Ethan Plog dreamed of playing college baseball while a star pitcher at Bay Port. He often dreamed even bigger, with visions of competing in the SEC and doing it at LSU.
That was realized when he committed to the Tigers in November 2024 before playing his first year at Iowa Western, an NJCAA Division I school in Council Bluffs.
It got even crazier when he finally arrived in Louisiana, even before he played in his first game.
“Stepping on the field and playing catch with a teammate for the first time was surreal,” Plog said. “Putting the jersey on for the first time and seeing your last name on it, it’s like a dream come true. It feels like you are playing in the major leagues.”
The 6-foot-1, 187-pound left-hander learned plenty during his first season with the Tigers, all while pitching in front of an average of more than 11,000 spectators during each home game.
It wasn’t always a smooth road for the sophomore or an LSU team that failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 after winning the national championship last season for the second time in three years.
Plog led LSU pitchers with 22 appearances, all coming out of the bullpen. He went 2-0 and struck out 21 batters in 15⅓ innings, but he allowed 17 earned runs and 16 walks.
He threw a season-high 2⅔ scoreless innings against Sacramento State on March 7 and struck out a season-high three batters in two innings against Louisiana Tech later that month.
But he also allowed three earned runs three times and two earned runs in three other outings.
Hey, nobody ever said playing for LSU was going to be easy.
“Oh, I think it’s a pretty big adjustment,” Plog said. “I feel like my whole life I got away with just throwing fastballs and mixing in a curveball every now and then. But, here, you have to make sure you are mixing really well with your offspeed.
“We talk about pitching backwards a lot. Say I’m facing a right-hander. Usually, we will start him off with something slower, just to keep him off-balance so they don’t time up on a fastball. Which, I had to learn the hard way. The hitters here, they think with you a little bit. They are pretty smart, and they are the best hitters in the country. They are tough.”
Ethan Plog learns the life of a relief pitcher
Perhaps the biggest adjustment for Plog was his role out of the bullpen. He was accustomed to being mostly a starter at Bay Port and in his first year of college.
His breakout season in high school came as a junior in 2023 when he went 7-0 and struck out 84 batters in 50⅓ innings while allowing three earned runs, before following with 70 strikeouts in 37⅓ innings and a 0.75 ERA as a senior.
Plog made 11 starts at Iowa Western in 2025.
He had to figure out how to warm up during the first few months of this season, when to do it and how to regulate his body.
There were times he threw in the bullpen and got his arm warm, only to sit back down when he wasn’t needed. The process sometimes started all over again later in the game.
It’s nothing like the routine he had in past years.
LSU has had plenty of standout starters who have gone on to bigger things, whether it’s Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes or longtime Philadelphia Phillies star Aaron Nola.
Plog once had a dream to play for LSU. Perhaps the next one is to be a starter there.
“I think it would be really cool,” Plog said. “But honestly, if they need me as a reliever, closer, whatever, I’m good to do whatever. But I think it would be really cool to start.”
Ethan Plog completes first season at LSU on a good note
Although Plog’s overall numbers his first year at LSU didn’t exactly scream Hall of Famer, the way he ended the season left some positive vibes entering summer ball.
He did not allow a hit, run or walk in his final three appearances, which came against NCAA-bound teams in Florida and Auburn.
“I think there is a lot of stuff I learned from, towards the end of the season I really started to dial it in,” Plog said. “That was from lowering my offspeed pitches. How they move, and just how all my pitches move. When I got to campus, I had a completely different arm slot and how my body moved. Switched it to my old self, which is more of a low three-quarter arm slot. I’ve just been trying to figure out how my ball moves for a while, because it’s a drastic change from how it was when I first got here.
“I’m holding onto those [final three outings] for sure, just because I know that’s how I should be playing. That’s how I know I can play. Just holding onto those to show myself this is who I am supposed to be. Just trying to keep myself at that level instead of dropping.”
Plog hopes to work on extended outings this summer in the Cape Cod League. He wants to attack one batter at a time instead of focusing on the bigger picture of needing to get out of an inning unscathed.
If he needs any encouragement entering 2027, there always seems to be a former LSU baseball star back on campus during the offseason.
Plog saw Skenes when the Cy Young winner returned for a few weeks to lift weights and throw bullpens. He saw Washington Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews and Athletics prospect Tommy White. He spoke to Seattle Mariners pitching prospect Kade Anderson, who was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2025 College World Series and was the third overall pick in the MLB draft last summer.
Just another surreal moment or two for a kid from Howard.
“We just meet these guys who came to LSU, who were going to be in the big leagues,” Plog said. “It’s crazy. … It’s very inspiring. You are following in their footprints, basically. Just a year or two behind. It’s really cool.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Former Bay Port baseball star Ethan Plog reflects on first season at LSU
Reporting by Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
