BATON ROUGE — LSU (33-20, 12-15 SEC) travels to Florida (26-27, 8-19) this weekend as the Tigers seek to earn a berth in the SEC Tournament.
LSU is eighth in the overall league standings, one-half game ahead of Mississippi State and Tennessee, who are tied for 10th with 11-15 records. The top eight teams qualify for the SEC Tournament May 24-28 in Hoover, Ala.
LSU must record at least the same number of wins this weekend as both Mississippi State and Tennessee in order to qualify for the league tournament. Mississippi State plays host to Ole Miss this weekend while Tennessee plays host to Alabama.
Game 1 of the LSU-Florida series is set for 5:30 p.m. CT Thursday, Game 2 begins at 5:30 p.m. CT Friday and Game 3 starts at 3 p.m. CT Saturday.
All three games will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge).
The audio broadcast and live stats of all three games are available in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies at www.LSUsports.net.
Saturday’s game will be televised by Fox Sports Net (Cable Ch. 38 in Baton Rouge) as the SEC Game of the Week.
“We’re still looking for consistency and we’re running out of time to find it,” said LSU coach Smoke Laval. “We obviously need our starters to pitch deeper into the games this weekend because of the injuries we have on our staff. I’m anxious to see how we react in a situation where we need to play with a sense of urgency.”
LSU junior right-hander Edgar Ramirez (2-1, 6.59 ERA) will make his first career start for the Tigers in Thursday’s series opener. Ramirez enjoyed the best outing of his career three weeks ago in a relief win over Arkansas. Ramirez, who had pitched just 8.2 SEC innings entering the Arkansas series, earned the relief victory in Game 3, limiting the Hogs to one run on four hits in 4.1 with three walks and a career-best six strikeouts.
Florida coach Pat McMahon, who directed the Gators to the championship series of the 2005 College World Series, will counter Thursday with sophomore right-hander Bryan Augenstein (9-5, 3.14 ERA).
Senior left-hander Clay Dirks, the Tigers’ Game 2 starter on Friday, delivered his third consecutive solid starting outing last Friday against Vanderbilt, allowing just two earned runs on 11 hits in seven innings with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Commodores grabbed a 3-0 lead through three innings, but Dirks fired four consecutive scoreless innings to keep LSU within striking distance ? the Tigers eventually won the game, 4-3, on right-fielder Quinn Stewart‘s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Stewart launched his 22nd homer of the season in Tigers’ 6-3 loss to No. 1 Rice Tuesday night, as he moved into a tie with Kellen Kulbacki of James Madison for the NCAA home run lead. Stewart is hitting .308 on the year with eight doubles, three triples and 55 RBI.
Florida is led at the plate by outfielder Gavin Dickey, who is hitting .314 with 11 homers and 40 RBI. UF first baseman Matt LaPorta, last season’s SEC Player of the Year, is batting only .247 this season, but he has launched 14 home runs.
Florida is hitting just .260 as a team, but the Gators have unloaded 49 homers.
LSU leads the overall series with Florida, 45-25-1, and this weekend’s series marks the first regular-season meeting between the teams since 2003 in Baton Rouge. The teams did meet in the ’04 SEC Tournament with Florida posting a 5-4 victory over the Tigers in 10 innings.
LSU has won five straight SEC series against the Gators, with Florida’s last series victory over the Tigers coming in 1998 in Gainesville. LSU has a 13-4-1 mark against Florida since 1999, including a 4-2 record in the Tigers’ last two trips to Gainesville (2000 and 2002).
SERIES FACTS
LSU Fighting Tigers (33-20, 12-15) at Florida Gators (26-27, 8-19)
DATES/TIMES
Thursday, May 18 ? 5:30 p.m. CT; Friday, May 19 ? 5:30 p.m. CT; Saturday, May 20 ? 3 p.m. CT
STADIUM
McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
RANKINGS
Neither team is ranked
RADIO
All three games on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET
Audio broadcast and live stats of all three games in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies at www.LSUsports.net
TV
THURSDAY
None
FRIDAY
None
SATURDAY
Fox Sports Net (Cable Ch. 38 in Baton Rouge)
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads, 45-25-1 (first meeting in 1971)
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
LSU ? Jr. RHP Edgar Ramirez (2-1, 6.59 ERA, 27.1 IP, 13 BB, 34 SO)
UF ? So. RHP Bryan Augenstein (9-5, 3.14 ERA, 103.1 IP, 21 BB, 92 SO)
Game 2
LSU ? Jr. LHP Clay Dirks (4-4, 4.74 ERA, 74.0 IP, 17 BB, 71 SO)
UF ? Sr. RHP Bryan Ball (4-9, 5.66 ERA, 76.1 IP, 32 BB, 48 SO)
Game 3
LSU ? Fr. RHP Louis Coleman (5-4, 5.15 ERA, 73.1 IP, 27 BB, 49 SO)
UF ? TBA