Scooter Hobbs column: To repeat or not repeat is the LSU question
Published 10:14 am Friday, February 13, 2026
LSU’s baseball Tigers apparently have this notion stuck in their ballcaps that the Tigers can repeat the national championship that they won last year.
And I wouldn’t put it past them, no sir.
When the most recent trophy went in the case last June, the program mantra was quickly adjusted:
Eight is not enough!
So, they’re making eyes at a Fine Nine.
That quest, noble as it is, begins Friday at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium against Milwaukee University (the Panthers, I guess they are, not the Brewers). It’s a team that finished last year 24-35, not so bad when you consider the Panthers started the season 1-14.
But that doesn’t really matter now.
With LSU baseball, even during the brief droughts, the opponent doesn’t matter. The goals, the expectations, never change.
The really amazing thing is that a true LSU repeat has happened only once — despite six other honest chances to do the back-to-back two-step.
After all, your average LSU baseball fan expects an Omaha victory lap every year, rain or shine, and often isn’t very forgiving when the vagrancies of the game don’t cooperate.
For years those spoilsports of us in the media have worked double-time, sort of taking two and hitting to right before trying to remind the LSU fandom that this notion was always a fallacy. From this foxhole alone, you’ve often been reminded that all those national championships never were as easy as Skip Bertman always made them look. Never mind five Omaha dog piles in a 10-year Bertman span from 1991-2000, often as not making walk-off theatrics look as routine as 6-4-3.
It was always a thankless job keeping expectations under harness on our end.
And now it’s worse. Now Jay Johnson has come along as head coach and, well, slick as whistle, maybe natties really aren’t that hard to come by and maybe it’s time to take a second look at …
Not to worry. We would never dare compare anybody to The Skip — not on my watch anyway. Not even if Johnson eventually becomes to Bertman what Nick Saban was to Bear Bryant.
You’d probably have to fight Johnson for that hill, regardless. He still seeks out Bertman’s wisdom and counsel multiple times a week.
He’s a lot more interested in learning from Bertman than replacing him.
Anyway, he’s not there yet.
But he’s on track.
It has taken him only four seasons to add two national championships to “The Intimidator” billboard in rightfield.
If he were to get a repeat this year — matching the one time Bertman managed it in the 1996-97 seasons — it would give him three natties in a four-year span, something even Skip never did.
And it doesn’t really seem so far-fetched. No matter that D1Baseball.com, the most reliable poll, has the defending champions ranked No. 2 behind UCLA. Not to worry — there are many polls to choose from in NCAA baseball, and several have the Tigers at the top.
Complicating things, there are 10 other Southeastern Conference teams in the D1Baseball poll’s top 25. But that’s nothing new, either.
Five of them have combined to win the last six College World Series titles.
SEC baseball isn’t SEC football, but it does Just Mean More than in any other conference.
This LSU team has more returning key contributors than usual for the sport, particularly a defending national champion.
With fewer spots for the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class, there likely will eventually be an almost embarrassing stockpile of depth. That could be a problem, but that’s for next year’s transfer portal to fret about.
For now, it’s not too soon to start thinking about that repeat.
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LSU PROJECTED LINEUP
HITTERS
1B Zach Yorke (6-2/295) R-R / TrSr. Campbell, Calif. (Grand Canyon)
Three-year starter at GCU with career numbers of .328, 32 HRs, 157 RBIs, both school records.
2B Brayden Simpson (6-1/201) R-R / TrSr. Moseley, Va. (High Point)
Transfer was third-team A-A and first-team All-Big South; last year hit .389, 22 HRs, 78 RBIs.
SS Steven Milam (5-8/185) S-R / Jr. Las Cruces, N.M. (Centennial HS)
Second-team All-SEC, hit .385 in NCAA tourney with 13 RBIs, both team highs.
3B Trent Caraway (6-2/201) R-R / TrJr. Dana Point, Calif. (Oregon State)
Transfer hit 6 HRs in NCAA tourney last year, MVP of Corvalis Regional.
C Case Arrambide (6-3/208) R-R / So. Tomball, Texas (HS)
Former Texas Gatorade HS player of the year had up and down freshman season, 4 HRs.
LF Chris Stanfield (6-2/196) R-R / TrSr. Tallahassee, Fla. (Auburn)
Hit .299 first year at LSU, and .326 was team high in SEC games; had two 4-hit games.
CF Derek Curiel (6-2/192) L-L/So. West Covina, Calif.
D1 Baseball’s national freshman of the year in ’25; Led SEC in doubles, No. 3 in walks.
RF Jake Brown (6-2/206) L-L/Jr. Sulphur (HS)
Hit .320 last year, including team-high .385 in CWS; one of fastest players on team.
DH Seth Dardar (6-2/212) L-R/ TrSr. Mandeville (Columbia/Kansas State)
Could also contend for 2B job; hit .326, 13 HRs, 32 RBIs last year at K-State.
PITCHING ROTATION
LH Casan Evans (6-2/196) R-R/So. Houston (St. Pius HS)
Excellent out of the bullpen in 2023, not so much when tried as a starter. His starting is a key.
LH Cooper Moore (6-8/252) S-R/TrJr. Bixby, Oklahoma (Kansas)
Transfer was Friday night starter at Kansas last year; not overpowering but throws strikes.
RH William Schmidt (6-4/201) R-R/So. Baton Rouge (Catholic)
Highly touted as freshmen didn’t really live up to billing despite 7-0 record, 4.73 ERA.
BULLPEN
RH Zac Cowan (6-2/208) S-R/TrSr. Blythewood, S.C. (Wofford)
Relief star last year, but had 17 starts year before at Wofford; 60 Ks in 54 innings last year.
RH Gavin Guidry (6-2/182) R-R/RJr. Lake Charles (Barbe)
Missed all of last season with injury, but looked strong in the fall. Will open season in bullpen.
RH Mavrick Rizy (6-9/251) R-R/So. Fiskdale, Mass. (Worcester Academy)
Can be dominant with 100-mph FB if he can cut down on walks.
RH Jaden Noot (6-4/244) R-R/RJr. Oak Park, Calif. (Sierra Canyon)
Came on strong at end of last year; 44 Ks in 33 innings.
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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics for the American Press. Contact him at scooter.hobbs@americanpress.com
