BATON ROUGE — LSU hosts its final non-conference weekend series of 2002 when it welcomes Louisiana-Monroe to Alex Box Stadium for a three-game set starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. Game two will be at 2 p.m. Saturday and the finale takes place at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Friday’s game will be broadcast to the full LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), but the broadcast status of the Saturday and Sunday games will hinge on the status of the men’s basketball team at the Southeastern Conference tournament in Atlanta. If the Tiger hoops team is still alive, they would play at noon on both Saturday and Sunday, forcing the baseball games to be broadcast in Baton Rouge only on WJNH-107.3 FM. If the basketball team is eliminated, Saturday and/or Sunday’s contests will be on the full LSU network.
Friday’s game will be televised on a tape-delay basis on WGMB-Fox 44 (Cable Channel 6) beginning at 9 p.m., with the Sunday contest televised tape-delay on Cox Cable Channel 4 at 7 p.m.
The series will be a special one for LSU coach Smoke Laval, as this will be the first time he will pilot the Tigers against the school he coached at for seven years. Laval guided the Indians to a 241-159 mark from 1994-2000, leading the Southland Conference school to the NCAA regionals in 1995, 1999 and 2000, including a berth in the regional championship game in 2000 against eventual national champion LSU at Baton Rouge.
Laval, who was 3-8 against LSU, is second on ULM’s all-time list in wins (241) and winning percentage (.603).
The Tigers will be seeking consistency in the final weekend before Southeastern Conference play begins one week from Friday against Vanderbilt. LSU is coming off of a 6-5 loss Tuesday to in-state archrival Tulane, with the Green Wave overcoming a 5-0 deficit to win its fifth outing in the last six tries against the Tigers.
LSU will start junior right-hander Bo Pettit (1-2, 4.05) on Friday and sophomore left-hander Lane Mestepey (2-0, 3.25) on Saturday. Currently, LSU’s Sunday starter is uncertain, as junior right-hander Jake Tompkins (2-0, 3.80) has developed a blister on his pitching hand. If Tompkins is unable to go, freshman right-hander Clay Harris (1-0, 4.96) may get the start on Sunday.
The Indians enter the weekend with a 5-8 record under second-year coach and former Laval assistant Brad Holland. ULM split a two-game set with Southern Miss at Hattiesburg during the week, losing 15-2 on Tuesday before recovering for a 4-1 win on Wednesday.
ULM will likely start junior right-hander Justin Lobello (0-3, 6.35) on Friday, although Holland was still a little uncertain of who he would throw in the series opener. The Indians will start junior right-hander Caleb McConnell (1-0, 2.59) on Saturday to oppose Mestepey, and Sunday’s starter will either be freshman right-hander Matt Guillory (0-1, 9.56) or freshman left-hander Brennon Courville (0-0, 21.60).
The Tigers hold a commanding 28-8 edge in the series. Last year, the teams split two games with each winning on the other’s home field, as ULM won 7-6 in 11 innings at Baton Rouge on February 14, then the Tigers won 16-4 at Monroe on April 26 in a game called after 8 innings by the 10-run rule.
The Tigers will continue their 11-game homestand on Tuesday by hosting Louisiana-Lafayette, then welcome Vanderbilt to Baton Rouge to open SEC play next weekend.