BATON ROUGE — The LSU baseball squad begins postseason play at 5 p.m. Wednesday when the eighth-seeded Tigers face top-seeded Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament at Hoover (Ala.) Metropolitan Stadium.
The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), and the audio broadcast and live stats of the contest are available in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies at www.LSUsports.net.
The LSU-Alabama game will be televised by Comcast Sports Southeast. Affiliates carrying the game in Louisiana include Baton Rouge (KZUP-TV, Channel 13); New Orleans (WNOL-TV); Lafayette (KLAF-TV); Alexandria (WNTZ-TV); Shreveport (KPXJ-TV); Monroe (KAQY-TV).
The winner of the LSU-Alabama game will meet the winner of Wednesday’s 8 p.m. game between Arkansas and Ole Miss at 8 p.m. Thursday. The loser of the LSU-Alabama game plays the loser of the Arkansas-Ole Miss game at 1 p.m. Thursday.
“It’s great to be in the tournament; it’s the start of the second season,” said LSU coach Smoke Laval. “We will face a great Alabama team, who is probably playing their best baseball right now. We will definitely have our hands full.
“We’re going to see how we match up with them and put (junior left-hander) Clay Dirks on the mound with the start. I’m really excited for our young guys to see what a class tournament this is and I’m excited for them to be a part of it.”
Dirks (4-4, 4.93 ERA) will make his second start this season versus Alabama. He worked six innings against the Crimson Tide in a start on April 15, allowing four earned runs on nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Dirks was not involved in the decision of the Tigers’ 8-6 victory.
Alabama coach Jim Wells was expected to announce his starting pitcher on Tuesday.
The Tigers qualified for the SEC Tournament for the 22nd consecutive season, and LSU is the only SEC school to make a league tournament appearance in every year dating back to 1985. The Tigers were in 12th place in the conference standings four weeks ago with a 6-12 league mark, but LSU won seven of its final 12 SEC games to earn the tournament berth.
LSU has series victories this season over three ranked teams ? No. 6 Alabama, No. 11 Houston and No. 14 Arkansas, and the Tigers were 1-1 this year versus No. 17 Tulane.
LSU has played the last four weeks of the season without two of its top pitchers ? right-handers Derik Olvey and Michael Bonura. Olvey, LSU’s leader in wins, suffered an elbow injury April 23 at Ole Miss and has since undergone Tommy John surgery. Bonura, who had Tommy John surgery last season, last pitched on April 22 at Ole Miss, and he is out for the year with an elbow injury.
LSU junior designated hitter Steven Waguespack enjoyed an excellent series at the plate at last weekend at Florida, batting .600 (6-for-10) with one homer, three RBI and three runs scored. Senior left fielder Bruce Sprowl hit .462 (6-for-13) against the Gators with one double, three RBI and three runs.
Sophomore shortstop Michael Hollander collected four RBI at UF, including a two-run ninth-inning single in LSU’s Game 1 victory on Thursday.
Senior third baseman/pitcher Will Harris earned the save in Thursday’s win at Florida, marking the fourth consecutive SEC weekend Harris has garnered either a save or a win for the Tigers. Harris also posted saves versus Arkansas (April 30) and at Auburn (May 6), and he earned a relief victory versus Vanderbilt (May 12).
Junior right-hander Edgar Ramirez pitched very effectively in his first career LSU start last Thursday at Florida. Ramirez, a Miami native, limited the Gators to three runs on eight hits in six innings with four walks and four strikeouts. LSU broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the ninth inning Thursday by scoring four runs en route to a 7-3 victory.
Alabama has won five straight games, including a three-game series sweep last weekend at Tennessee that gave the Tide a share of the SEC regular-season title with Kentucky. Alabama is led at the plate by centerfielder Emeel Salem, who is hitting .365 with 12 doubles, six triples, two homers and 26 RBI.
Catcher Kody Valverde is batting .330 on the year with 15 doubles, two triples, 10 homers and 49 RBI.
Alabama has a 186-141-3 all-time record against LSU in a series that dates back to the 1906 season. LSU has won six of the last seven SEC regular-season series with Alabama, including a 2-1 series victory over the Tide April 14-16 in Baton Rouge. The Tigers have a 17-7 mark against Alabama over the past seven seasons (2000-06).
Wells has a 23-31 career mark against LSU, including a 21-25 record during his 12 seasons at Alabama.
Laval has a 12-10 career mark against Alabama, and he is 10-6 against the Tide in his five seasons at LSU.
RANKINGS
LSU (unranked)
Alabama (No. 6 USA Today/ESPN; No. 6 Collegiate Baseball; No. 8 Baseball America)
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET
Audio broadcast and live stats in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies at www.LSUsports.net
TV
Comcast Sports Southeast — Baton Rouge (KZUP-TV, Channel 13); New Orleans (WNOL-TV); Lafayette (KLAF-TV); Alexandria (WNTZ-TV); Shreveport (KPXJ-TV); Monroe (KAQY-TV)
SERIES RECORD
Alabama leads, 186-141-3 (first meeting in 1906)
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU ? Jr. LHP Clay Dirks (4-4, 4.93 ERA, 80.1 IP, 18 BB, 77 SO)
UA ? TBA