in the fourth inning. Brayden Simpson and Trent Caraway each stroked RBI doubles in the second inning for a 2-0 lead. LSU took a 5-0 lead in the third on RBI singles by Seth Dardar and Omar Serna and a bases-loaded walk to Simpson.

“I just worked my way into a count where I know I’m very likely to get a fastball,” Arrambide said. “He laid a fastball in there, and I just put a good swing on it.”

Jake Brown went 4-for-5 for the Tigers with three runs scored. Seven players had at least one hit.

“The offensive approach for two days has been great here,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson, whose team put up 18 hits in a 14-7 win over Indiana on Friday to open the tournament. “We’ve left some things on the table. But that’s how good it’s been.”

Seven LSU players have hit home runs in just seven games so far this season, 15 have at least one hit and 13 have RBIs.

“When you have as many good hitters as we do, I don’t think anybody ever feels like it’s really on them to have to do it,” Johnson said.

“It’s one you could put on videotape and say, ‘This is how you do it.’”
– LSU coach Jay Johnson on Tigers’ 9-run 8th inning to beat Indiana.https://t.co/74qXGPBaUS

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 21, 2026

LSU BAT DISCIPLINE IMPRESSED NOTRE DAME COACH

LSU’s disciplined approach at the plate particularly impressed Notre Dame coach Shawn Stiffler.

“They don’t swing,” he said. “Like, they understand the value of not swinging. They don’t chase.”

That comes directly from Johnson, who is basically LSU’s hitting coach and offensive coordinator.

“They have a great knack for understanding what pitches they want to handle and how to handle them,” Stiffler said. “They’ve got mature hitters who can hit the ball deep. That’s the style they play. They understand it. They buy into it. They do a great job with it.”

LSU, which frequently had trouble with left-handers last season as most teams do, had no problem with highly recruited freshman left-hander Caden Crowell (6-foot-4, 205 pounds), who started Saturday’s game. Crowell, the No. 9 impact freshman in the nation by D1 Baseball and the No. 15 lefty by Perfect Game out of Valparaiso High in Valparaiso, Indiana, allowed five runs on seven hits in two and a third innings.

“They were crushing us on back side base hits, back doubles off Crowell,” Stiffler said. “When you really understand the zone, it’s funny, by doing nothing, they create so much pressure – by just standing three and and not swinging.”

Cooper Moore, a junior transfer from Kansas, started for LSU and got the win to go to 2-0 on the season with six strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings. He allowed eight hits and three runs with one walk.

“I thought Cooper was obviously excellent again, filling up the strike zone,” Johnson said. “He set a great tempo for us, allowed the offense to settle in.”

LSU added two runs in the sixth for a 9-3 lead on a wild pitch and another bases-loaded walk.

The Tigers play Central Florida (4-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday to close the tournament. Central Florida beat Notre Dame, 4-2, Friday in 10 innings and was scheduled to play Indiana (1-4) at 3 p.m. Saturday