LSU places four players on Collegiate Baseball preseason All-American teams

BATON ROUGE, La. – Four LSU players received 2023 Preseason All-America recognition Monday from Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews, junior right-handed pitcher/utility player Paul Skenes, and sophomore third baseman/DH Tommy White were voted to the First-Team All-America squad, and junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan was granted Second-Team All-America honors.

LSU leads the nation with three first-team selections; Tennessee, Florida and Stanford each have two players voted to the first team.

Crews, also named Collegiate Baseball’s 2023 Preseason Player of the Year, was voted a 2022 consensus First-Team All-American and the SEC Co-Player of the Year, batting .349 with 11 doubles, four triples, 22 homers, 72 RBI and 73 runs. The Tigers’ centerfielder was named a semifinalist last season for the Golden Spikes Award and for the Dick Howser National Player of the Year Award.

He finished the season as the SEC leader in runs scored (73), and he was No. 2 in the league in triples (4), No. 3 in RBI (72), No. 3 in total bases (172), No. 4 in home runs (22), No. 4 in slugging percentage (.691), No. 5 in hits (87), No. 5 in on-base percentage (.463) and No. 8 in walks (42).

Crews, a Longwood, Fla., native, also received 2022 SEC Community Service Team and SEC All-Defensive Team recognition. He played this summer with the U.S. Collegiate National Team, helping lead Team USA to a bronze medal at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands.

Skenes, who transferred to LSU this season after two years at Air Force, enjoyed an exceptional 2022 season both on the mound and at the plate, earning first-team All-America recognition.

Skenes, a product of Lake Forest, Calif., recorded a 2.96 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 85.2 innings (15 starts) for Air Force, limiting opponents to a .224 batting average. He also hit .314 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 38 RBI. In 2021, Skenes posted a 2.70 ERA while batting .410 with 11 homers and 43 RBI.

White, a product of St. Pete Beach, Fla., transferred to LSU after an incredible 2022 freshman season at North Carolina State, where he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year.

White hit .362 last season with 85 hits, 12 doubles, 27 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .757 slugging percentage, setting the NCAA freshman record for homers in a season. He had 26 multi-hit games and 19 multi-RBI outings, and he finished the year on 26-game reached base streak.

Morgan, a 2022 SEC All-Defensive Team selection, hit .324 in 2022 with 18 doubles, one triple, five homers, 54 RBI and 50 runs. The New Orleans, La., native joined Crews this summer as a member of the U.S. Collegiate National Team that claimed the bronze medal at Honkbalweek Haarlem in the Netherlands.

Morgan batted .500 (6-for-12) in the Tigers’ three-game sweep at Vanderbilt (May 19-21) with four doubles, three RBI and five runs, and he delivered the game-winning two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning at Mississippi State (April 8), erasing a 2-1 deficit and sparking LSU to a 5-2 victory.

As a true freshman in 2021, Morgan earned Freshman All-America, Second-Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team recognition.

Collegiate Baseball 2023 Preseason All-America Teams
FIRST TEAM
RHP Rhett Lowder, Wake Forest
RHP Chase Dollander, Tennessee
RHP Chase Burns, Tennessee
LHP Quinn Mathews, Stanford
RHP Tanner Hall, Southern Mississippi
RHP Hurston Waldrep, Florida
Relief Andrew Walters Miami (Fla.)
C Michael Carico, Davidson
1B Carter Graham, Stanford
2B Charles McAdoo, San Jose St.
3B Jake Gelof, Virginia
SS Jacob Gonzalez, Mississippi
OF Wyatt Langford, Florida
OF Vance Honeycutt, North Carolina
OF Dylan Crews, LSU
DH Tommy White, LSU
UT Paul Skenes, LSU

SECOND TEAM
RHP Jason Savacool, Maryland
RHP Alonzo Tredwell, UCLA
RHP Drew Beam Tennessee
RHP Brandon Sproat, Florida
RHP Matthew Marchal, Wofford
RHP Ryan Gallagher, U.C. Santa Barbara
LHP Mike Gutierrez , U.C. Santa Barbara
LHP Hunter Elliott, Mississippi
RHP Daniel Avitia, Grand Canyon
LHP Ryan Feczko, Davidson
RHP Owen Wild, Gonzaga
Relief Carter Spivey, East Carolina
Relief Peter Allegro, Portland
Relief Triston Dixon, Texas St.
Relief Camden Sewell, Tennessee
Relief Matthew Steidl, Southern Illinois
Relief William Privette, Coll. of Charleston
C Jack Payton, Louisville
C Luke Shliger, Maryland
C Addison Kopack, Rhode Island
1B Tre’ Morgan, LSU
1B Jack Moss, Texas A&M
2B David Smith, Connecticut
2B Max Grant, Canisius
3B Yohandy Morales, Miami (Fla.)
3B Brock Wilken, Wake Forest
SS Jacob Wilson, Grand Canyon
SS Matt Shaw, Maryland
OF Jack Hurley, Virginia Tech.
OF Chase Davis, Arizona
OF Enrique Bradfield, Vanderbilt
OF Ryan Lasko, Rutgers
DH Keaton Anthony, Iowa
UT Nolan McLean, Oklahoma St.

THIRD TEAM
LHP Jonathan Fincher , Louisiana Tech.
RHP Drue Hackenberg , Virginia Tech.
RHP Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma St.
LHP Carter Holton, Vanderbilt
RHP Matt Jachec, Indiana St.
RHP Levi Wells, Texas St.
Relief Sam Klein, Ball St.
Relief Thomas Schultz, Vanderbilt
C Matthew Ellis, Indiana
C BT Riopelle, Florida
1B Chris Sargent, Southern Miss.
1B Sam Kulasingam, Air Force
1B Joe Kinker, Florida Gulf Coast
1B Drake Pierson, Campbell
1B Jackson Feltner, Morehead St.
2B Brock Rodden, Wichita St.
2B Mason Hull, Missouri St.
3B Drew Bowser, Stanford
3B Alejandro Figueredo, Florida Gulf Coast
3B Ryan Peltier, Ball St.
3B Diego Baqueiro, Loyola Marymount
SS Maui Ahuna, Tennessee
SS Luke Keaschall, Arizona St.
SS Cody Schrier, UCLA
SS Kaeber Rog, Southern Illinois
OF Cole McConnell, Louisiana Tech.
OF Max Ryerson, Georgia St.
OF Matt Kirk, Eastern Michigan
OF Nolan Schanuel, Florida Atlantic
OF Brendan O’Donnell, Rider
UT Jay Luikart, Wright St.