LSU Gold

#52 Ma'Khail Hilliard Season 2024

Position
Right-Handed Pitcher
Height
6'0
Weight
150
Class
5th-year Senior
Hometown
Central, La.
High School
Central HS
B/T
R-R

2022 ABCA Second-Team All-South Region
2022 LSWA First-Team All-Louisiana
2021 LSWA Second-Team All-Louisiana
2018 Freshman All-American (Perfect Game, D1 Baseball, Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America)
2018 Freshman All-SEC
SEC Co-Freshman of the Week (April 2, 2018)
2018 LSWA Second-Team All-Louisiana

Talented pitcher who enjoyed an excellent five-season (2018-22) career at LSU … worked in LSU’s weekend starting rotation in 2018, then primarily pitched as a reliever in 2019 and 2020, and again as a starter in 2021 and 2022 … made 76 career appearances (42 starts), posting a 23-10 record and a 4.39 ERA in 252.1 innings with 80 walks and 254 strikeouts … won 14 of his final 15 LSU career decisions … won 12 consecutive career decisions before suffering a loss on May 13, 2022, vs. Ole Miss … Hilliard’s last loss prior to the 2022 Ole Miss game occurred on May 22, 2019, to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala. … Hilliard has loose arm action with a very good 12-to-6 curveball that displays a lot of bite … also has a good downhill angle with his fastball because of his overhand delivery …fastball sits in the upper 80s and touches the low 90s … capped off his high school career by leading Central High School (located just north of Baton Rouge) to the 2017 state championship.

2022 Season
Emerged at LSU’s No. 1 starting pitcher during the season, making 16 starts and recording a 7-1 mark with a 4.56 ERA in 77.0 innings with 20 walks and 73 strikeouts … LSU was 9-2 during the 2022 season in the 11 games Hilliard started against SEC opponents … started NCAA Hattiesburg Regional games vs. Kennesaw State and Southern Miss, working a combined 5.2 innings (110 pitches) with two walks and five strikeouts … earned win over Kentucky in SEC Tournament (May 26), limiting UK to two runs on four hits in 6.0 innings with two walks and six strikeouts … defeated Vanderbilt (May 19), allowing one earned run on eight hits in 5.1 IP with two walks and four strikeouts … posted win over Georgia (April 29), allowing two runs on eight hits in six innings with three walks and seven Ks … defeated Missouri on April 21, working seven innings and limiting Mizzou to two runs on seven hits, no walks, 5 Ks … delivered a solid start in April 14 game at Arkansas, working five innings and limiting the Razorbacks to one earned run on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts … worked the first six innings of Game 1 at Mississippi State (April 8), limiting the Bulldogs to two runs on 10 hits with no walks and five strikeouts … defeated Auburn on April 1, blanking the visiting Tigers during his 5.1 innings outing … Hilliard limited Auburn to no runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts … posted a win at Florida on March 26, blanking the Gators through the first five innings of his outing – Hilliard worked 5.2 innings, limiting Florida to four runs on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts … defeated Bethune-Cookman on March 13, working six shutout innings and allowing just two singles with no walks and six strikeouts – Hilliard fired 4.2 perfect innings to begin his outing before allowing a fifth-inning single.

2021 Season
Appeared in 21 games (eight starts), posting a 6-0 record and a 4.31 ERA in 54.1 innings with 12 walks, 53 strikeouts and a .225 opponent batting average … after moving into the weekend starting rotation on May 1 – when he defeated top-ranked Arkansas – Hilliard was 3-0 in seven starts with a 3.41 ERA, seven walks and 29 strikeouts in 34.1 innings … he limited opponents to a .200 batting average in that seven-game span … made two starts in the NCAA Eugene Regional — worked four innings vs. Central Connecticut State (June 5), allowing five runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts … returned two days later to start the regional championship game vs. Oregon (June 7), recording a shutout first inning with no hits and one walk … clinched LSU’s series win over Texas A&M on May 22 by limiting the Aggies to two runs on six hits in seven innings with no walks and two strikeouts … he blanked Texas A&M through the first three innings and allowed only single runs in the fourth and sixth innings … defeated Alabama (May 16), working five innings and limiting the Tide to three runs on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts … he struck out five of the first six Crimson Tide batters he faced … recorded an exceptional outing at Auburn (May 8), limiting its hitters to one run on four hits in 7.1 innings with no walks and six strikeouts … Hilliard retired 17 of the first 18 batters he faced, and he allowed just one baserunner through the first 5.2 innings of the game … defeated top-ranked Arkansas May 1 in first SEC start since 2019 … worked five innings and limited the Razorbacks to one run on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts, firing 79 pitches, 51 for strikes … earned win in starting role vs. Grambling State (April 27), recording three scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and five strikeouts … fired three relief innings in March 27 game at Tennessee, allowing one run on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts … excellent relief outing to earn a win vs. Texas Southern (March 9), recording 3.1 scoreless innings with no hits, no walks, five strikeouts … posted scoreless relief inning vs. Southern (March 3) – one hit, no walks, two strikeouts … recorded scoreless relief inning vs. Nicholls (Feb. 27) – no hits, no walks, two strikeouts.

