LSU baseball’s Tre’ Morgan was an unsung hero of the weekend against Tennessee

It doesn’t seem to phase Tre’ Morgan that he’s hitting a wall and diving into a crowd of people to catch any foul ball.

While his acrobatics are more often highlighted at first base, on Thursday night against Tennessee Morgan was in left field when he caught Tennessee third baseman Zane Denton’s foul ball in the top of the fourth inning. That left Christian Moore stranded and allowed LSU to enter the bottom of the frame still tied 0-0.

“Once the ball goes up, it’s my ball,” Morgan said. “It goes back to my (football) defensive back days in high school. Once it goes up, it’s coming down to me.”

That marked Morgan’s 12th start in left field this season, which means he’s started one more game in left field than at first base (11), but he’s played both positions in 10 of those contests.

“I have more fun in left (field),” Morgan said. “But I definitely feel like a better first baseman.”

Morgan also had a big weekend at the plate, crushing three doubles, two of which were on Friday. He batted .428 against Tennessee with two RBIs and three runs scored. That elevated his season batting average to .327.

Back at first base on Friday, Morgan assisted in a pickoff by Ty Floyd. Designated hitter Dylan Dreiling had led off the second inning with a single but the pickoff removed him from the bases. The play was overshadowed by a home run by Hunter Ensley on the next play, but in a game LSU won by a small margin, that saved run made a difference.

That’s also the only pickoff by an LSU pitcher this season, according to NCAA Statistics.

“That’s something we work on,” Morgan said. “It’s not just luck that he gets up there and does it every time. We actually have set times in practice that we sit up there for about 10 to 15 minutes and work on pickoffs.”

Morgan’s moments last weekend often were overshadowed. His catch on the foul out in the first game was on a night that featured the nation’s most highly anticipated pitching duel between LSU’s Paul Skenes and Tennessee’s Chase Dollander.