By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU sophomore pitcher William Schmidt continues to develop into what everyone thought he would be last season – a dominant weekend starter.
Schmidt struck out a career-high-tying nine with zero walks and allowed no runs on four hits in a career- high-long outing of seven and a third innings to improve to 3-0 on the season with a 3-0 victory over Dartmouth at Alex Box Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The former Catholic High star, who would have gone in the first round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft had he not taken his name out and chosen LSU, struck out two each in the third and sixth innings.
Winning without much hitting is the mark of a great team with elite pitching, such as Kansas transfer Cooper Moore.https://t.co/i0Eb66H636
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 28, 2026
“Outstanding and getting better as we go,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “That’s why he came here. Really excited about him. Awesome, so awesome. He had elite command today. He’s going to be hard to beat when he’s throwing like that. Absolutely suffocated the zone.”
Schmidt also threw a shutout last Sunday against Central Florida in an 11-0 win, striking out seven in five innings and allowing three hits and one walk.
“I don’t think anybody else in the country can put that out there on a Sunday,” Johnson said.
Schmidt still has not lost a decision in his college career as he was 7-0 last season. But that was with a 4.73 ERA, and all his victories were in non-conference games over 32 and a third innings as he struck out 41 with 22 walks. In his five SEC relief appearances, however, Schmidt was 0-0 with a 27.00 ERA as he allowed six runs on two home runs and a double with 11 walks and only one strikeout through eight batters faced.
SEC play begins the weekend after next at Vanderbilt, and only then can Schmidt prove he is a legitimate LSU weekend starter. He does appear on the way, though, as he has a 1.65 ERA so far this season.
“He struck out nine today with no walks,” Johnson said. “You can’t get much better than that. He’s put together three really good starts. And you just see the uptick in execution.”
Schmidt was 9-0 in his senior year at Catholic in 2024 with a 0.44 EAR and 102 strikeouts in 63 and two-thirds innings as he led the Bears to the state title and won the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year. He was the No. 16 overall prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft by MLB.com and the No. 4 prospect in Perfect Game’s top 75 college freshmen going into 2025.
The No. 1 Tigers (11-1) got all the runs Schmidt needed in the first inning when Jake Brown hit a two-out home run to right field for a 1-0 lead. It was Brown’s team-high fifth home run of the season, and he has 20 RBIs.
The Tigers made it 2-0 in the fourth with an unearned run. Steven Milam doubled and scored when Seth Dardar reached second on an error in left field.
LSU increased the lead to 3-0 in the eighth with another unearned run. Derek Curiel reached on an error at second base and scored on Brown’s RBI double.
Jaden Noot came on in the ninth with two outs and runners on the corners and struck out Jack Niswonger to end the game and earn his first save of the season and second of his LSU career.
LSU finished with just four hits, marking its third straight game with five or fewer hits as it had just 14 hits in its last three games. The Tigers had 22 hits over two games last weekend – 11-0 and 9-4 wins over Central Florida (10 hits in seven innings) and Notre Dame (12 hits), respectively.
Dartmouth fell to 2-4. LSU’s light non-conference schedule continues on Monday as the Tigers host Northeastern (1-6) at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. LSU plays at Louisiana-Lafayette (9-3) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Be the first to comment