LSU head coach Paul Mainieri talks with pitcher Jaden HIll, left. Hill was named a first-team preseason All-American by Perfect Game on Thursday. He also was a first-team pick by Collegiate Baseball in December.

BATON ROUGE — LSU pitcher Jaden Hill was named a 2021 First-Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game on Thursday. It marked the second All-America designation for Hill, who was voted a first-team Preseason All-American last month by Collegiate Baseball.

Hill, a junior right-hander from Ashdown, Ark., allowed just one hit in 11 2/3 innings in the shortened 2020 season while recording 17 strikeouts. Opponents batted only .028 (1-for-36) against him during the year.

Hill made his first appearance in a game in nearly a year when he worked two relief innings versus Indiana on Feb. 15, 2020. Hill, who was sidelined in 2019 by an elbow injury, was dominant in the outing, firing two shutout frames with no hits, one walk and three strikeouts. His fastball was consistently clocked in the upper 90s, peaking at 98 mph.

Hill earned his first LSU career save in a February 28 win over Texas with a dominating three-inning performance. He fired three scoreless frames, allowing no hits with one walk and six strikeouts, preserving the Tigers’ 4-3 victory.

Hill fired four perfect innings with three strikeouts on March 7 to earn a save versus UMass Lowell.

LSU pitcher Devin Fontenot was named to the Collegiate Baseball All-America second-team in December also.

Fontenot, a senior right-hander from The Woodlands, Texas, was 1-0 in 2020 with a 0.90 ERA, four walks, 17 strikeouts and four saves in 10 innings, and he ranked No. 3 in the SEC in saves.

He recorded a win and two saves in his final three appearances of the 2020 season, working five scoreless and hitless innings in that three-game stretch with two walks and 11 strikeouts.

Fontenot pitched four scoreless innings over two relief appearances during the final week of the season, earning a save versus Southeastern Louisiana and a win over UMass Lowell. He allowed no hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in the two appearances.

Fontenot will enter the 2021 season with a 9-5 record and 11 saves in 64 career appearances (five starts) for the Tigers. He has registered 115 strikeouts in 100 1/3 career innings at LSU.

Tulane pitcher Braden Olthoff was named to the Collegiate Baseball preseason second team and Louisiana Tech outfielder Parker Bates was named to the third team.

Olthoff, a right-hander, was one of only three representatives from the American Athletic Conference that were selected to the Preseason All-America team.

The Vista, California, native was 4-0 in four starts while posting a microscopic 0.32 ERA with 47 strikeouts over 28 innings in 2020. He walked just three batters and held opposing hitters to just 12 hits and a .128 batting average.

Following the conclusion of the 2020 campaign, Olthoff was selected as a Collegiate Baseball Second Team All-American. He became the first Green Wave pitcher to receive All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball since Shooter Hunt received a second-team nod in 2008.

The Green Wave ace ranked second in all of NCAA Division I baseball in wins, third in strikeouts and sixth in WHIP (0.54). He racked up double-digit strikeouts in three of his four starts, including 10 against Florida Gulf Coast in the season opener, 16 in a complete-game shutout at Cal State Fullerton (third most in program history) and 13 against Southern. In the one outing he didn’t reach 10 punchouts, Olthoff rung up eight hitters over the first six innings of what eventually turned into Tulane’s first no-hitter since 2005.

Olthoff garnered multiple awards early in the year when he was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks in February and was recognized as Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s National Athlete of the Week during the same stretch. He was also tabbed the Allstate Sugar Bowl Amateur Athlete of the Month and the Louisiana Sports Writers’ Association’s Pitcher of the Month for February.

Bates posted a .422/.531/.891 (AVG/OBP/SLG) triple-slash line during the shortened 2020 season. Bates led Conference USA in hits (27), RBIs (28), home runs (eight) and slugging percentage (.891) this past season. He also paced the Bulldogs in batting average (.422), OBP (.531), OPS (1.422) and total bases (57).

Bates led the Bulldogs to an 11-6 record in the 2020 COVID-19-shortened season. Bates recorded a hit in 15 of 17 games, registering two or more hits in seven contests. The Tyler, Texas native earned LWSA Player of the Month honors after batting .378 with 15 RBI and four home runs in February.

The senior is a two-time Second-Team All-Conference USA choice, earning the honors in 2018 and 2019. Bates decided to return in 2021 for his extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, joining his five fellow seniors for another season in Ruston.

Hill and his LSU teammates are scheduled to begin their full-squad preseason practice sessions on Friday, January 29. LSU’s 2021 schedule of games should be finalized in the coming weeks.

LSU is No. 7 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, and the Tigers are No. 8 in the Perfect Game Top 25.

First Team

Pos. Name, Team

C Adrian Del Castillo, Miami

1B Bobby Seymour, Wake Forest

2B Cody Morissette, Boston College

3B Alex Binelas, Louisville

SS Matt McLain, UCLA

OF Jud Fabian, Florida

OF Christian Franklin, Arkansas

OF Grant Richardson, Indiana

DH TJ Collett, Kentucky

UT Davis Sharpe, Clemson

SP Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt

SP Connor Prielipp, Alabama

SP Ty Madden, Texas

SP Doug Nikhazy, Mississippi

SP Trenton Denholm, UC Irvine

RP Jaden Hill, Louisiana State

RP Michael Kirian, Louisville

Second Team

Pos. Name, School

C Hunter Goodman, Memphis

1B Niko Kavadas, Notre Dame

2B Max Ferguson, Tennessee

3B Zack Gelof, Virginia

SS Drew Swift, Arizona State

OF Sal Frelick, Boston College

OF Ethan Wilson, South Alabama

OF Colton Cowser, Sam Houston State

DH Alejandro Toral, Miami

UT Jared Poland, Louisville

SP Tommy Mace, Florida

SP Rodney Boone, UC Santa Barbara

SP Jordan Wicks, Kansas State

SP Zach Pettway, UCLA

SP Kevin Abel, Oregon State

RP Andrew Abbott, Virginia

RP Micah Dallas, Texas Tech

Third Team

Pos. Name, School

C Henry Davis, Louisville

1B Maxwell Costes, Maryland

2B Tyler Black, Wright State

3B Trey Sweeney, Eastern Illinois

SS Ryan Bliss, Auburn

OF Parker Chavers, Coastal Carolina

OF Robby Martin, Florida State

OF Levi Usher, Louisville

DH Shane McGuire, San Diego

UT JP Gates, Miami

SP Braden Olthoff, Tulane

SP Mason Erla, Michigan State

SP Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt

SP Christian MacLeod, Mississippi State

SP Hunter Barco, Florida

SP Ryan Cusick, Wake Forest

RP Ryan Webb, Georgia

RP Haylen Green, TCU