Dylan Crews, Tommy White are LSU’s star sluggers — but Gavin Dugas delivers in the clutch

There’s Dylan Crews, the consistent hitter with the nation’s best on-base percentage (.639), and there’s Tommy White, who leads the nation in RBIs per game (1.86).

But for LSU, the consensus No. 1 baseball team in the nation, numbers don’t tell the full story of other players who deliver in the clutch — specifically, senior Gavin Dugas.

Clutch hitting has been part of the Tigers’ formula for success. It’s what lifted them over the South Carolina Gamecocks last Friday, when Dugas’ grand slam tied the score LSU went on to win 8-7 on Cade Beloso’s RBI single in the ninth inning.

Dugas has done it all before. He blasted a solo home run in the Tigers’ final game last season at the Hattiesburg regional (although Southern Miss went on to win 8-7 with a run in the ninth).

Two years ago in the final game of the Eugene regional, his two home runs lifted LSU to a 9-8 victory.

“One of the biggest things I was ever told coming here is to treat every at-bat the same, no matter what the situation is,” Dugas said. “So, for me, just being as simple as possible and being as focused on one pitch at a time — that’s what helps me in those situations.”

Dugas has already been the star of the day a few times this season. On Feb. 28 at Texas, he hitting the three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning, turning a scoreless pitchers’ duel into a 3-0 win.

In the series finale against Arkansas on March 25, Dugas broke a 4-4 tie in the fourth with his two-run home run. The Tigers added three more runs that inning and won 14-5.

“Honestly, I don’t even look at it that way. I just love the fact that we keep winning,” Dugas said. “That’s all I care about.”

Dugas never has an answer for where the so-called “clutch gene” comes from, or how he’s able to handle those big moments, but his teammates and coaches speak to it.

Going into Thursday night’s opener against Kentucky, Dugas was hitting .347 with 10 homers and 17 extra-base hits. He’s had 497 college at-bats. LSU coach Jay Johnson believes that measure of experience makes no moment too big for him.