Gavin Dugas plays in his 166th LSU baseball game and will take his 500th career at-bat tonight at 6 p.m. when the No. 1 Tigers open a three-game SEC series against No. 11 Kentucky in Alex Box Stadium.
“I do feel like an old man,” said Dugas, the 22-year old graduate student from Houma who tore thumb ligaments in his first college start as a freshman in 2019.
As LSU’s current starting second baseman, he has seen and done it all.
Dugas has 92 career starts at seven different positions except for centerfield, pitcher and catcher, yet has just three career errors.
“Wherever they put me I enjoy it,” Dugas said. “Second (base) is fun, there’s a lot of action out there. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter.”
He has taken at-bats at every position in the batting order except the No. 2 hole but still has a career average of .298.
“All I care about is any way I can contribute,” said Dugas, who was nearly legally blind in his left eye until he underwent corrective surgery last Thanksgiving.
He’s also has a laundry list of games in which he's hit late-inning game-winning or game-tying homers, including his game-deciding ninth inning three-run dinger at Texas on Feb. 28 and his game-tying two-out first-pitch grand slam in the eighth inning last Saturday at South Carolina.
“It’s awesome to be able to succeed in those moments for your team,” Dugas said.
But the one memory Dugas will always have about his LSU career long after his playing days is when he steps up to the plate as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter to start a game.
He can feel the energy and anticipation from his surroundings. He’s the guy that puts the key in the ignition.
“It's the best thing in the world,” Dugas said. “Being able to come up with the first pitch of the game and kind of show what you got is something that I don't take for granted. I just love that aspect of it.”
Dugas has 26 career starts batting leadoff, hitting .374 with 10 homers, 7 doubles, 29 RBI and 36 runs scored. In his 22 starts this year as a leadoff hitter, he’s batting .355 with 9 homers, 5 doubles, 26 RBI and 31 runs.
As good a hitter as Dugas was as a sophomore in 2021 when he led the SEC in RBI (66), was third in homers (19) and was the MVP of the NCAA Eugene Regional, hitting 438 (7-for-16) with 7 extra bases hits including 3 homers, he’s taken his game up a notch after an injury-filled year last season as a junior.
This season, Dugas is batting .344 with 10 homers and 6 doubles and has 32 RBI as well as 37 runs scored. In his last four games, he’s batting .429 (6-for-14) with one double, one triple, one homer and seven RBI.
He credits LSU second-year Jay Johnson for his improvement and why the Tigers have one of college baseball's most lethal offenses.
“Coach (Johnson) changed my game completely when it comes to that mindset, approach and just mentality,” Dugas said. “He's helped me to understand the game and understand what pitches are really good to swing at, what pitches are kind of iffy to swing at and not swing at all.”
The one lesson Dugas learned a long ago in his baseball past has served him well as one of the best clutch hitters in LSU history.
“Treat every at-bat the same no matter what the situation,” Dugas said. “It’s just hit. Because if you let the situation get bigger your plan, that's kind of where you lose yourself a little bit. So, for me just being as simple as possible and being as focused as on one pitch as I can is kind of what helps me in those situations.”
No. 12 LSU (27-5, 7-4 SEC West) vs. No. 11 Kentucky (27-5, 9-3 SEC East)
Game 1 (Tonight, 6 p.m., SEC Network)
LSU: Jr. RH Paul Skenes (5-1, 1.14 ERA)
UK: TBA
Game 2 (Friday, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network+)
LSU: Jr. RH Ty Floyd (5-0, 3.67 ERA)
UK: RH Logan Martiin, 1-1, 3.32 ERA)
Game 3 (Saturday, 1 p.m., SEC Network+)
LSU: Jr RH Christian Little (2-1, 4.05 ERA)
UK: LH Tyler Bosma (4-2. 433)
Note: Depending on weather, there’s a chance of a Friday doubleheader with no game Saturday.
The series: LSU leads 55-31-1. The Tigers and Wildcats split two games in the 2022 SEC tournament. LSU had a 11-6 win over UK in the Tigers’ opening tourney game, but the Wildcats recorded a 7-2 elimination game win over LSU two days later. LSU has won 13 of the past 19 SEC regular-season series against UK, including a 2-1 series victory in their last regular-season meeting on April 9-11, 2021, in Lexington.
LSU NOTES
The Tigers are No. 1 in the nation in shutouts pitched (7), on-base percentage (.452), runs scored (332) and scoring average (10.4 runs per game), No. 3 nationally in batting average (.333), hits allowed per nine innings (6.57) and slugging percentage (.591), No. 4 in strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.9) and No. 5 in WHIP (1.18).
LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews in No. 1 nationally in batting average (.505), on-base percentage (.639) and in runs scored (55) and No. 6 in slugging percentage (.860). Third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 nationally in RBI per game (1.86) and in total RBI (54). Pitcher Paul Skenes is No. 1 nationally in strikeouts (91), strikeouts per nine innings (17.30), hits allowed per nine innings (3.99) and WHIP (0.61), No. 2 in ERA (1.14) and No. 5 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.38).
KENTUCKY NOTES
UK is No. 5 in the SEC in team batting average (.299), last in home runs (22) and first in stolen bases (57) and sacrifice bunts (30). The Wildcats are No. 4 in the league in team ERA (3.29), and the Wildcats have recorded 286 strikeouts
Infielder Hunter Gilliam is batting .379 on the year with eight doubles, one triple, six homers and 42 RBI. Infielder Emilien Pitre is hitting .349 with 10 doubles, one triple, one homer and 31 RBI. Catcher Devin Burkes has 10 doubles, one triple, 4 homers and 40 RBI.
