LSU used a variety of pitchers to close out games during the run to a 2023 national championship. Christian Little, Thatcher Hurd, Riley Cooper, Griffin Herring, Gavin Guidry, and Nate Ackenhausen all earned multiple saves last year.
Hurd will be a starter this season, Cooper is in pro ball, Herring could be a starter or long relief guy. Ackenhausen is a reliable bullpen piece. Guidry loves the big moments and will likely find himself in some late-inning relief situations.
Another potential closer for the Tigers is Justin Loer, who saved seven games last year at Xavier. He’s six-foot-five and has a three-quarter arm delivery to the plate from the left side. Watching from the center field camera, it looks like Loer is throwing the ball from where the second baseman stands. He gets a ton of run on his ball, and he is especially tough on left-handers.
Loer has been working on his change-up and plans to use it against left-handed and right-handed hitters.
And Loer loves pitching when the game is on the line.
“Last year I pitched in the late innings role, and I loved it, it’s something I really thrived off of, I come from a school where there’s not many fans,” said Loer. “I had to use internal things, it’s me versus the hitter, and it’s a battle and that’s something I really thrive off of and it’s something people will see when I’m on the mound here.”
Loer is not afraid to give a fist punch after a big strike out or show emotion after getting the third out.
The Minnesota native said he was in the transfer portal for 30 minutes before Jay Johnson called him. He couldn’t believe when a 225-area code popped up on his phone.
Loer committed to LSU when the Tigers were in the College World Series.
And he’s loving life in Baton Rouge, especially the weather.
“It’s awesome, I wear shorts at practice, it’s unreal,” said Loer.
And Loer loves the Sportsman’s Paradise.
He and several other athletes went on a hunting trip with athletics director Scott Woodward in September and Loer says it didn’t take long for them to reach their teal limit during two days in the outdoors.
But now his focus is big game hunting, this crafty left-hander is looking forward to getting that third out in the ninth inning and hearing Alex Box Stadium roar.