After a masterful performance against Texas in Minute Maid Park on Friday, Luke Holman has asserted himself as LSU’s newest ace.
In his third start of the season, Holman pitched 5.2 innings, striking out 12 batters and walking one while allowing just three hits and no runs. His dominance on the mound lead LSU to a 6-3 victory over the Longhorns, its first ranked opponent of the season.
Holman has the ability to locate his fastball and vary his approach to every batter with multiple off-speed pitches, which makes him a painful matchup for hitters.
“Good pitchers can win no matter if they have their best stuff or not,” head coach Jay Johnson said. “I think the difference is, fastball command to all four quadrants, curveball, slider, changeup. It’s in and out, up and down, changing speeds. It’s a lot, trust me. As an offensive coach, it’s a lot to deal with.”
Holman was named SEC Player of the Week for his performance Friday and NCBWA National Player of the Month for his success this season.
“He’s about as good of a pitcher as I’ve ever had in terms of executing, feel and those types of things,” Johnson said. “Paul Skenes is on a different planet in terms of last year, but in terms of pitch-to-pitch execution I don’t really know how you plan for him.”
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A symptom of the Paul Skenes withdrawal all LSU fans are experiencing is unrealistic expectations. Yet, Holman, through his first three starts, has put up comparable stats.
Holman is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.56 WHIP in 18 innings pitched. He’s totaled 30 strikeouts and just two walks in that time. Opponents have been limited to a batting average of .133.
Skenes went 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 0.50 WHIP in his first 18 innings of 2023. He threw 36 strikeouts and allowed three walks in that span. Opponent batting average was .100.
While Holman was able to prove his abilities carry over against higher-end talent, the Tigers are set to play much tougher opponents than Texas. Having a reliable ace to matchup with the plethora of talented arms in the SEC and across college baseball is fundamental to LSU’s long-term success.
Here are some of high-potential names and how their seasons have looked thus far:
Hagen Smith, Arkansas
Amongst a loaded pitching staff, Smith has started his season off strong. He’s 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA and 0.69 WHIP through 13 innings pitched. Smith has 31 strikeouts and four walks thus far. He’s held opponents to a batting average of .114.
Smith faced the LSU twice last season, the first in late March and the second in the SEC tournament. Skenes started for the Tigers both of those games.
So far in March, Smith threw 4.2 innings; he finished with eight strikeouts, allowing three walks, five hits and three runs. Smith’s pitching, in combination with a strong performance from Hunter Hollan, held LSU to three runs. Despite just one run allowed by Skenes, LSU lost 9-3. This home loss was the Tigers’ third loss of the season.
Meeting again in May, Smith once again handed the Tigers the loss, Arkansas winning 5-4 in the SEC Tournament. In 3.2 innings, he struck out nine and walked one, allowing two runs off five hits.
Arkansas is ranked No. 2, just above LSU in the latest D1 Baseball rankings. The Tigers will face them in Fayetteville come late March.
Josh Hartle, Wake Forest
Hartle has earned the win in all of his first three starts and boasts a 2.04 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 17.2 innings. Hartle has 17 strikeouts and has allowed three walks and a .159 OBA in that stretch.
Prior to the Tigers 3-0 run to make the 2023 championship, Hartle handed LSU its first loss in Omaha. The 3-2 loss nearly ended the Tiger’s season.
In that game, Hartle pitched six innings, striking out nine batters, allowing four walks, four hits and two runs. With Wake Forest ranked No.1, it’s possible LSU will find itself in a rematch late in the season.
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Drew Beam, Tennessee
Beam is 2-1 in his first three outings, with a 2.16 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 16.2 innings of baseball. He’s struck out 15 batters, allowing just one walk and a .286 OBA.
Much like Smith, in 2023, Beam faced LSU once during the midseason and once in the late season.
In early April, he handed LSU its fourth loss of the season. In a four-inning performance, Beam had four strikeouts and no walks, allowing just one earned run on eight hits. Tennessee won 14-7.
In June, they faced off again, but this time it was win or go home for both teams. Beam pitched 5.2 innings, in which he had nine strikeouts and two walks, allowing just one earned run on six hits. LSU won 5-0.
Tennessee currently ranks No. 8 in the D1 Baseball rankings. LSU is set to play the Vols in a mid-April away series.
Come May and June, LSU won’t be facing teams like VMI or even Texas. To keep up with the talent it will face, LSU needs an ace of its own. Holman has established himself as that player and offers reliable dominance when the team needs it most.
“You do something, he can do something else. You take something away, he can beat you in a lot of different ways,” Johnson said. “He’s had great baseball background his whole life and the skill, aptitude and execution is on another level right now.”
