LSU Baseball's Derek Curiel Earns SEC Freshman of the Week After Dominant Stretch

Curiel has reached base in all 21 games this season, off to a hot start in his LSU Tigers career.

Courtesy of LSU Baseball.

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU outfielder Derek Curiel was named on Monday the Southeastern Conference Co-Freshman of the Week by the league office.

Curiel shared the honor with pitcher Andreas Alvarez of Auburn.

Curiel helped lead LSU to four straight wins, including an SEC sweep over Missouri, as he hit .571 (8-for-14) in four games with two doubles, one triple, four RBI and six runs. The Tigers’ lead-off hitter, Curiel also walked twice and was hit by a pitch, and he posted a .647 on-base percentage.

He batted .455 (5-for-11) in the Missouri series with one triple, three RBI, four runs and a .571 on-base percentage. His three-run triple in the fourth inning on Friday broke a 2-2 tie and gave LSU a lead it would not relinquish.

Curiel is No. 1 in the SEC this season in batting average (.451), hits (32) and walks (23), and he is No. 2 in the league in on-base percentage (.598). He is the only LSU player to have reached base safely in all 21 games this season.

Prior to the season, Curiel was named D1Baseball's Preseason SEC Freshman of the Year:

Curiel, two-time member of the 18U USA National Team, batted .314 with 33 hits – including 10 doubles – 21 RBI and 19 stolen bases in his senior year at Orange Lutheran High School in West Covina, Calif.

He was ranked as the No. 10 overall high school player in the country and as the second-best high school player in the state of California by Perfect Game.

Of Curiel, D1 Baseball’s Mark Etheridge writes:

The newcomer burst into the fall and established himself as the team’s top outfielder and is in a position to start somewhere, hit near the top of the lineup, and prove himself as one of the top freshmen in the country. He batted .388 with a .522 on-base percentage this fall.

Baseball America magazine in its scouting report of last summer’s top MLB Draft prospects wrote of Curiel:

Curiel is an advanced pure hitter whose instincts for the game and sweet lefthanded swing have made him a prospect to know since his high school freshman season. The outfielder had arguably the best swing on an Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High team that also included 2022 first-rounder Mikey Romero. Curiel has one of the more advanced approaches in the class, with excellent vision, swing decisions and pitch recognition that could help him become a plus hitter.

Perfect Game ranked Curiel No. 1 in its list of the Top 75 Freshmen for the 2025 season.

Eight LSU freshmen were included on the list, including Curiel, right-handed pitcher William Schmidt (No. 4), catcher Cade Arrambide (No. 15); right-handed pitcher Casan Evans (No. 26); first baseman Ryan Costello (No. 32); right-handed pitcher Mavrick Rizy (No. 36); left-handed pitcher Cooper Williams (No. 67); and infielder Mikey Ryan (No. 69).

(Via LSU Baseball Press Release)

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