BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 1 LSU (9-1) plays its first ranked opponent this season when the Tigers meet No. 8 Tulane (8-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La.
The Tigers (#1 Collegiate Baseball, #3 Baseball America) enter Tuesday’s game on a seven-game win streak after sweeping Texas State last weekend in Alex Box Stadium. Tulane (#8 Baseball America, #13 Collegiate Baseball) has won six in a row, including a three-game sweep of Utah last weekend in Turchin Stadium.
The game will be televised statewide on the Jumbo Sports Network, and it can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network, including flagship WDGL-FM 98.1 in Baton Rouge. The radio broadcast and live stats may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU’s seven-game win streak represents the Tigers’ longest since LSU also won seven games from April 7-19, 2002. The last time LSU won eight straight games was from April 21-May 1, 2001.
LSU coach Smoke Laval will send freshman left-hander Clay Dirks (1-0, 2.53 ERA) to the mound against Tulane. In two prior starts this season, Dirks, a 6-4, 235- Pound native of Hernando, Miss., has allowed three earned runs on 10 hits in 10.2 innings with three walks and 11 strikeouts.
Tulane coach Rick Jones will counter with sophomore left-hander Brian Bogusevic (0-1, 1.80 ERA), who will make his second start of the year. In his previous start — a loss at UNO on Feb. 17 — Bogusevic worked five innings and was charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
Laval, in his third season as the Tigers’ head coach, will be seeking his 99th LSU victory. He has a 98-45-1 (.684) mark at LSU and a 339-204-1 (.624) record in 10 seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Laval has a 5-5 career mark against Tulane, while Jones has a 12-14 career record versus LSU in 11 seasons as the Green Wave coach.
LSU leads the all-time series between the schools, 155-117-3. The teams split four meetings last season; Tulane won 5-4 (11 innings) at Zephyr Field and 9-5 at the Louisiana Superdome, while LSU captured two meetings at Alex Box Stadium — 8-0 during the regular season and 13-5 at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
LSU has a 9-7 mark in its games at Zephyr Field, where the Tigers have played at least one contest each season since 1998. LSU is just 2-6, however, in its Zephyr Field meetings with Tulane.
The Tigers’ last win over the Wave at Zephyr Field came in Game 1 of the 2001 NCAA Super Regional (4-3 in 13 innings); LSU has since dropped three straight to the Wave in the Triple-A facility.
During its current win streak, the LSU pitching staff has allowed just two runs or less in each of the seven victories, and the Tigers have outcored their opponents by a total of 71-9.
LSU posted a team ERA of 1.33 in the Texas State series, as the staff surrendered four earned runs on 21 hits in 27 innings. The Tigers limited the Bobcats to a .206 batting average and just two extra-base hits (one double, one homer) in the series.
On the year, LSU’s cumulative ERA is now 2.01, as the Tigers have allowed just 20 earned runs in 89.1 innings.
The Tigers batted .352 in the Texas State series, scoring 25 runs on 37 hits, including nine doubles and five homers. LSU raised its cumulative batting average to a season-high .339 (126-for-372). Right fielder Jon Zeringue enjoyed a superb weekend, batting .778 (7-for-9) with three doubles, one homer and five RBI. Zeringue, who is riding a seven-game hitting streak, is batting a team-best .444 (16-for-36) this season with seven doubles, two homers and eight RBI.
Catcher Matt Liuzza, who is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak, batted .556 (5-for-9) in the Texas State series with two doubles, one homer and three RBI. Left fielder Ryan Patterson drove in six runs in the series, including a career-best five RBI on four hits in Sunday’s 13-2 win.
Shortstop Derek Hebert, starting for the first time in his career in place of the injured Matt Horwath (shoulder), was 4-for-10 at the plate with one double, two RBI and three runs, and he posted a 1.000 fielding percentage in 14 chances.
GAME FACTS
#1 LSU (9-1) vs. #8 Tulane (8-1)
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, March 2 – 7 p.m.
STADIUM: Zephyr Field – Metairie, La.
TICKETS: On sale at the Tulane ticket office (504) 861-WAVE
RANKINGS: LSU (#1 Collegiate Baseball, #3 Baseball America; Tulane (#8 Baseball America, #13 Collegiate Baseball)
RADIO: LSU Sports Network, including flagship WDGL-FM 98.1 in Baton Rouge
INTERNET: www.LSUsports.net or www.tulanegreenwave.com
TV: Jumbo Sports Network on the following affiliates:
Baton Rouge — WZUP (Cable Ch. 13)
New Orleans — WNOL WB 38 (tape delay beginning at 9 p.m.) Alexandria — KLAX ABC; KCLA UPN Shreveport — Time Warner Cable Ch. 30 Lake Charles — Cox Cable 60 Sulphur — Cox Cable 60 Morgan City — KWBJ WB Comcast Sports Southeast — tape delay at 11:30 a.m. on March 3
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – Fr. LHP Clay Dirks (1-0, 2.53 ERA, 10.2 IP, 3 BB, 11 SO)
TU – So. LHP Brian Bogusevic (0-1, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO)