LSU Baseball to Start Landon Marceaux in SEC Tournament Opener Against Georgia
After fatigue kept him from having his usual outing against Texas A&M, pitcher Landon Marceaux says he's back to 100% and is ready to help lead the No. 9 seeded Tigers to a win Tuesday in a single elimination matchup against No. 8 Georgia.
Marceaux will earn the start against the Bulldogs coach Paul Mainieri confirmed while meeting with the media in a must win situation for the purple and gold to remain in Hoover.
"I didn't feel well but that one day is behind me and I'm ready to go tomorrow," Marceaux said.
"We've been monitoring how he's been feeling the last few days and he's been feeling pretty good," coach Paul Mainieri said. "He tells me he's 100%, he's been throwing the last three days. He wants the ball badly so I'm not gonna prevent that from happening."
Having the LSU ace available for the elimination game against Georgia gives Mainieri a big boost of confidence heading into the Tuesday afternoon matchup. There is a little more uncertainty around closer Devin Fontenot being available as Mainieri revealed he's dealing with a minor physical ailment that could keep him from pitching.
It was a big afternoon for the LSU baseball team as a number of high profile players earned All-SEC honors, including Tre Morgan, Dylan Crews and Landon Marceaux, who all earned second-team honors. Morgan, Crews and shortstop Jordan Thompson were named to the All-Freshman team while Morgan earned a third honor on the All-Defensive team.
Morgan batted .362 with five home runs and 36 RBI as the primary leadoff hitter for the purple and gold in 2021 while also fielding 98.9% of plays hit or thrown his way. Crews batted .353 for the regular season to go along with 13 home runs and 36 RBI, proving to be a vital five tool player for the Tigers throughout his freshman season.
"Of course it was awesome, those were some goals I had, making those teams, but as soon as I got those awards I knew that the work started," Morgan said. "Now we have to play like every game's our last."
Marceaux on the mound was simply one of the most consistent pitchers in the entire conference, firing a career low 2.04 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 14 starts for the purple and gold.
The one award in which many pegged Crews or Morgan for was Freshman of the Year, an honor that wound up going to Vanderbilt's Enrique Bradfield Jr., who batted .366 for the Commodores this season. All in all, what these awards prove is that the very best is yet to come for a young LSU team with already a ton of star power.