LSU baseball did not repeat as national champions in 2024.
The Tigers' season came to a close on June 3 in crushing fashion against North Carolina in the final game of the Chapel Hill regional.
LSU was two outs away from winning the regional and advancing to a super regional, but allowed a run that tied up the score before eventually losing the game in the 10th inning.
The crushing end to the season signals the start of changes to LSU's roster for 2025. Here's what LSU baseball has done in the transfer portal this offseason.
Who's in?
Anthony Eyanson, RHP — Eyanson was invited to play with the U.S. Collegiate National Team this summer after recording a 3.07 ERA in 82 innings for UC San Diego this past season. He features a fastball that's up to 97 mph and a sharp slider. This upcoming season will be his junior year.
Daniel Dickinson, INF — Dickinson was a star middle infielder/third baseman in two seasons at Utah Valley State, blasting 18 home runs this past season and posting a 1.085 on-base plus slugging percentage during his time with the Wolverines. This summer he's playing on the U.S. Collegiate National Team.
Connor Benge, RHP — Benge started his career at LSU Eunice, then transferred to Dallas Baptist, where he posted a 5.73 ERA and tallied 35 strikeouts in 33 innings of work. The right-hander from Montgomery, Texas, has two years of eligibility left. LSU will be his third school in three years.
Dalton Beck, DH/LHP/OF — Beck has bounced around from Grayson College to Kansas State to Incarnate Word and now, to LSU, a source confirmed Wednesday. Last season, he led the Southland Conference in slugging percentage, (.733), hits (89), RBIs (67) and home runs (18).
Jacob Mayers, RHP — Mayers has struck out at least 12 batters per nine innings in each of the last two seasons as a starter for Nicholls State. He now transfers to LSU after posting a 4.58 ERA this past season and a 2.02 ERA the year before.
Eddie Yamin, 1B/C/OF — Yamin blasted 13 home runs and had a 1.038 OPS in 52 games for Dayton this season. He now transfers to LSU as a versatile bat with power from the right side. He has experience at first base, catcher and right field in college.
Chris Stanfield, OF — Stanfield is a draft-eligible sophomore, but can be a solution for LSU in center field if he decides to stay in school for another year. He hit seven home runs in two seasons at Auburn, playing 52 games in center this past season.
Luke Hayden, RHP — Hayden could decide to take his career to the professional ranks, but if he chooses one more year of college, then he'll give LSU a veteran arm with starting experience. The senior right-hander started 16 games last season at Indiana State, where he struck out 91 batters and posted a 3.81 ERA.
Deven Sheerin, RHP — The towering 6-foot-5, 245-pound righty wrapped up his freshman season at Mount St. Mary's, entered the portal and committed to LSU, where he figures to find some work out the bullpen. Last season, Sheerin struck out 109 batters in the 70 innings he threw. He has three more years of eligibility.
Zac Cowan, RHP — Cowan was Wofford's ace starter this season, posting a 3.35 ERA in 110 innings for the Terriers. According to a source, he commits to LSU to help sure up the Tigers' starting pitching staff in 2025. He also tossed three complete games and had more strikeouts than innings pitched in 2024.
Note: A previous report from D1Baseball indicated that Wofford RHP Camden Wicker was committed to LSU. The Advocate has since learned that Wicker is not committed to the Tigers.
Luis Hernandez, INF — Hernandez could help address LSU's need for power hitting. The rising senior from Puerto Rico who started his career at Indiana State hit .359 as a junior, tallying 23 home runs, 76 RBIs and 14 extra-base hits. He's started games as a catcher, first baseman and designated hitter throughout his career.
Chandler Dorsey, RHP — Dorsey posted a 3.60 ERA in 30 innings for South Florida this past season before transferring to LSU. He struck out 12 batters per nine innings and had eight saves last season for the Bulls.
Trevor Schmidt, 1B/OF — Schmidt is a junior college transfer from Fullerton College. He posted a .343 batting average with 13 home runs this past season for the Hornets. He began his college career at Arizona in 2023 and redshirted before transferring to Fullerton.
Blaise Priester, C — Priester began his collegiate career at LSU but transferred to Meridian Community College after not appearing in a game for the Tigers in 2022. He blasted 10 homers with a .465 on-base percentage in 2023 before hitting .377 with 14 homers this year.
Tanner Reaves, INF — Reaves hit 20 homers with a .498 OBP with Blinn College last season. This year, he hit .374 with eight homers and a .577 slugging percentage while guiding Blinn to the junior college world series. Reaves had a scholarship to come to LSU in 2024 but passed it up for a chance to return to Blinn.
