LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri had plenty to smile about after Wednesday night’s baseball game at the Box. Blake Dean and Leon Landry both smashed homers over the walls of Alex Box Stadium as LSU crushed their fellow Baton Rougers, the Southern Jaguars, with a final score of 11-5.

The win brought the #1 ranked baseball Tigers’ record to 4-0.

After making their way to Omaha last year for the College World Series, the Tigers have had high expectation placed on their shoulders by both fans and college baseball experts alike.

Last year in the CWS, the Tigers lost their first game to North Carolina and then went to the losers bracket. There they played Rice and it looked as if Rice would beat them until the Tigers made a comeback in the bottom of the ninth with leftfielder Blake Dean banging a ball into the wall sending three runs in. The Tigers had been down 5-0 at one point in that game. They then lost again to North Carolina which sent them back to Baton Rouge.

“Voice of the Tigers” Jim Hawthorne Calls Blake Dean’s Game-Winning Hit—–Audio

2008 College World Series Highlights

After senior quarterback Matt Flynn headed for the pros after the 2007 national championship year, Ryan Perriloux was ready to step into the starting role. He had been widely recruited in high school and was considered an expert at running the “option” play.

Then he got into trouble.

He missed team meetings and broke team rules and eventually he was thrown off of the team by head coach Les Miles, he then transferred to Jacksonville State in Alabama.

This caused light to be shed on two players who hadn’t figured on starting for awhile, barring injuries. Jarrett Lee had been great in high school and Andrew Hatch had recently transferred to LSU from Harvard.

When the season started, both got playing time until Hatch suffered a concussion in the game at Auburn, Lee was placed at the top of the depth chart. Lee was wildly inconsistent, throwing “pick sixes” in every game in seemed.

He suffered an ankle injury late in the season and true freshman Jordan Jefferson (above) was then thrown into the starting role.

LSU lost the last two games of the season, but in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Jefferson led the Tigahs to a thumping of the favorite, Georgia Tech.

With the recruitment and signing of the top quarterback in the nation, Russell Shepard, many Tigers fans are wondering who will be under center when the Tigers head up to Husky Stadium in Seattle for their meeting with the Washington Huskies on September the 5th.

It looks as if Hatch will be going back to Harvard and a rumor is going around that Lee may try to transfer to a smaller school, which will will free up the depth chart even more.

Russell Shepard was considered the top quarterback in the nation by recruitment experts. He is 6′1, 179 lbs. and runs the 40 yard dash in 4.4 seconds. He was called a dual threat quarterback by www.rivals.com.

Besides Shepard, the Tigers will also have another true freshman quarterback on the team. Chris Garrett is 6′4, 220 lbs and runs the 40 yard dash in 4.9 seconds. He was called a pro style quarterback by Rivals.

Whoever is the starting quarterback come September, they will most certainly have some pretty good receivers to throw to considering that Brandon LaFell is returning to the team and the signing of Reuben Randle.

Oh, and by the way, LSU’s spring game will played on April 18th. Geaux Tigers!

Jordan Jefferson

Russell Shepard

Second baseman Ryan Schimpf (above) homered and reached base four other times as LSU completed its sweep of the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday with a final score of 6-3. It brings the Tigers record to 3-0.

On Saturday, the Tigers defeated the Wildcats after centerfielder Leon Landry blasted two homers out of the park bringing the final score to 11-1.

Friday evening, the Tigers opened the new Alex Box Stadium with a bang, leftfielder Blake Dean (above) lifted a three run homer over the wall to give the Tigers a 12-3 victory.

LSU gaurd Marcus Thornton (above) led the Tigers in scoring once again after he scored 25 points as the #23 ranked Tigers beat the Auburn Tigers, 79-72. Overall, the Tigers are 23-4 and 11-1 in SEC play after dropping a game to the Alabama Crimson Tide earlier this year.

LSU remains three games ahead of Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina who are all tied for the Eastern Division lead at 8-4. LSU needs one win or losses by all three Eastern Division teams to clinch at least a tie for the conference championship. Two Tigers wins clinch the outright conference championship.

