NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In July 2023, the Texas Rangers drafted a left-handed pitcher from Sulphur.
For many LSU baseball fans, this was their introduction to Jake Brown, another high school signee from in-state who decided to pass up Major League Baseball for LSU baseball. Perhaps there was a thought that he could provide more versatility and depth to the bullpen in 2024.
Little did they know that Brown would turn into a star … at the plate.
Brown smashed his 11th home run on Sunday at Charles Hawkins Field, a decisive three-run shot in the seventh inning that helped LSU salvage the final game of its opening Southeastern Conference series against Vanderbilt. The Tigers won 16-9, scoring five runs in the seventh and eighth to pull away from the Commodores.
“Just find a way to win today. Take all that (other) stuff out of it,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “We have good players. It’s important to them. And it didn’t really matter how, just kind of find a way. And we’re very much about the process and how we play, (but) I want them to keep growing up.”
Brown only needed 15 games to match his homer total from last season (eight). He surpassed that mark on Tuesday, and his blast on Sunday was his third homer in four games. LSU was hoping the junior would take a step forward in 2026 as a middle-of-the-order presence, but few could have anticipated this sort of leap.
But not Johnson.
“I thought he could make an impact as a freshman; he did,” Johnson said. “And he’s such an athlete that his development has really skyrocketed. He’s one of the best players in the country.”
His exploits at the plate also transitioned to the field on Sunday. With LSU (14-7, 1-2 SEC) leading by just two runs in the seventh inning, Brown sprinted in from right field to make a diving catch that ended the inning and saved a run. He then returned to the batter’s box in the top of the eighth and sliced a two-run single into left field that handed the Tigers a 13-9 lead.
“I’m just way more comfortable up there,” Brown said. “This is my third year doing this. I’ve had a lot of at-bats, a lot of big-time games that I’ve been fortunate enough to play in. And so it’s just experience.”
A two-run single from sophomore Cade Arrambide and a run-scoring single from freshman Omar Serna stretched LSU’s advantage to seven, putting the game out of reach. Along with Brown, Arrambide and senior Chris Stanfield also finished with multiple hits.
“I just think that we’ve been putting a lot of hard work in the cages and working on (ourselves) in games,” Arrambide said. “I think this week was a good weekend because it just started to click a little bit (offensively). (We) started to see the ball a little bit better, and it’s just a lot of hard work that has been going into it.”
The Tigers’ big seventh inning snapped them out of a four-inning skid in which they couldn’t hold onto a 6-1 lead. They gave up four runs in the fifth and a solo homer in the sixth that tied the score.
Two of those runs were charged to sophomore right-hander William Schmidt. In his first career start in SEC play, the Baton Rouge native struck out six batters, but he also gave up three earned runs in just four innings to Vanderbilt (13-8, 2-1)
He started the fifth, but allowed a solo home run and a walk to start the inning. Two pitches into the second at-bat, LSU coach Jay Johnson and athletic trainer Isaac Trujillo met with Schmidt on the mound, a possible sign that he had suffered some kind of injury. But he stayed in the game and tossed two more balls before Johnson took him out for sophomore right-hander Mavrick Rizy.
Johnson said afterwards that Schmidt was dealing with back tightness and believed he could’ve stayed in the game despite it.
“He just started to miss up in the zone, and I thought he was protecting it a little bit,” Johnson said. “That guy’s health is the key to my life for the next 18 months. So it just wasn’t really worth it.”
LSU returns home to face Grambling on Tuesday. The first pitch at Alex Box Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be available to stream on SEC Network+.
