BATON ROUGE — LSU (3-1) plays its first home weekend series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday as the second-ranked Tigers entertain Jacksonville State (1-0) in Alex Box Stadium.
Game 2 is set for 2 p.m. Saturday and Game 3 will be played at Noon Sunday.
LSU has won 11 straight non-conference regular-season home games. The Tigers last loss in a non-conference regular-season game in Alex Box Stadium came on Feb. 22, 2003, when Houston posted a 7-2 win.
The Tigers, ranked No. 2 this week by Baseball America magazine, began the 2004 season by winning two of three games last weekend at UCF in Orlando, Fla. LSU captured the first two games by scores of 4-3 (10 innings) and 17-4 before dropping a 10-inning, 6-5 decision in Game 3.
LSU improved its record to 3-1 on Tuesday with a 7-1 victory over Louisiana-Monroe in Alex Box Stadium. Freshman right-hander Michael Bonura earned the win in his first career collegiate start, limiting the Indians to one run on four hits in five innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
Center fielder J.C. Holt doubled and drove in two runs against ULM while shortstop Matt Horwath was 3-for-3 at the plate with one RBI to pace LSU’s 11-hit attack.
Jacksonville State, located in Jacksonville, Ala., opened its 2004 season Wednesday with a thrilling 4-3 home victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. JSU catcher Scott Smith launched a homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Gamecocks the win.
Jacksonville State is the pre-season favorite to win the 2004 Ohio Valley Conference title, as selected by the league’s coaches. Southeast Missouri was second and defending OVC champion Austin Peay was third in the pre-season poll.
Other schools in the Ohio Valley Conference include Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee-Martin, Samford, Murray State, Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois.
JSU, which posted a 32-26 overall record in 2003 as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, is in its first season as an OVC school. The Gamecocks are directed by third-year coach Jim Case, a former Mississippi State assistant who has a 56-57 record at JSU.
Holt is LSU’s leading hitter through the first four games, batting .389 (7-for-18) with one double, five runs and four RBI. Horwath is hitting .385 (5-for-13) with one homer and three RBI, while first baseman Clay Harris is batting .357 (5-for-14) with one homer and a team-best five RBI.
Sophomore right-hander Justin Meier will start Friday’s game on the mound for LSU, and Jacksonville State will counter with senior right-hander Bobby Wynns.
Meier started last Friday’s season opener at UCF, limiting the Knights to two runs on four hits in six innings with two walks and five strikeouts. The 6-0, 210-pound Windermere, Fla., native was not involved in the decision of the Tigers’ 4-3, 10-inning win.
Wynns, a 6-4, 220-pound native of Gainesville, Fla., will make his first 2004 appearance on Friday. He was 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA last season as a relief pitcher, working 34 innings with 20 walks and 31 strikeouts.
Friday’s game marks the first meeting between LSU and Jacksonville State; however, the Tigers have played two other current OVC schools, both in the NCAA Tournament. LSU defeated Murray State, 7-2, in the 1975 South Regional at Starkville, Miss., and the Tigers recorded a 9-3 win over Austin Peay in the 1996 South II Regional at Alex Box Stadium.
SERIES FACTS: Jacksonville State(1-0) at #2 LSU (3-1)
DATES/TIMES: Feb. 20 – 6:30 p.m.; Feb. 21 – 2 p.m.; Feb. 22 – Noon
STADIUM: Alex Box Stadium(7,760)
TICKETS: Available at www.LSUsports.net and at Alex Box Stadium beginning two hours prior to first pitch
RANKINGS: LSU (#2 Baseball America, #4 Collegiate Baseball, #5 ESPN/Sports Weekly) Jacksonville State (unranked)
RADIO: Feb. 20 and 22 — LSU Sports Network (WDGL-FM 98.1 in Baton Rouge)
Feb. 21 — WJNH-FM 107.3 in Baton Rouge only
All games can be heard at www.LSUsports.net
TV: None
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
LSU – So. RHP Justin Meier (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 2 BB, 5 SO) JSU – Sr. RHP Bobby Wynns (2-2, 5.56 ERA, 34 IP, 20 BB, 31 SO in 2003)
Game 2
LSU – Jr. LHP Lane Mestepey (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5 IP, 2 BB, 1 SO) JSU – So. RHP Danny Andres (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 0 BB, 1 SO)
Game 3
LSU – Fr. LHP Clay Dirks (0-0, 4.76 ERA, 5.2 IP, 3 BB, 5 SO) JSU – TBA