BATON ROUGE — First baseman Jason Columbus, the 2001 national junior college home run leader, has signed a letter-of-intent with the LSU baseball program.
Columbus, a product of New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N.M., will enroll at LSU in August, and he will be eligible to play in the 2002 season.
Columbus, a 6-5, 230-pound native of Alamogordo, N.M., led all junior college players last season with 21 home runs. The right-handed batter collected 64 RBI while hitting .453 on the year, and he earned JUCO all-America honors. He was a 48th-round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2001, 1454th overall.
An honor roll student in both high school and junior college, Columbus plans to major in business at LSU.