BATON ROUGE, La. – For the third time since July, the LSU baseball recruiting class has received a No. 1 ranking, as the class was named Wednesday by Baseball America magazine as the best in the nation.
Baseball America rates LSU’s class No. 1, followed by Virginia, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State and Florida State. LSU was also rated No. 1 by Perfect Game in July and No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball in September.
LSU’s class features seven players rated among Baseball America’s Top 500 prospects nationwide. The class includes six pitchers and five position players, and four of the new Tigers were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft.
Baseball America college beat writer Aaron Fitt wrote that LSU’s class was rated No. 1 even after the loss of pitcher Mac Marshall, who transferred to a junior college.
“So when Marshall had a change of heart in late September and withdrew from school to transfer to Chipola (Fla.) JC, the Tigers took it in stride,” Fitt wrote. “Not many recruiting classes could withstand a blow like that, but LSU’s incredibly deep class still ranks as college baseball’s best.”
The pitchers in LSU’s top-ranked class are right-hander Alex Lange of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) High School; left-hander Jake Latz of Lemont (Ill.) High School; right-hander Jake Godfrey of Providence Catholic High in New Lenox, Ill.; right-hander Doug Norman of Ardrey Kell High in Charlotte, N.C.; right-hander Collin Strall of Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College; and right-hander Austin Bain of Dutchtown High in Geismar, La.
The position players are catcher Mike Papierski of Lemont (Ill.) High School; infielder Greg Deichmann of Brother Martin High in New Orleans, La.; infielder Grayson Byrd of King’s Ridge Christian High in Alpharetta, Ga.; and twin brothers Beau Jordan (outfielder) and Bryce Jordan (catcher/infielder) of Barbe High in Lake Charles, La.
The new Tigers and their veteran teammates are engaged in fall practice sessions through early November as LSU prepares for the 2015 season. The season starts on February 13 when the Tigers play host to Kansas in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.