LSU baseball notes: Tigers draftees starting to embark on professional careers – The Advocate

Kramer Robertson posted a picture to his twitter account Wednesday night, a Cardinals hat was fixed onto his still blonde head and a smile was on his face.

In front of him was a piece of paper with his signature. He was officially embarking on his professional career.

“Fulfilled a childhood dream tonight and signed my first professional contract,” Robertson tweeted. “Excited for the next chapter in my career.”

Fulfilled a childhood dream tonight and signed my first professional contract. Excited for the next chapter in my career. pic.twitter.com/WQ4ESJqfhU

— Kramer Robertson (@KramerR3) June 29, 2017

Jared Poché did not tweet a picture of a signed contract, but did disseminate a thank you to those who watched him play for four years.

He closed that message with, “When one door closes another one opens. I’m excited to further my career with the Oakland Athletics.”

Geaux Tigers!!! pic.twitter.com/UuGTm90EHw

— Jared Poche (@Jared_Poche) June 28, 2017

Robertson and Poché were the first of many LSU players to expected to officially begin their pro career shortly.

Like Robertson and Poché, Cole Freeman is out of eligibility and will certainly sign a deal shortly with the Washington Nationals.

Though they still have a year of eligibility remaining Alex Lange, Greg Deichmann and Michael Papierski are also expected to sign professionally.

RATINGS GAME

With LSU playing in the championship series, ESPN enjoyed excellent ratings for this year’s College World Series.

The live broadcasts of the championship series games averaged nearly two million viewers, up 72 percent from last year’s finals between Coastal Carolina and Arizona, according to ESPN. The TV-only audience maxed out at 2,620,000 viewers.

The New Orleans market was particularly strong. Its 20.1 rating for Game 2 of the championship series was the second best rating for a major market ever, trailing only LSU’s 2009 title-clinching game against Texas.

FINAL RANKINGS

LSU, as the CWS runner up, finished No. 2 in each of the major rankings released at the conclusion of the season.

It was a good season for the Southeastern Conference beyond having two teams in the championship series.

The SEC had eight teams ranked in Baseball America’s final top 25, and seven teams in the D1 Baseball, USA Today and National Collegiate Baseball Writers final rankings.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

The Tigers tied the school record by fielding at a .980 clip this season, matching their figure from 2013 and 2014.

Kramer Robertson’s 85 runs scored led the NCAA and tied for the third most in school history. It was the most runs scored by an LSU player since Mike Fontenot scored 93 in 2000.

Alex Lange became the eighth player in school history to record 150 strikeouts in a single season, becoming the first pitcher since Anthony Ranaudo in 2009 to reach that figure. He finished three behind matching Scott Schultz’s career record of 409.

Coach Paul Mainieri’s updated record at LSU, through 11 seasons, is 512-202-3, putting his win percentage at .717. He and LSU icon Skip Bertman are the only baseball coaches in school history with a win percentage greater than .660.

WHY KOWAR?

If LSU’s championship series against Florida had gone to a decisive Game 3, the expectation was that it would feature a matchup between LSU ace Alex Lange and Florida right-hander Jackson Kowar.

But Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan made a somewhat risky move: He used Kowar, who had compiled a 12-1 record, to close out Game 2.

“The biggest factor is I didn’t want to see Alex Lange (in Game 3),” O’Sullivan said.

Kowar recorded the final five outs to preserve the win and Lange did not get to throw in the championship series.