BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball squad plays host to McNeese State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers, ranked No. 3 this week by Baseball America and No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball, enter the contest with a 5-2 mark after posting a three-game sweep of Houston last weekend.
McNeese State is 6-4 after suffering a three-game series sweep at New Mexico State last weekend. The Cowboys dropped the three contests by scores of 7-5, 22-3 and 10-9.
The LSU-McNeese State game can be heard on the LSU Sports Network (98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. The game will also be televised live by the Pelican Sports Network (Cable Channel 18 in Baton Rouge).
Senior left-hander Tim Nugent (0-0, 2.89 ERA) is LSU’s scheduled starting pitcher. Nugent, making his second start of the year, did not figure in the decision of his last outing, a 7-6 loss to Louisiana-Monroe last Wednesday. Nugent worked the first four innings of the ULM game, allowing two earned runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
LSU leads the all-time series with McNeese State, 18-9; however, the Cowboys defeated the Tigers in both of last season? ?s meetings. MSU edged LSU, 9-8, in 11 innings in Baton Rouge, and the Cowboys registered a 4-3 win in Lake Charles, also in 11 innings.
McNeese State is led by first-year head coach Todd Butler, a former assistant under Jim Wells at Alabama.
LSU hit .350 (35-for-100) in the Houston series with eight doubles and three homers. Shortstop Ryan Theriot, the Tigers’ lead-off hitter, was 6-for-12 in the UH series with four runs, one RBI, three walks and a .600 on-base percentage. Third baseman Wally Pontiff was 4-for-8 at the plate last weekend with four RBI, and he hit .538 (7-for-13) for the entire week with one double, one homer and five RBI.
Pre-season all-American second baseman Mike Fontenot hit .412 (7-for-17) for the week with two doubles, one homer and five RBI. Pontiff and Fontenot are each hitting a team-best .423 (11-for-26) on the year.
Pre-season all-American outfielder Todd Linden has struggled at the plate early; however, he did contribute one homer and a team-best six RBI on the week. Linden, a transfer from the University of Washington, was 3-for-4 with three RBI in Sunday’s win over Houston.
LSU’s team ERA in the Houston series was 3.00, as the Tigers’ hurlers surrendered just nine earned runs in 27 innings. Junior right-hander Roy Corcoran was very effective in three relief appearances last week, as he worked 8.1 innings and posted a 2.16 ERA. Corcoran, who earned the win in Sunday’s game versus Houston, allowed eight hits and two runs in the 8.1 innings with three walks and seven strikeouts.
LSU’s season-opening 12-game homestand continues this weekend when the Tigers play host to Duquesne in a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium.