It may not have been pretty, but at the end of the day a win is a win and the Tigers remain undefeated after college baseball opening weekend. Now, as we look ahead to their Thursday afternoon matchup against Northern Illinois, LSU baseball transfer portal addition Gage Jump will get set for his first career start with the purple and gold.
LSU baseball transfer portal addition set to make first career start as a Tiger
For many current and former star Tiger baseball players, their first action in Alex Box Stadium is something they’ll never forget. However, in the case of LSU baseball transfer portal addition Gage Jump, it may have been a bit more of a blur than anything else.
“It was amazing. I didn’t know if I was gonna pitch, so I was in the bullpen kind of running around and trying not to tire myself out,” the redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher said when asked about his debut. “Coach told me to get hot, I got hot, then I was in the game, and then the game was over. So, it was kind of like a blur, but it was really, really fun.”
As much of a blur as it might have been, the new addition pitcher turned his debut into quite the performance. Despite pitching just one inning, he was able to total two strikeouts to go along with zero hits on the day.
While his initial role on the team was as a closer vs. VMI during opening day, he’ll find himself in a very new position, as he got the nod heading into Thursday’s matchup against Northern Illinois.
“Jump is gonna throw Thursday against Northern Illinois,” coach Jay Johnson said when asked about this weekend’s starters.
The former UCLA pitcher is coming off an injury from the 2023 season, which helps to explain why coach Johnson only had him in for 11 pitches total in four games. Still, it appears that they’re ready to see what he can do, and he’ll likely see a significant boost in pitches this coming weekend.
According to the pair – who spoke to the media early Wednesday afternoon – Jump can be expected to throw somewhere around 40-50 pitches.
While it may seem like a pretty significant jump (pun not intended) for someone coming off an injury, the left-handed pitcher sounds more than ready for the challenge, saying, “I’m super excited. With coach (Jay) Johnson and coach (Nate) Yeskie, we’ve been conservatively ramping myself up, and now that I’m able to start and get some innings in there, I’m super pumped about it. It’ll be fun.”
Friday and Saturday starters will be familiar faces
Aside from Gage Jump, it sounds as though the rest of the weekend will likely follow a similar trajectory as this past one with some familiar faces starting on the mound.
“(Thatcher) Hurd is gonna throw Friday against Stony Brook. (Luke) Holman is gonna throw Saturday against Northern Illinois, and then TBA for Sunday,” coach Johnson added.
Despite having very similar levels of expectations coming into the year, the pair had wildly different outings in their season debuts this past weekend. Hurd received the opening day start against VMI on Friday, February 16, but interestingly enough, struggled early on.
After throwing 61 pitches in just 2.2 innings, the Tigers quickly found themselves down 4-3, leading to an earlier pitching change than many Tiger fans expected from the talented junior. He’ll likely be looking forward to this coming Friday, with yet another opportunity to show what he’s capable of as a starter.
Holman, on the other hand, was lights out right from the get-go. Throwing 87 pitches in 5.1 innings, the transfer portal addition from Alabama recorded an impressive 10 strikeouts without allowing a single run.
After putting 17 players on the mound in just one weekend, there’s no denying that LSU has some impressive depth among their pitchers. Still, if they want to be successful and make a run towards Omaha, Thatcher Hurd and Luke Holman will need to be a big part of it.
However, for now, it’s Gage Jump’s time to shine, as he’ll make his first career start in the purple and gold this Thursday at 2:00 p.m. CST against Northern Illinois.
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