Here's every transfer to commit to LSU baseball after College World Series title

USA Today

a day ago

Fresh off winning the eighth national championship in program history, LSU baseball went right back to work.
Head coach Jay Johnson worked the transfer portal during the title run and ramped up recruiting efforts in the days following his second championship in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers lose major contributors from the 2025 squad, including NCAA strikeouts leader Kade Anderson, as well as everyday infielders Daniel Dickinson and Jared Jones. The trio, along with right-handed pitcher Anthony Eyanson, are off the MLB Draft.
Johnson returns key pieces to the team next year, including stalwart bullpen pitchers Casan Evans and Chase Shores. Zac Cowan is also expected to return for a fourth collegiate season, and all three are expected to compete for starting rotation spots.
Johnson's staff stuck to its aggressive portal strategy from last season, which yielded Eyanson and Chris Stanfield. He's looking for the same high-level results from this year's haul.
Here are the four players who committed to LSU so far in 2025.
Danny Lachenmayer
A left-handed reliever, Lachenmayer is coming off a standout season at North Dakota State. Through 38 innings, he posted a 2.37 ERA, 56 strikeouts and nine saves. He allowed just 10 earned runs as the Bison made a run to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
LSU's pitching rotation will experience shakeups with the departures of Anderson and Eyanson. Lachenmayer performed well in high-leverage situations and will compete for important innings.
Seth Dardar
Dardar adds 95 games of collegiate experience to a depleted LSU infield. The Mandeville, LA native spent two seasons at Columbia and one at Kansas State. In an early-season meeting against the Tigers in 2025, Dardar recorded two hits, including a home run.
Over his career, Dardar boasts a .309 batting average, .409 on-base percentage and .592 slugging percentage. He finished 2025 with 60 hits, a year removed from a season-long injury.
Brayden Simpson
Simpson marked the first portal addition to LSU's 2026 roster. A rising senior, the third baseman fills an immediate need for the Tigers as Michael Braswell is out of eligibility, while also bringing a big bat at the plate.
In 2025 at High Point, Simpson batted .389 with a .477 on-base percentage, 91 hits, 77 RBI and 22 home runs. He was named to the All-Big South first-team honors and finished No. 10 on D1 Baseball's Top 50 third basemen rankings.
Ryler Smart
Smart stayed in the SEC, coming over from Tennessee. As a true freshman in 2025, he didn't see any action, but he came in as a top-200 prospect, according to Perfect Game.
The 2024 cycle's No. 183 overall player and No. 25 left-handed pitcher, Smart hails from Pearland, TX. The six-foot-four, 236-pounder provides a solid frame and a year of observing the country's best players to LSU pitching coach Nate Yeskie.