BATON ROUGE — Former LSU baseball player Johnnie Thibodeaux died early Friday morning in Lake Charles from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was 28.
Thibodeaux, a Lake Charles native, was a four-year letterman for the Tigers from 1997-2001, and he played on LSU’s 1997 and 2000 national championship squads.
“All of us in the LSU family express our heartfelt condolences to the Thibodeaux family,” said LSU athletics director Skip Bertman, who coached Thibodeaux during his collegiate playing career. “Johnnie was a first-class young man, and everyone at LSU has been touched by this tragedy.”
Thibodeaux played in 135 games (65 starts) for the Tigers as a third baseman and outfielder, recording a .267 career batting average (67-for-251) with 15 doubles, eight homers and 49 RBI.
Thibodeaux’s best season came in 2000, when he batted .312 with 10 doubles and 14 RBI. He was named to the 2000 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team, batting .667 (4-for-6) in three games with three doubles and five RBI.
Thibodeaux, a product of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, was an all-state third baseman, and he earned all-district honors as a wide receiver for the football team.
Visitation and Funeral Arrangements for Johnnie P. Thibodeaux Jr.
Sunday, June 19
Visitation at Johnson’s Funeral Home in Lake Charles (4321 Lake Street), 4 p.m.
Monday, June 20
Visitation at Johnson’s Funeral Home in Lake Charles (4321 Lake Street), 8 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Funeral Service at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church in Lake Charles (3939 Lake Street), 11 a.m.