After a three-week absence from the Top 25 polls, LSU Baseball has responded. They didn’t have to say anything; they just stepped up to the plate.
In the past nine games, the Tigers have scored 90 runs. Even if the games haven’t resulted in nine wins, it is safe to say they are back at bat.
Across the nine talent shows, the team has hit 22 home runs and driven in 79 runs with a .314 batting average.
Those stats not only prove that they are back, but also what happens when they gain that momentum.
The many impressive performances came from mid-week games against unranked teams and SEC matchups at home and on the road. Even with multiple batters coming across the plate after grand slams, home runs and everything in between, it didn’t always give the Tigers a win.
But they didn’t stop. Batter after batter, game after game, they didn’t just see the progress. They felt it. It’s how this team runs. Their lows are low, and their highs are high. And this height made history.
On Sunday afternoon in Knoxville, catcher Cade Arrambide set an LSU record for the most home runs in a game with four. His record-breaking showdown after six at-bats put him on a high.
He continued that momentum in the recent mid-week matchup against Bethune-Cookman with a .600 batting average, setting him at an average of .312 so far. He’s impressive on both sides of the plate, with 215 putouts and just five passed balls this season.
He’s on the road to becoming a top college baseball player both offensively and defensively, his stats making history and exceeding last season in just eight weeks.
Right fielder Jake Brown is up there with Arrambide, recently being put up on the mid-season watch list for the Golden Spikes Award. He leads the team in home runs with 14, batting average with a .338 and RBI with 45. His impact doesn’t end once he makes it on base, with a .445 percentage; he also turns into a sneaky infield weapon, recording eight stolen bases.
If Brown is sneaky, then Derek Curiel is super sneaky, leading the team in stolen bases with 10 steals on 12 attempts. Once again, it doesn’t stop there. Curiel took his time to warm up this season, spending the first couple of weeks being sent back to the dugout, frustrated.
But the walks of shame are over. He’s back.
He’s on a 10-game hitting streak, with the last six games giving him a batting average above .500 and adding three home runs to his season total. To really put his momentum into perspective, he has 36 RBI this season. 18 of them have come in the last nine games.
He’s not only doubling his stats from his warm-up period, but already surpassing his stats from last year with a batting average of .368 and an on-base percentage of .992.
Shortstop Steven Milam, who also had a slow start to the season, has recorded 12 of his 34 hits in the past nine games. In a recent matchup hosting Southern University, Milam added two HR to his stats, recording a season high batting average of .750.
The past couple of games haven’t just brought greatness; they’ve brought the team back. Back to who they were projected to be, to who they are known for across the nation. Putting up these numbers, starting with just one player, gave the rest of the team a sense of momentum. Momentum that has yet to slow down.
This weekend, the No. 24 Tigers will travel to Oxford, kicking off a weekend series against the No. 25 Rebels with a loss. The historical performance in Knoxville proved they can pack this momentum up and take them with them. Can they do it again this weekend?
