LSU ranked No. 4 in D1Baseball.com preseason college baseball poll

Reigning NCAA baseball champion LSU is No. 4 in the 2024 D1 Baseball Preseason Poll released on Tuesday.

Wake Forest is No. 1 in the poll, followed by Florida, Arkansas, LSU, TCU, Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Clemson to round out the Top 10. Other SEC teams appearing in the D1 Baseball Top 25 are No. 19 Alabama and No. 25 South Carolina.

LSU will play 19 games in the 2024 regular season against teams ranked in the D1 Baseball Preseason Top 25.

Jay Johnson, the 2023 National Coach of the Year, enters his third season at LSU with a talented squad that has championship aspirations.

LSU has 21 players returning from its 2023 College World Series title team, along with a class of new Tigers listed as high as No. 3 in recruiting rankings.

The Tigers’ returning position players include 2023 All-American third baseman Tommy White, 2023 Freshman All-American first baseman Jared Jones, catcher/DH Hayden Travinski, catcher Alex Milazzo, infielder/outfielder Josh Pearson and outfielder Paxton Kling.

Newcomers who should make an immediate impact upon the LSU lineup include outfielder Mac Bingham, shortstop Michael Braswell III and outfielder Jake Brown.

The LSU pitching staff features exceptional depth and is led by veterans like right-hander Thatcher Hurd, left-hander Nate Ackenhausen, right-hander Gavin Guidry and left-hander Griffin Herring.

The staff will be bolstered by the addition of several new arms, including right-hander Luke Holman, left-hander Gage Jump, left-hander Cam Johnson and left-hander Justin Loer.

LSU opens the 2024 season at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, February 16, when the Tigers play host to VMI in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field

2024 D1 Baseball Preseason Poll

1.       Wake Forest

2.       Florida

3.       Arkansas

4.       LSU

5.       TCU

6.       Vanderbilt

7.       Oregon State

8.       Texas A&M

9.       Tennessee

10.   Clemson

11.   East Carolina

12.   Duke

13.   North Carolina State

14.   Virginia

15.   North Carolina

16.   Texas

17.   UC Santa Barbara

18.   Coastal Carolina

19.   Alabama

20.   Iowa

21.   Texas Tech

22.   UCLA

23.   Northeastern

24.   Kansas State

25.   South Carolina