LSU baseball has nation’s best three selections on 2023 Collegiate Baseball’s All-America first team

LSU has four players that 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.

2023 Collegiate Baseball 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.