BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball teams faces cross-town rival Southern University at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium. The game marks the teams’ second meeting in one week, as Southern defeated LSU, 11-6, on March 6. The win was the first for the Jaguars over LSU after 35 straight losses in the series.
Tuesday’s game was originally scheduled to take place at Southern’s Lee-Hines Field; however, the game was moved to Alex Box Stadium after Southern officials determined the Lee-Hines diamond was in an unplayable condition.
The game can be heard on the LSU Sports Network (98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
General admission tickets for Tuesday’s game are on sale at the LSU athletic ticket office. Tickets will also be on sale at Alex Box Stadium beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children age 12 and under. LSU and Southern students will be admitted free to the game with their university IDs.
LSU (13-6-1) lost four of its five games last week, including the March 6 defeat to Southern. The Tigers, ranked No. 2 in each of the college baseball polls last week, fell to No. 6 this week in ESPN/Baseball Weekly, No. 8 in Baseball America and No. 11 in Collegiate Baseball.
Southern (11-3) enters Tuesday’s game riding a five-game win streak. The Jaguars swept Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a four-game SWAC series last weekend.
Sophomore right-hander Bo Pettit (0-0, 3.00 ERA) is LSU’s scheduled starting pitcher. Pettit, who underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season, will make his first start since May 6, 2000, at Kentucky.
Southern is expected to start left-hander Reginald Harold (2-0, 4.50 ERA).
The Tigers enter Tuesday’s game mired in a hitting slump, as the team’s batting average has dropped 39 points — from .371 to .332 — in the last five games.
In its last five contests, LSU is hitting just .218 (42-for-193) and has scored only 24 runs. During that five-game span, the Tigers have been out-hit, 63-42, and they have been outscored, 39-24.