2020 Season
Appeared in one game during the pandemic-shortened season, working one shutout inning vs. Southern on Feb. 18 … was credited with the relief win after allowing no hits with one walk and one strikeout in a 19-pitch outing.

2019 Season
Appeared in 21 games (six starts), recording an 0-4 mark and a 5.32 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 44 innings … worked 4.2 relief innings vs. Mississippi State (May 22) in the SEC Tournament, allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and a season-high eight strikeouts … solid outing in a start against Ole Miss (May 3), working four innings and limiting the Rebels to two runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts … effective in a relief outing at Alabama, allowing one run on one hit in three innings with one walk and four strikeouts … recorded five strikeouts in 4.1 innings at Missouri (April 14), having to come off the bench in the first inning to replace starter Zack Hess after Hess suffered a pulled groin muscle … fired three perfect innings on April 3 versus South Alabama, recording no walks and five strikeouts … recorded two shutout innings at Texas (March 3), allowing no hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

2018 Season
Appeared in 17 games (12 starts), posting a 9-5 record and a 3.79 ERA in 76.0 innings with 31 walks and 70 strikeouts … finished the season No. 6 in the SEC in wins with nine … began his collegiate career by firing 17 consecutive scoreless innings; did not allow a run until the first inning of a start vs. Missouri on March 18 … defeated Auburn on May 18, outdueling Casey Mize, the No. 1 selection in the 2018 MLB Draft … Hilliard limited Auburn to two runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts, firing 97 pitches … defeated fifth-ranked Ole Miss (April 27), limiting the Rebels to one run on four hits through seven innings with three walks and six strikeouts, leading LSU to a 5-2 win … he allowed one run against Ole Miss in the bottom of the first inning and then fired six straight shutout innings to complete his outing, firing 107 pitches; Hilliard retired 16 of the final 19 batters he faced, including the last seven in a row … posted a win over Tennessee on April 14, working six innings and limiting the Vols to three runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts … named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on April 2 after delivering a brilliant outing on March 31 versus Mississippi State, firing six shutout innings and allowing just three hits with two walks and a career-high nine strikeouts … pitched brilliantly on March 25 at Vanderbilt, but suffered a 1-0 loss in a seven-inning game – pitched six innings, limiting the Commodores to one run on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts; Vanderbilt’s only run scored on a passed ball … defeated Missouri on March 18 in his first career SEC start, working six innings … Hilliard gave up two runs in the first inning to end his consecutive scoreless innings streak at 17, but he then blanked Mizzou over the next five innings … Hilliard fired 91 pitches in the outing and limited Missouri to two runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts … earned a win on March 11 in his first collegiate start, defeating Hawaii by working 5.1 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Prior to LSU
Three-time all-district pitcher at Central High School; led the Wildcats to the 2017 state championship … 2017 Baton Rouge Metro Player of the Year … 2017 first-team all-state and all-metro selection … participated in the 2017 Louisiana High School Athletic Association All-Star game … posted a 7-4 record and a 1.09 ERA in his senior season, allowing just nine earned runs in 57.2 innings … recorded 30 walks and 71 strikeouts … fired a three-hitter in Central High’s state semifinal win over Sam Houston High.

Personal
Full name is Ma’Khail Johnathan Hilliard … parents are Keith and Lisa Hilliard … has two older siblings, Jabori and Christian … on choosing to attend LSU – “I love the atmosphere, the coaches and the chance that I have to become a better baseball player.” … majoring in interdisciplinary studies at LSU … born August 25, 1998, in Baton Rouge, La.

Hilliard’s LSU Career Highs
Innings: 7.1 at Auburn (5/18/18); at Auburn (5/8/21)
Strikeouts: 9 vs. Mississippi State (3/31/18)
Hits Allowed: 10 twice, most recently at Mississippi State (4/8/22)
Runs: 8 at South Carolina (4/21/18)
Earned Runs: 8 at South Carolina (4/21/18)
Walks: 5 vs. Alabama (5/12/18)

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