SHREVEPORT, La. — The baseball game between LSU and Centenary scheduled for Tuesday night at Fair Grounds Field has been postponed due to rain and the threat of severe weather in northwest Louisiana. The game will be made up on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Due to the LSU-South Carolina basketball game airing on the LSU Sports Network, the game will be available in Baton Rouge only on WJNH-FM (107.3) and on LSU’s official website, www.lsusports.net.
The decision to postpone the game was made at approximately 10 a.m., more than two hours prior to the Tigers’ scheduled departure time of 12:30 p.m.
This marks the second time in as many years that Mother Nature has postponed an LSU trip to north Louisiana. Last year, a March road trip to Northwestern St. and Louisiana-Monroe was put off due to inclement weather.
The Tigers (6-1) continue their four-game road trip at 7 p.m. when LSU visits Houston in the first game of a three-game weekend series.
SHREVEPORT, La. — After a successful 6-1 homestand to open the Smoke Laval era at LSU, the Fighting Tigers hit the road for the first time in 2002 when they visit Centenary on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. game at Fair Grounds Field.
This will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Gents since 2000, when LSU won 6-3 in Shreveport. LSU has won 19 consecutive games from Centenary, as former Tiger coach Skip Bertman was 18-0 against the Gents.
LSU leads the all-time series 23-7-1 and hasn’t lost to the Gents since 1956. The teams have not played in Baton Rouge since a 21-1 LSU victory in 1999.
Laval was 15-2 against the Gents during his seven-year tenure (1994-2000) as coach at Louisiana-Monroe.
This game marks the first of six road games against in-state competition for LSU in 2002. The Tigers will also visit UL-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Southeastern Louisiana, Tulane and New Orleans.
The game also marks a homecoming for Tiger catcher Chris Phillips, a Shreveport native who prepped at Captain Shreve High.
The Tigers maintained their position in two of the three major polls, staying at No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 5 in the Baseball America poll. The ESPN/Baseball Weekly poll was to be released later on Monday, as the Tigers were ranked No. 2 in that survey. LSU is the highest-rated team from the Southeastern Conference in all three polls.
LSU is coming off of a three-game sweep of Mercer this past weekend, winning by scores of 7-4, 9-6 and 17-1.
LSU collected a season-high 14 hits in Sunday’s series finale, as redshirt freshman infielder Blake Gill went 4-for-4 to break an 0-for-16 drought to start the season, while Matt Heath went 3-for-4 with a career-high six RBI.
Two LSU freshmen starred both on the mound and at the plate against Mercer.
Left-hander Jason Vargas had a pinch-hit grand slam on Saturday to give LSU the lead for good and also pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday. Meanwhile, right-hander Clay Harris got the win on Saturday with 5.1 innings of relief, then had a pinch-hit grand slam of his own on Sunday.
The Tigers will start junior right-handed pitcher Chad Vaught. The Ferriday native pitched well in his first career start last Tuesday against Southeastern Louisiana, striking out eight and giving up just one run on five hits in 6.0 innings pitched.
The Gents (4-6) will be looking to bounce back after suffering a three-game sweep against Kansas this past weekend, as the Jayhawks of the Big XII won by scores of 2-1, 17-3 and 4-2.
Centenary will send junior left-hander Clyde Shields (0-1, 3.52) to the mound to face the Tigers. The Gents are paced at the plate by junior designated hitter Ande Collup (.441) and senior catcher B.J. Grenda (.361).
The Tigers continue their four-game road trip Friday at 7 p.m. when they visit the Houston Cougars of Conference USA to begin a three-game weekend series.