Logo from LSWA
Press release written by LSWA
Fresh off the program’s seventh NCAA Division I National Championship, LSU scored four of the five major awards for the 2023 Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) All-Louisiana Baseball team. The Tigers also produced a team-high of nine selections.
The major awards for the All-Louisiana team were given to LSU’s Dylan Crews (Hitter of the Year), Paul Skenes (Pitcher of the Year), Tommy White (Newcomer of the Year) and Jay Johnson (Coach of the Year). Nicholls State’s Jacob Mayers was voted as the Freshman of the Year.
The LSWA All-Louisiana Baseball Team is comprised of student-athletes from 16 universities and colleges from across the state throughout all affiliations of collegiate athletics. The team was selected through a vote conducted by the state’s baseball athletic communicators and a statewide media panel.
Crews earns his second straight LSWA Hitter of the Year award after being named the 2023 Golden Spikes Award Winner. The junior outfielder led the Tigers with a .426 batting average to go along with 18 home runs and 70 runs batted in, scoring 100 runs. He led the nation in base on balls (71), third in batting average (.426), second in hits (110), and led the nation in runs scored (100).
The Longwood, Florida native completed an impressive award haul including a second straight SEC Player of the Year recognition and was named a consensus first-team All-American. Crews received 27 of the possible 31 votes for Hitter of the Year.
Skenes also won Pitcher of the Year in convincing fashion, taking 29 votes. Skenes, the Dick Howser Trophy Winner, put together one of the most dominating single seasons on the mound in college baseball history. The junior went 13-2 on the season with a 1.69 earned run average, the second best in the NCAA this season. He would strike out 209 batters, a LSU and SEC single-season record. His postseason award haul also includes SEC Pitcher of the Year as well as being named a consensus first-team All-American.
White burst onto the scene as the North Carolina State transfer led the nation with 105 runs batted in. The third baseman produced 24 home runs this season, good for 11th nationally to go along with a .374 batting average. A first-team All-American and All-SEC selection, White is one of four players in LSU history to eclipse the 100 RBI plateau.
Mayers established himself as one of the most dominant arms in the Southland Conference, being named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. The Nicholls State ace went 9-1 on the season with a 1.93 earned run average, ranking eighth in the NCAA. He produced 105 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .197 batting average.
The Gonzales, Louisiana product earned both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors, as well as being named to virtually every Freshman All-American list while guiding Nicholls State to its first NCAA postseason appearance since 1998.
Johnson added to LSU’s baseball legacy by helping guide the Tigers to their seventh NCAA National Championship in just his second year at the helm. LSU (54-17) was ranked as the number-one team in the nation for the first 11 weeks of the season, entering the NCAA Tournament as the number-five national seed. He’s the first coach in NCAA College Baseball history to win a National Championship prior to their third season at the institution. The 54 wins are the most for LSU since 2015.
Skenes and Mayers are joined by McNeese State’s Grant Rogers and Brandon Mitchell of New Orleans as first-team pitchers. Louisiana’s Julian Brock, a second-team All-Louisiana catcher selection a season ago, is accompanied on the first-team infield by Keylon Mack (Grambling State), Brandon Mooney (Loyola-New Orleans), Tommy White (LSU) and Kyle DeBarge (Louisiana).
Crews headlines the outfield, rounded out with Ryan Major (LSU Shreveport) and Xane Washington (Nicholls State). Cade Beloso (LSU) and Ethan Bates (Louisiana Tech) are the first-team designated hitter and utility player, respectively.
Second-team pitchers include Cooper Rawls (Louisiana), Connor Benge (LSU Eunice), Ty Floyd (LSU), and Bobby Vath (LSU Shreveport). The infield is made up of catcher Jorge Corona (Louisiana Tech), first baseman Jared Jones (LSU), Tyler Bischke (Louisiana Tech), Michael Dattalo (Northwestern State), and Josh Leslie (McNeese State).
The outfielders on the second team are Tristan Moore (New Orleans), Tre’ Morgan (LSU), Teo Banks (Tulane), and Heath Hood (Louisiana). There was a fourth outfielder due to a tie between Banks and Hood. Designated hitter Tre’ Obregon III (McNeese State) and utility Logan O’Neill (Delgado CC) round out the All-Louisiana selections.