| This LSU baseball team is on quite a roll. A run-rule roll. The Tigers got a run rule win for the third straight game Monday, shutting out Butler 11-0 in a game called after seven innings because LSU was 10 runs ahead. LSU hit well again, but that's been as expected. Of more interest has been the pitching. On this night Thatcher Hurd, the sophomore right-hander from UCLA, was pretty untouchable to start, striking out the first six Bulldogs of the game. Whether that means Hurd will soon work his way into the Tigers' weekend rotation remains to be seen, but he looks the part so far. We've got lots of baseball content for you, including a photo gallery from Monday's game, news of another pitcher of the week honor for LSU ace Paul Skenes, the Tigers still being ranked No. 1 by the major polls and a dive into how college baseball's redshirt rule works. Spring football is back this week, and Wilson Alexander is back with a preview of the five players who have the most to gain during spring practice. The Tigers also have a new football recruit for the class of 2024 and we'll tell you a little more about him as well. The men's basketball team is suffering through a dreadful season, but it hasn't been center KJ Williams' fault. Certainly the SEC's coaches haven't blamed the Tigers' woes on him. Monday they named Williams to the All-SEC second team. The Tigers play Wednesday night against Georgia on the opening day of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee. Speaking of basketball, the women's AP poll came out Monday and the Tigers took a hard hit from their two-point loss to Tennessee in the SEC Women's Tournament. LSU (28-2 with its other loss to No. 1 South Carolina) dropped from No. 4 to No. 9. Look, I've been a football poll voter plenty of times in the past and I know it can be a hard job, but I have to say this just makes it look as though several AP poll voters, who didn't have the Tigers in their top 10, were looking for an excuse to hammer them. The Tigers now await their NCAA seeding and to see on Selection Sunday who gets sent to Baton Rouge for first- and second-round games. The LSU softball team has gotten off to a strong start as well (20-1), and now the Tigers are preparing to open SEC play this weekend against South Carolina. Finally, I've got a gymnastics notebook with the sad tale of yet another season-ending injury for LSU which manages to keep rolling along impressively despite them. As you can see, another jam-packed LSU newsletter, a little something for everyone. Thanks as always for reading and subscribing. You are the butter to our roll, believe me (I'm not above buttering you folks up to keep you on the subscriber list). Scott Rabalais | 