BATON ROUGE — LSU returns to Alex Box Stadium this weekend to open an 11-game homestand, starting Friday night at 6:30 p.m. with the opener of a three-game series against Long Beach State.
Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m., with the finale at 1 p.m. Sunday. The games on Friday and Sunday can be heard on the full LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), while Saturday’s game will be on radio in Baton Rouge only (WJNH-107.3 FM). All three games can also be heard on LSU’s official website, www.lsusports.net.
Sunday’s contest will also be televised in the Baton Rouge area on Cox Cable Channel 4 on a tape-delay basis starting at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The series with Long Beach marks LSU’s first games this season against a ranked opponent. The 49ers of the Big West Conference come to Baton Rouge ranked 21st by Collegiate Baseball and 24th by ESPN/Baseball Weekly. The Tigers enter the contest ranked 7th by ESPN/Baseball Weekly, 8th by Collegiate Baseball and 9th by Baseball America.
This series marks the first time that a California team will visit Alex Box Stadium for a regular-season series, although seven different schools from the Golden State have played in Baton Rouge in the NCAA tournament. LSU holds a 4-1 lead in the series with Long Beach, but this will be the first regular-season games between the schools. Four of the five previous meetings in the series came at the College World Series in Omaha, including three during the 1993 tournament.
The Tigers hold a 4-1 series edge over the 49ers, including a 14-7, 11-inning victory in the 1997 South I Regional held at Alex Box Stadium. LSU will visit Blair Field for the return series in 2003.
The Tigers (8-3) have not played since Sunday, when they dropped a 12-11 decision at Houston in the rubber match of a three-game series. The Cougars defeated the Tigers in the opener of the series, 11-3, before LSU rallied for an 8-4 victory in game two. LSU also took a 7-6 win against Centenary in Shreveport on February 20 to open the four-game road trip.
The 49ers (6-4) head to Baton Rouge looking to break a two-game losing streak, having dropped a 10-1 decision to Fresno St. on Tuesday at Blair Field. Long Beach lost the final game of a three-game series on Sunday to Arkansas, 5-3, but defeated the Hogs 7-1 and 4-0 in the first two games of that set.
The 49ers opened the season in impressive fashion, winning two of three at home against USC, then winning two of three in a series at California the next weekend.
Friday’s pitching matchup finds Long Beach left-hander Abe Alvarez (2-0, 0.98) facing LSU right-hander Bo Pettit (1-1, 3.66), and on Saturday, the 49ers will send right-hander Dani Eisentrager (3-0, 1.56) against Tiger southpaw Lane Mestepey (1-0, 4.12).
LSU has not set a pitcher for Sunday’s game, but it will likely be right-hander Jake Tompkins (1-0, 4.05) if he is healthy. Tompkins missed his scheduled start at Houston due to a strained oblique muscle he suffered on February 17 against Mercer. Long Beach has named right-hander Jered Weaver (0-2, 7.36) as its Sunday starter.
LSU’s 12-game homestand continues on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. when the Tigers welcome in-state archrival Tulane in a rematch of the 2001 NCAA super regional won by the Green Wave at Zephyr Field. The Tigers are not on the road again until a March 19 game at Louisiana-Lafayette.