The 2018 LSU baseball season ended on a sour note to the eventual National Champions in Oregon State what turned out to be a rout but Paul Mainieri got as much as he could out of that squad.

However, 2019 is looking awfully bright as the team is returning a ton of key pieces from last year, you had a couple of players drafted but they'll return to Baton Rouge. Those guys were,  outfielders Antoine Duplantis and Zach Watson and staff ace Zack Hess. Then, there's shortstop Josh Smith and another strong starting pitcher, Eric Walker who due to injuries missed most or all of the 2018 season and appear poised to return to be healthy and ready to play.

Don't forget that this team also has the number one ranked recruiting class in college baseball coming in. Some of those youngsters coming in are top-level pitchers such as Landon Marceaux, Jaden Hill, and Cole Henry. Some position players to watch out for are, catcher CJ Willis and Mainieri is said to be high on outfielder Giovanni DiGiacamo.

Here's a breakdown of the Top 25 by Conference:

SEC: 8 teams (Louisiana State, Vanderbilt, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia)
ACC: 5 teams (North Carolina, Louisville, Florida State, NC State, Clemson)
Big 12: 4 teams (Texas Tech, Baylor, Texas Christian, Oklahoma State)
Pac-12: 3 teams (Oregon State, UCLA, Stanford)
American Athletic: 2 teams (East Carolina, Connecticut)
Big Ten: 1 team (Michigan)
Big West: 1 team (UC Irvine)
Sun Belt: 1 team (Coastal Carolina)

Here is the complete list of Perfect Game's Top 25 and where each team finished last season:

1 LSU 39-27 Corvallis Regional
2 Oregon State 55-12-1 College World Series Champions
3 Vanderbilt 35-27  Nashville Super Regional
4 UCLA 38-21 Minneapolis Regional
5 Texas Tech 45-20 College World Series
6 North Carolina 44-20 College World Series
7 Stanford 46-12 Stanford Regional
8 Louisville 45-19 Lubbock Regional
9 Florida 49-21 College World Series
10 Mississippi 48-17 Oxford Regional
11 East Carolina 44-18  Greenville Regional
12 Baylor 37-21 Stanford Regional
13 Arkansas 48-21 College World Series Runner-up
14 Florida State 43-19 Tallahassee Regional
15 Auburn 43-23 Gainesville Super Regional
16 Texas Christian 33-23 Did not make postseason
17 Mississippi State 39-29 College World Series
18 Oklahoma State 31-26-Deland Regional
19 Michigan 33-21 Did not make postseason
20 Connecticut 37-22-1 Conway Regional
21 NC State 42-18 Raleigh Regional
22 Georgia 39-21 Athens Regional
23 UC Irvine 32-24 Did not make postseason
24 Clemson 47-16 Clemson Regional
25 Coastal Carolina 43-19 Conway Regional

 

 

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