Bayou Brew 6/5: Better Call Paul

Good morning. LSU had 10 hits in last night’s victory over Oregon State. Five of them were home runs. The math is certainly mathin’ this Monday morning—scroll on down for all the highlights from NCAA Regionals so far and get ready for this afternoon’s final.

First Things First: Speaking of home runs, we were gifted yet another Breggy Bomb this weekend as Alex Bregman knocked the cover off the baseball for his fifth-career grand slam.

What all are we mixing into today's Brew?

⚾️ Better Call Paul
🥇 Incoming Tigers win gold at FIBA 3×3 Championship
🐯 And much, much more!

Round ‘em up. The Tigers are still alive in NCAA Regional play—what better time to catch up on all things LSU Baseball on LSU GOLD?

🎥 Cade Beloso exhibits his resilience after missing nearly the entire 2022 season because of a knee injury, opens up about the mental struggles he faced as a result, and shares his compassion for the sport and for his team.

🎥 Hear the full story from Paul Skenes as he discusses everything from his decision to transfer to LSU, reveals distinctive coaching techniques, the pranks he and his teammates pull on each other, and what it's like to wear the same jersey as Dylan Crews.

🎥 Catch up on all four episodes of The Powerhouse, an inside look at LSU Baseball’s season and their journey towards another trip to Omaha.

🎥 On a special episode of Tigers Win, Rob Friedman—otherwise known as the Pitching Ninja—joins us inside the Film Room to break down the best pitcher in college baseball, Paul Skenes.

🔼 Better Call Paul. One win came from a complete game from the best pitcher in college baseball. One win came after we almost lost track of how many home runs the Tigers hit. One NCAA Regional final on tap.

🐯 LSU 7, Tulane 2

Right-hander Paul Skenes tossed a career-high nine innings and tallied 12 strikeouts to lift the No. 5 national seed LSU Tigers to an opening-round 7-2 victory over Tulane in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

🎥 Capping off a nine-pitch first inning as he strikes out Tulane looking? (We should have known this would be Paul Skenes’ day after that one.)

🎥 Paul Skenes can do it all, folks—including this catch between the legs to turn the double play.

🔥 He threw 124 pitches. His 124th pitch went 101 miles per hour. That’s just Paul Skenes, y’all.

🐯 LSU 6, Oregon State 5

LSU rightfielder Brayden Jobert launched a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the No. 5 national seed to a 6-5 victory over Oregon State Sunday night at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

Jobert’s homer was one of five dingers for LSU, which advanced to the regional championship round with last night’s win.

🚀 Dylan Crews launched his 16th dinger of the season—a two-run shot that kept the Tigers in the game in the fourth inning.

🚀 Hayden Travinski hit his ninth homer of the season into the left field bleachers and Cade Beloso made it back-to-back homers with a dinger to right field. LSU entered the bottom of the fifth down one run and exited with the lead.

🔼  You Lith Me Up. Hailey Van Lith led Team USA in their 16-12 win over France in the FIBA 3×3 championship to claim the gold medal this past weekend. With the win, the top-rated in this year’s transfer portal is now a five-time USA Basketball gold medalist (5-on-5 and 3×3). This was her second time playing with the senior team and it marks her first gold medal at that level.

Team USA made it out of pool play dropping only one game—its opener against Canada—before reeling off seven wins in a row to claim gold. The incoming Tiger led the squad in scoring in three games. In the championship game, she finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds, and through the tournament she averaged 6.3 points.

⏪ ICYMI: Hailey Van Lith will be entering her first season at LSU after joining the defending national champions as the top player in this year’s transfer portal.

Competing and completing. Over the weekend, Paul Skenes recorded the Tigers' first complete nine-inning game in over two years. The last time that happened was against Ole Miss in 2021.

Who was the pitcher?

Think you got it? Scroll to the bottom of this email for the answer. 

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Monday 6/5

⚾️ Baseball vs. Oregon State at NCAA Regionals @ 1:00pm CT on ESPN+ | Watch Live | Listen Live

⚾️ Baseball vs. Oregon State at NCAA Regionals @ 5:00pm CT on ESPN+ | Watch Live | Listen Live (if necessary)

Tuesday 6/6

No events scheduled

Wednesday 6/7

👟 Men’s Track & Field at NCAA Outdoor Men’s Championships (Day 1) @ 2:30pm CT on ESPNU | Watch Live

Thursday 6/8

👟 Women’s Track & Field at NCAA Outdoor Women’s Championships (Day 1) @ 3:30pm CT on ESPN2 | Watch Live

Friday 6/9

⚾️ Baseball @ NCAA Super Regionals @ TBD

👟 Men’s Track & Field at NCAA Outdoor Men’s Championships (Day 2) @ 7:30pm CT on ESPN2 | Watch Live

Saturday 6/10

⚾️ Baseball @ NCAA Super Regionals @ TBD

👟 Women’s Track & Field at NCAA Outdoor Women’s Championships (Day 2) @ 7:30pm CT on ESPN2 | Watch Live

Sunday 6/11

⚾️ Baseball @ NCAA Super Regionals @ TBD

Answer: AJ Labas

LSU junior right-hander AJ Labas fired a complete game on April 23, 2021 as the Tigers defeated ninth-ranked Ole Miss by a score of 7-2.

Fun Fact: The two most recent complete games in LSU Baseball history have ended with the Tigers winning 7-2.

Have a great Monday, y'all.