Southeastern’s Brennan Stuprich hopes his stellar senior season leads to MLB Draft selection

HAMMOND, La. — Southeastern struck gold in 2021 with Brennan Stuprich, who won Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in electric fashion.

Tommy John surgery in October of ’21 delayed his promising sophomore campaign one year, but the experience was an eye-opener for the Brother Martin product.

“I got to the point where I was like, you know what? I need to get my body in the right shape. I need to understand the game better. I need to understand how my body works. So I was glad that the surgery happened. Mainly just so I matured for the game,” said Southeastern pitcher Brennan Stuprich.

Stuprich was back on the mound in 2023 and returned to true form in 2024.

He finished his junior season with six wins, a 2.87 ERA, 49 strikeouts, a First-Team All-Conference selection, and hopes of being drafted.

“I sat on the couch for two days listening to the draft. And not to hear my name called, it hit me pretty hard. I realized it was a wake-up call. So as soon as the draft ended, the last pick of the draft last year, I called coach Bobby Barbier, and I was like, I’m coming back,” said Stuprich.

Brennan Stuprich could have left for other schools, but he remained loyal to both Southeastern and the process.

Scouts said that Stuprich needed better strikeout and whiff numbers.

So two weeks after the draft, Stuprich moved back to Hammond, and a conversation with Coach Barbier would set the tone for his final year at Southeastern.

“We sat down and he said, Listen, we need to get more strikeouts, more whiffs. We’re going to do exactly what the scouts wanted. I vividly remember one thing he said, We’re going to make them pick you this year. He said, You’re going to be a top ten rounder, and we’re going to make them pick you. So, you know, I believed in him, I trusted in him. And, you know, got back to work and figured everything out,” said Stuprich.”

Brennan Stuprich unlocked a new level of his game and became the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year after leading the conference in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts with 109.

Stuprich solidified himself as one of the best to step foot on campus after tying Southeastern’s career wins record (25) and finishing second in career strikeouts (279).

Bob Hardy set the career strikeouts record in 1962 with 280.

Brennan Stuprich’s stellar senior season also put him in a position to be the next Lion selected in the MLB draft.

“It’s something I’ve dreamed of since the second I picked up a baseball, honestly. When I actually knew what the MLB draft was, and then go play in the MLB. You know, it would mean the absolute world to me. All this hard work that I put in leading up to this point, the injuries, championships, blood, sweat, tears, you know, everything. If I was to hear my name called, I think it would all come back to me in a special way, for sure,” said Stuprich.

Southeastern’s baseball program has produced pitchers like Wade Miley and Will Warren, someone Stuprich played with in his freshman year in Hammond and someone Stuprich considers a close friend.

It’s worth noting that two of the last three players to win Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year were drafted in the 9th round. McNeese’s Grant Rogers won the honor in 2022 and 2023 and was an 11th-round selection.

Eight of the last ten Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year winners were drafted.

Day one of the 2025 MLB Draft features rounds 1-3, and it begins Sunday at 5 p.m.

Day two will feature rounds 4-20, and it begins at 10:30 a.m. on Monday.