Daniel Harden, OF — Harden posted a .274 batting average and .414 OBP in 61 games for McLennan Community College this season. He attended Catholic Baton Rouge High and was the No. 17 outfielder in Louisiana's 2023 class, according to Perfect Game.
Conner Ware, LHP — Ware has posted ERA's under 2.00 in each of the last two seasons at Pearl River Community College. He was a Class of 2022 recruit and attended Germantown High.
Who's out?
Ryan Kucherak, INF — Kucherak had only 12 at-bats during his freshman season, and now, he's transferring from LSU, a source confirmed. The rising true sophomore was a top-500 national recruit in the 2023 class, according to Perfect Game, and the second-best shortstop from Arizona.
Thatcher Hurd, RHP — Hurd was the winning pitcher of 2023 College World Series championship game, but he struggled to find consistent work in the LSU rotation the following season. Now he's in the portal, according to On3, in search of a place to pitch in case he slides in the MLB draft. He transferred to LSU from UCLA in 2022.
Justin Loer, LHP — Loer is back in the portal after transferring to LSU from Xavier for his junior year. The 6-foot-5 lefty reliever posted a 5.92 ERA in 24⅓ innings of work last season, and he was invited to participate in this year's MLB draft combine.
Brady Neal, C (Alabama) — Neal entered the portal and transferred to Alabama after starting for parts of the past two seasons. He hit nine home runs and posted a .276 batting average this past year. He arrived at LSU as the No. 29 player in the nation in the Class of 2022, according to Perfect Game.
Javen Coleman, LHP — Coleman entered the transfer portal following two and a half healthy seasons at LSU. He had a memorable performance at the Eugene regional in 2021 before suffering an injury and undergoing Tommy John surgery at the beginning of 2022. He missed the first half of 2023 before returning and posting a 7.07 ERA on the year. This past season, he had a 5.19 ERA in 26 innings.
Paxton Kling, OF (Penn State) — Kling started for LSU in the outfield for stretches of his freshman and sophomore years. He transferred to Penn State after posting five home runs and a .402 on-base percentage in 118 games played at LSU. He was the No. 19 player in the country in the Class of 2022, per Perfect Game.
Sam Dutton, RHP (Auburn) — Dutton started 11 games as a freshman right-handed pitcher in 2022. He then posted a 7.97 ERA as a sophomore and a 5.86 ERA in 20 appearances as a junior this past year before entering the portal in June. Dutton was the No. 5 pitcher in Alabama in the Class of 2021, according to Perfect Game.
Aiden Moffett, RHP (Texas) — Moffett earned a greater role in LSU's bullpen this season after appearing in just one game as a freshman in 2023. He posted a 5.60 ERA in 17⅔ innings for the Tigers this year. He was the No. 1 right-handed pitcher in Mississippi in the Class of 2022, according to Perfect Game.
Micah Bucknam, RHP (Dallas Baptist) — Bucknam posted an 11.57 ERA in seven appearances as a freshman a year ago before having a 7.00 ERA in nine innings this season. He pitched in three SEC games in 2024, arriving at LSU as the No. 3 right-handed pitcher in British Columbia in the Class of 2022, according to Perfect Game.
Cam Johnson, LHP (Oklahoma) — Johnson — who was the No. 42 high school prospect entering this season, according to MLB Pipeline — battled wildness early in the season and never found traction for the Tigers. He walked 16 batters and threw four wild pitches in only nine innings, yielding 12 earned runs off of only five hits.
Nic Bronzini, LHP — According to Perfect Game, Bronzini was one of the nation's 20 best lefties in the 2022 recruiting class. But he never found consistent work in the LSU rotation: He redshirted his freshman season, then threw only 4⅔ innings across six appearances in 2023-2024.
Zeb Ruddell, OF (Louisiana Tech) — The Neville High product entered the portal and landed at Louisiana Tech after recording two hits on just 10 at-bats during the 2023-2024 season, his redshirt freshman year. Ruddell was the third-ranked Louisiana native in the 2022 recruiting class, according to Perfect Game, and the state's top outfield prospect.
Derrick Mitchell, OF — Mitchell entered the portal, per D1Baseball, after redshirting this past season. He was the No. 5 outfielder in Texas and the No. 187 player in the country in the 2023 class, per Perfect Game.
Austen Roellig, SS (Utah) — Roellig redshirted this past season for the Tigers, and now, he's headed to Utah. The middle infielder was the No. 11 shortstop in California in the Class of 2023, according to Perfect Game.