Point gaurd Bo Spencer returned from an ankle injury to score 14 points in 28 minutes. “It meant a lot. Bo was able to get us into a rhythm. He was able to back them off initially because to start the game we couldn’t stop them from scoring. Bo’s ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter really helped us tonight,” head coach Trent Johnson said after the game.

Next up, the Tigers will host Florida on ESPN on Fat Tuesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

Tonight, the LSU Tigers will open their baseball season against Villanova ranked at #1 in most national ranking lists. They will also open the new Alex Box Stadium (artists rendering above). The new stadium seats 9,200 fans.

Game 1 of the series will begin at 7:00 PM tonight, Game 2 will start at  2:00 PM on Saturday, and Game 3 will kick off at 12:00 PM Sunday. LSU returns 24 players that made significant contributions last season, including eight starters in the batting order.  Sophomore catcher Micah Gibbs, sophomore shortstop, junior outfielder Blake Dean, junior catcher/first baseman Sean Ochinko, senior infielder  Dereck Helenihi, junior outfielder Jared Mitchell and sophomore outfielder Leon Landtry all played instrumental roles in the leading the Tigers to Omaha in 2008.

LSU Men’s Basketball

LSU men’s basketball got another win Wednesday night as they came back and beat the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Tigers were at one time led by the ‘Hogs by 18 points. LSU’s record now stands at 21-4.

Nine senior LSU football players have been invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. OL Herman Johnson, DE Tyson Jackson, FB Quinn Johnson, C Brett Helms, WR Demetrius Byrd, LB Darry Beckwith, DT’s Ricky Jean-Francois and Marlon Favorite, and S Curtis Taylor will get a chance to show off their football skills for the pro scouts at the combine.

In 2007, former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell was taken first overall by the Oakland Raiders and last year, former LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was drafted fifth overall by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Since Les Miles became the head coach in 2005, LSU has put 19 players into the NFL including six first round picks.

National Signing Day 2009

For a complete list of LSU recruits as well as player bios, please visit http://www.lsusports.net, the official LSU athletics webpage.

Rueben Randle, a top rated wide receiver from Bastrop signed with LSU today. Randle is the #2 player in the 2009 class.  LSU’s recruiting class has been ranked #2 by http://www.rivals.com  behind Alabama. The Tigers also picked up the #1 rated quarterback in the nation in Russell Shepard earlier this year.

These are the football players who have signed National Letters of Intent to play football for the LSU Fightin’ Tigers as of 4:15 PM (CST).

1. Drayton Calhoun, ATH, Tucker, GA, Enrolled
2. Chris Garrett, QB, Tupelo, MS, Enrolled
3. Derek Helton, P, Fort Scott, KS, Enrolled
4. Kevin Minter, LB, Suwanee, GA, Enrolled
5. Russell Shepard, QB, Houston, TX, Enrolled
6. Michael Ford, RB Leesville, LA, 8:08am
7. Stavion Lowe, OT, Brownwood, Texas, 8:17am
8. Josh Williford, OT, Dothan, AL, 8:25am
9. Michael Brockers, DE Houston, TX, 8:30am
10. Chris Faulk, OT, Slidell, LA, 8:37am
11. Tahj Jones, LB, Sulphur, LA, 8:45am
12. Lamin Barrow, LB, Marrero, LA, 8:50am
13. Barkevious Mingo, DE, West Monroe, LA, 9:49am
14. Carneal Ainsworth, OG, Baton Rouge, LA, 9:59am
15. Josh Downs, DT Bastrop, LA, 10:05am
16. Craig Loston, S, Aldine, TX, 10:09am
17. Dominque Allen, FB, Paris, TN, 10:14am
18. Bennie Logan, DE, Coushatta, LA, 10:20am
19. Chris Davenport, DT, Mansfield, LA, 10:47am
20. Akiem Hicks, DT, Sacramento, CA (JUCO), 10:55am
21. Morris Claiborne, DB, Shreveport, LA, 11:37am
22. Josh Johns, DB, Baton Rouge, LA, 12:39pm
23. Sam Montgomery, DE, Greenwood, SC, 1:38pm
** Rueben Randle, WR, Bastrop, LA (announced he is signing with LSU!)

Rueben Randle, WR

Russell Shepard, QB

Josh Johns, DB

Sam Montgomery, DE