LSU baseball adds Vanderbilt SS Carter Young to transfer portal run

LSU's transfer portal shopping spree continued late Monday with a second Vanderbilt player in about 80 hours.

Junior shortstop Carter Young announced his commitment to the Tigers via social media just before 11 p.m.

He joins pitcher Christian Little on the route from Nashville to Baton Rouge, as well as Creighton ace Dylan Tebrake, North Carolina State slugger Tommy White and Baylor shortstop Jack Pineda among coach Jay Johnson and company's recent transfer run.

The switch-hitter started 132 games for the Commodores in three seasons — including the COVID-19 shortened 2020 — and has posted a career .244 batting average, .339 on-base percentage and .468 slugging percentage with 23 home runs and 90 RBIs and a .958 fielding percentage.

He led the team in home runs in 2021 with 16, tied for sixth in the SEC; finished second on the team with 52 RBIs and posted a career-best .966 fielding percentage

Those numbers took a dip this spring as the 6-foot, 180-pound Selah, Wash., native worked back from injuries.

He finished 2022 with a .207 batting average, .327 on-base percentage and .383 slugging percentage, seven home runs, 26 RBIs and a .966 fielding percentage.

“I am proud of Carter’s growth and consistency in the classroom," Vanderbilt's bio for Young quotes coach Tim Corbin. "His organization and maturity are starting to pay dividends in all areas of his student-athletic life. Once he worked his way back from an injury this fall, he began to experience greater growth physically as well.

"Carter plays the game with a very even heart rate. His defensive skills are high level, and his offensive abilities are surging in the direction of making him a complete player.”

Young would have two remaining years of eligibility because of the NCAA's blanket waiver granted in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.