Three LSU Players Listed Among The D1 Baseball Top 50 Transfer Pitchers For 2027 Season

BATON ROUGE, La. – Three LSU players are listed among the Top 50 Transfer Pitchers for the 2027 season by D1Baseball.com.

The list includes LSU sophomore right-hander Landon Hood (No. 2), sophomore right-hander Diego Velazquez (No. 14) and junior right-hander Kaden Smith (No. 46).

Hood, a product of Goodyear, Ariz., was the 2026 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year at Gonzaga, where he posted a 3-1 record, five saves and a 2.48 ERA in 16 appearances (four starts) with 21 walks and 78 strikeouts in 54.1 innings.

Hood allowed just a .162 opponent batting average, the second-best single-season mark in Gonzaga history.

Velazquez, a native of Reseda, Calif., transferred to LSU this summer after one season at USC, where he logged a 5-1 record and a 4.55 ERA in 13 appearances (five starts).

Velazquez worked 29.2 innings for the Trojans, recording nine walks and 34 strikeouts, while limiting opponents to a .209 batting average.

Smith, a product of Ocala, Fla., pitched last season at South Florida, where he made 16 appearances (eight starts), recording a 4-3 mark and a 4.24 ERA in 46.2 innings with 25 walks and 52 strikeouts.

Smith, who limited opponents to a .232 batting average, was named American Conference Pitcher of the Week after firing 7.0 shutout innings in an April 19 win over UAB, allowing just two hits while recording six strikeouts.