The second national top 25 poll in college baseball dropped on Monday, as D1 Baseball unveiled its preseason rankings. The SEC was once again well represented with four of the top five teams led by Texas A&M at No. 1 and LSU at No. 3. Virginia slid in between the Aggies and Tigers to round out the top three.
Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oregon State, Georgia, Florida State and Florida rounded out the top 10. No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 19 Texas are the other SEC teams in this top 25.
The SEC schedule will be challenging and fans will also see some good out-of-state contests. LSU will play 17 games in the 2025 regular season against teams ranked in the D1 Baseball Preseason Top 25, including 15 SEC games. Add in a February 26 matchup with No. 20 Dallas Baptist at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and a March 1 contest versus No. 24 Nebraska at the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas, and it shows the Tigers have a difficult path to get back to Omaha.
The Tigers feature seven returning position players with starting experience at LSU, including senior shortstop Michael Braswell III, senior outfielder Josh Pearson, junior first baseman Jared Jones, junior outfielder Ethan Frey, sophomore second baseman Steven Milam, sophomore outfielder Ashton Larson, and sophomore outfielder/left-handed pitcher Jake Brown.
The pitching staff contains six veteran hurlers who have recorded innings at LSU, including junior right-hander Gavin Guidry, junior right-hander Kade Woods, sophomore right-hander Chase Shores, sophomore right-hander Jaden Noot, sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson and sophomore left-hander DJ Primeaux.
In addition to the veterans, Jay Johnson’s class of newcomers includes 12 NCAA Division I transfers, four JUCO transfers and 10 high school signees.
Nine LSU players were ranked in August among Baseball America magazine’s Top 100 College Transfers, and 11 Tigers appeared in the Baseball America Top 500 Prospects list for the 2024 MLB Draft.
The Top 100 College Transfers list included LSU junior infielder Daniel Dickinson (No. 2), junior right-handed pitcher Anthony Eyanson (No. 4), sophomore right-handed pitcher Deven Sheerin (No. 8), junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Mayers (No. 17), junior right-handed pitcher Chandler Dorsey (No. 22), junior right-hander pitcher Zac Cowan (No. 23), senior utility player Luis Hernandez (No. 32), senior outfielder/left-hander pitcher Dalton Beck (No. 34) and junior outfielder Chris Stanfield (No. 79).
The Top 500 Prospects for the 2024 MLB Draft included LSU freshman right-handed pitcher William Schmidt (No. 22), freshman right-handed pitcher Casan Evans (No. 100), freshman catcher Cade Arrambide (No. 125), freshman infielder Mikey Ryan (No. 139), junior outfielder Chris Stanfield (No. 154), freshman left-handed pitcher Cooper Williams (No. 257), freshman right-handed pitcher Mavrick Rizy (No. 263), freshman first baseman Ryan Costello (No. 346), freshman outfielder John Pearson (No. 356), freshman infielder David Hogg II (No. 358), and junior left-handed pitcher Conner Ware (No. 482).
LSU holds its first full-squad preseason practice on Friday, January 24, and the Tigers open the 2025 season at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, February 14, when they play host to Purdue Fort Wayne in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
2025 D1 Baseball Preseason Poll
(* – indicates 2025 LSU regular season opponent)
- Texas A&M *
- Virginia
- LSU
- Tennessee *
- Arkansas *
- North Carolina
- Oregon State
- Georgia
- Florida State
- Florida
- Duke
- Oregon
- North Carolina State
- Wake Forest
- Clemson
- Vanderbilt
- Oklahoma State
- Mississippi State *
- Texas *
- Dallas Baptist *
- Arizona
- UC Santa Barbara
- TCU
- Nebraska *
- Troy
