BATON ROUGE — The LSU Fighting Tigers take on their first ranked opponent of the 2003 season when the Houston Cougars visit Alex Box Stadium this weekend for a three-game series, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.
The series continues with games at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 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.
LSU (5-3) defeated Louisiana-Monroe 9-4 on Tuesday night to break a three-game losing streak. The Tigers (No. 12 Collegiate Baseball, No. 14 Baseball America, No. 17 ESPN/USA Today) were swept in a three-game series by Kansas last weekend at home, the first time LSU has been swept in Baton Rouge since Houston did so in 2000.
Houston leads the all-time series, 17-12, and won two of three last year at Cougar Field. LSU won the middle game, 8-4, sandwiching an 11-3 setback in the opener and a 12-11 defeat in the finale when the Cougars rallied from an 11-7 deficit with five runs over the final three innings. LSU committed three of its seven errors in the ninth inning of the finale, allowing Houston to score three unearned runs.
The series is tied 7-7 all-time at Alex Box Stadium, and LSU swept Houston in the last series here in 2001.
The Tigers’ pitching rotation will be bolstered by the return of fifth-year senior right-hander Bo Pettit, who missed his scheduled starts against Northwestern State and Kansas because of a case of the flu. Pettit, a Houston native, was 9-7 with a 3.35 ERA in 2002 to help LSU reach the super regional round for the fourth consecutive year.
The Tigers’ rotation for Friday and Saturday remains the same as it has been for the first two series, with senior right-hander Jake Tompkins (0-0, 3.55) going on Friday and junior right-hander Brian Wilson (1-1, 6.75) throwing on Saturday.
Pettit started and took the loss in the first game of last year’s series in Houston, giving up five runs on 10 hits in six innings. Wilson was the losing pitcher in the series finale last year, giving up three unearned runs in the ninth inning.
At the plate, LSU’s top hitter is junior outfielder Ryan Patterson, who enters the series with a .421 batting average and has hit safely in all six games in which he has played. The Tigers enter the series with a .311 team batting average
Houston (2-5) has struggled early this season against strong competition, including a 3-0 loss at home to cross-town rival Rice in the first game of the Silver Glove series on Tuesday. The Cougars (No. 20 Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, No. 21 ESPN/USA Today) lost two of three last weekend in the Astros College Classic at Minute Maid Park, defeating Alabama while falling to Baylor and Texas A&M.
The Cougars’ struggles have been most notable at the plate, as Houston is hitting only .222 and has scored 18 runs in seven games. The only Cougar hitter coming into the series with an average above .286 is junior first baseman/designated hitter Thanos Papvisiliou, who is batting .400.
Houston coach Rayner Noble has shuffled his rotation for the weekend, as junior left-hander Danny Zell (2-0, 0.64) will start Friday and sophomore right-hander Garrett Mock (0-2, 4.66) on Saturday. Noble is officially undecided on a starter for Sunday’s game, but it will likely be junior right-hander Brad Sullivan (0-2, 4.61), who took the loss on Tuesday against Rice.
Sullivan, a 2002 All-American, got the win in last year’s series opener, while Zell pitched in the first two games in relief.
LSU does not play any mid-week games this week, returning to action next weekend with a three-game series at Long Beach State, the Tigers’ first trip to California in the program’s 110-year history.