BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball team travels to Metairie, La., Tuesday to face the University of New Orleans at 6:30 p.m. in Zephyr Field. The game marks LSU head coach Skip Bertman‘s final regular-season appearance in the New Orleans area and the Tigers’ final 2001 regular-season non-conference contest.
The LSU-UNO 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 College Sports Southeast (Cable Ch. 18 in Baton Rouge).
LSU (35-13-1 overall, 17-7 SEC) has won seven straight games, and the Tigers are ranked No. 1 this week in the ESPN/Baseball Weekly poll. The top ranking is LSU’s first in a regular season poll since May 12, 1997.
LSU is ranked No. 2 this week behind No. 1 Notre Dame by both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America magazines. The Tigers are in first place in the SEC standings, one game ahead of Ole Miss (16-8) and two games in front of Georgia (15-9).
LSU swept a three-game conference series last weekend at Alabama, the Tigers’ first sweep in Tuscaloosa since 1988.
UNO is 20-26 overall and 10-11 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Privateers were swept in three SBC games last week by South Alabama in Mobile.
Junior right-hander Bo Pettit (3-0, 2.50 ERA) will start Tuesday’s game for LSU. Pettit, who underwent shoulder surgery in the off-season, will be making his first appearance since defeating Mississippi State on March 23. Pettit allowed no earned runs on six hits in 6.1 innings in that contest; however, he has not pitched since due to a sore arm.
The Privateers will counter with left-hander Rory Shanks (1-4, 8.59 ERA). In 44 innings this season, Shanks has allowed 57 hits while recording 27 strikeouts and 26 walks.
Tuesday’s game marks the second meeting this season between LSU and UNO. The Tigers defeated the Privateers, 7-2, on April 3 in Alex Box Stadium.
LSU leads the all-time series between the schools, 37-29, as the teams first met in 1976. The Tigers have won seven straight games over UNO, including the victory earlier this season.