AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU Fighting Tigers seek their first Southeastern Conference series win of 2002 this weekend when they visit Auburn in a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Game two is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. and the finale will start at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. All three games can be heard on the full LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.lsusports.net. Sunday’s game will also be televised live throughout Louisiana on the Jumbo Sports Network (WB-10 in Baton Rouge).
LSU (18-12, 3-5) heads to the Alabama plains on its first winning streak in over three weeks, as it defeated Mississippi State 7-3 on Saturday and New Orleans 8-1 on Tuesday. LSU lost an exhibition game on Wednesday to the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, 8-3.
LSU, which hasn’t won an SEC series since sweeping Alabama last April in Tuscaloosa, will alter its pitching rotation for this weekend. Normal Saturday starter Lane Mestepey (5-2, 3.60), a sophomore left-hander, will now start on Friday night, with freshman left-hander Jason Vargas (1-1, 3.07) going on Saturday and junior right-hander Bo Pettit (3-4, 4.05) getting the nod on Sunday.
Pettit had been LSU’s normal Friday starter, but he needed more time to rest after pitching four shutout innings on Tuesday against UNO.
LSU’s hottest hitter is by far sophomore shortstop Aaron Hill, who is second in the SEC in conference games with a .485 batting average. Hill is hitting .368 with two home runs and 18 RBI in all games, and is 16-for-29 (.552) in fashioning a seven-game hitting streak. Hill has also hit a home run in each of the last two games, the first time he has gone out of the park in consecutive games in his career. Other LSU hitters to watch include junior third baseman Wally Pontiff (.374-4-24) and senior right fielder Sean Barker (.355-2-28).
Auburn (23-8, 5-4) traditionally has featured one of the league’s top pitching staffs, and this year is no exception, as they will throw three outstanding right-handers at LSU. Junior Levale Speigner (6-2, 2.84) gets the nod on Friday, followed by a pair of sophomores in Colby Paxton (6-2, 3.59) on Saturday and Eric Brandon (3-1, 2.68) on Sunday. Brandon became the first pitcher in Auburn history and the first in the SEC in 39 years to throw a nine-inning perfect game when he pitched a masterpiece on March 2 against Murray State.
Auburn has just 24 home runs on the year, but feature two hitters over .400 in junior catcher Bobby Huddleston (.437-4-22) and junior shortstop Jonathan Schuerolz (.411-0-10), the son of Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz.
LSU leads the all-time series, 67-57, but Auburn won two of three last year in Baton Rouge, rebounding from a 20-5 thrashing in the series opener to win the final two games 7-5 and 9-7. LSU won two of three in 2000 when the teams last met in Auburn, and the road team has won 10 of the last 15 series.
LSU returns to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it takes on archrival Tulane in the Superdome in a game that could break several NCAA attendance marks. Auburn, meanwhile, has a critical game of its on Tuesday when it hosts Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech.