Yes, believe it or not, college baseball is not as far off as you might think. We’re starting our looks at college baseball teams heading into the 2026 fall season, a preparation for the upcoming 2027 campaign. The LSU Tigers headed into 2026 with championship aspirations. But after falling well short of expectations, the 2027 roster is set to have some newcomers, plus some very notable returning players.
The Returnees
LSU returns several notable pitchers from the 2026 team, including William Schmidt, Cooper Moore, and Casan Evans.
Moore pitched very well when healthy last season, as he struck out 39 over 32 innings in a shortened six-start year. Manager Jay Johnson indicated in September that he had elbow surgery late last year and has progressed well to this point, a positive sign as the Tigers move closer to 2027.
Both Evans and Schmidt were strikeout machines for the Tigers in 2026, even though the results may not have been there on paper in terms of ERA. Schmidt, who is a prototypical power pitcher with a mid-90s fastball, slider, and death-ball-like curveball, had 85 strikeouts.
As for Evans, whom Johnson spoke glowingly about how he handled himself physically, he struck out a team-high 89 batters. It’s an experienced pitching staff, one that also returned other notables like Zion Theophilius, Reagan Ricken, and Danny Lachenmeyer.
Moving to the hitters, Steven Milam and Cade Arrambide are among the notable hitters who returned from 2027.
Miliam is the big name. Part of the 2025 national title team, Milam had a career-high .417 on-base percentage for LSU, and tied a career-high in home runs (11). He could have gone pro in the 2026 MLB Draft, and likely would have been a Day 2 pick given the tools he brings. But for LSU, the Tigers get back one of their sparkplugs from the past few seasons.
Arrambide, meanwhile, hit a team-high 18 home runs last season for LSU. It’s complicated mathematics with Arrambide, who had some very loud games last season during SEC play. But the Tigers also know full well what comes with his approach. He struck out a team-high 63 times, continuing a trend that showed up in the Cape back in 2025.
Joining Arrambide on the catcher depth chart is Omar Serna Jr., who batted over .300 last season as a freshman.
The Newcomers
LSU has made strong work in the transfer portal over the past few years. That was no different during the summer of 2026.
Jay Johnson added several potent hitters to replace the big pieces, like Derek Curiel and Jake Brown, from 2026. One of those new additions is former Tulane outfielder Jason Wachs. Last season, Wachs batted .327 and led the Green Wave in home runs (9) and RBI (54).
Wachs will be joined by, arguably, the big add from the transfer portal: Bino Watters. Watters was a monster in the ACC for Notre Dame last year. He batted .362 with 10 home runs and 31 extra-base hits for the Irish in 2026.
Cade Kurland, meanwhile, is a very familiar name in the SEC circle. Kurland was a high-profile name with Florida, as he hit 31 home runs in his first two seasons with the Gators in 2023 and 2024. However, he missed most of 2025, plus a good chunk of 2026.
Junior Dawson Park batted .301 with a .387 on-base percentage with Texas State, and also hit 13 home runs in 2026.
Moving on to the pitchers, Landon Hood was part of a two-headed monster atop the Gonzaga pitching staff in 2026. Hood worked mostly in relief last season but wound up finishing second on the team in strikeouts, with 78 over 54 frames. Low-to-mid-90s fastball that ran up to 96-97 MPH. Plus, a changeup with a 10+ MPH difference off the heater.
As for the freshmen, there are aplenty of them on the team, including Malachi Washington, Nate Davis-Cleary, two-way player Lucas Nawrocki, Jordan Martinez, Dominic Santarelli, and Braydon Wisener.
Arguably, the biggest addition among that group of freshmen was Logan Schmidt, who was a second-round pick by the Guardians this past July. A live arm who reached the mid-90s in college, he spurned Cleveland to head to Baton Rouge.
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