BATON ROUGE — LSU looks to bounce back from its first loss under coach Smoke Laval this weekend when the Fighting Tigers (3-1) play host to Mercer University (3-3) of the Atlantic Sun Conference in a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium.
Game one is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m., with game two at 2 p.m. Saturday and the finale at 1 p.m. Sunday. All three games can be heard on the LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM on Friday and Sunday, WJNH-107.3 FM on Saturday) and at LSU’s official website, www.lsusports.net.
The Tigers (No. 2 ESPN/Baseball Weekly, No. 3 Collegiate Baseball, No. 5 Baseball America) dropped a 4-3 decision to Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night, as the Lions scored three runs in the eighth inning. LSU opened the season with a three-game sweep of Birmingham-Southern last weekend.
LSU is led by senior right fielder Sean Barker, the reigning SEC Player of the Week. Barker is hitting .579 (11-for-19) on the season with 9 RBI, and he hit LSU’s only home run of the season on Tuesday against SLU.
The Tigers’ pitching rotation is the same as it was for the Birmingham-Southern series. Junior right-hander Bo Pettit (0-0, 6.00) will get the start in the season opener, with sophomore left-hander lane Metsepey (0-0, 2.57) and junior right-hander Jake Tompkins (1-0, 6.75) getting the nod in games two and three, respectively.
The Bears have not played since an 11-7 loss to Florida on Feb. 6. Mercer, which will also play Southeastern Conference members Georgia and Auburn later in the season, swept a doubleheader from Morris Brown College to start the season and lost two of three to Florida A&M.
The Bears have hit eight home runs this season and are led at the plate by senior outfielder Kyle Levengood, who is batting .522 (12-for-22) on the young season.
Mercer’s pitching rotation was not set at press time, although the Bears will start three right-handers in senior Brett Jarrett (1-1, 1.64), sophomore Brian Jones (1-0, 5.19) and junior James Morrison (0-2, 6.14).
The Tigers will be on the road all of next week, first against Centenary in Shreveport on Tuesday at 7 p.m., then next weekend in a three-game series at Houston.