BATON ROUGE — Second-ranked LSU (10-2) plays on the road for the first time this season when the Tigers travel to Tempe, Ariz., this weekend to face third-ranked Arizona State (13-2) in a three-game series. LSU enters the series on an eight-game win streak, as the Tigers haven’t lost since Feb. 14, when they suffered a 7-6, 11-inning loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
Game 1 will start at 8 p.m. CST Friday, Game 2 is set for 2 p.m. CST Saturday, and Game 3 will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday. All three games can be heard on the LSU Sports Network (98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
This weekend’s series marks just the second meeting between the two perennial college baseball powers. Arizona State traveled to Baton Rouge last season (Feb. 18-20) for a three-game series, and LSU won two of the three contests. The Tigers captured Games 1 and 2 (8-4 and 6-5) before ASU posted a 6-2 victory in Game 3.
LSU and Arizona State are two of the three schools — Southern California is the other — to have won five College World Series championships.
Junior right-hander Roy Corcoran (2-0, 2.51 ERA) will make his first career LSU start on Friday night. Corcoran, a transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has been impressive in five relief appearances, earning victories in his last two outings.
Corcoran defeated Duquesne last Friday as he worked a season-high five innings, allowing two runs, three hits, one walk and five strikeouts.
Arizona State will counter Friday with all-America candidate Jon Switzer, a junior left-hander from Houston. Switzer is 3-0 this season with a 1.78 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 30.1 innings. Junior left-hander Shane Youman (2-0, 0.51 ERA) will start Saturday’s game for LSU, and freshman left-hander Lane Mestepey (2-0, 5.17 ERA) will take the mound Sunday.
Arizona State will start junior right-hander Andy Torres (5-0, 3.00 ERA) on Saturday and either freshman right-hander Ryan Schroyer (2-1, 2.77 ERA) or sophomore right-hander Jered Liebeck (1-0, 1.69 ERA) on Sunday.
LSU is hitting .397 (119-for-300) as a team during its present eight-game win streak with 27 doubles, one triple and 18 homers. The Tigers have outscored their opponents, 99-34, in the last eight contests.
The Tigers have recorded 10 or more hits in each of their last six games, including a 24-hit effort versus Duquesne on Feb. 24 and a 20-hit outing against Nicholls State on Feb. 27. Through the first 12 games of 2001, LSU is hitting a cumulative .371 with 22 home runs.
Through the first 12 games of 2000, the Tigers hit .299 with just eight home runs. First baseman/designated hitter Zeph Zinsman enters the ASU series on an eight-game hitting streak. Zinsman is batting .556 (15-for-27) during the streak with five doubles, six homers, 16 RBI and 12 runs. Zinsman has six homers on the year, and all six have come in LSU’s last five games.