BATON ROUGE — Following a successful SEC road trip, second-ranked LSU (17-5) returns home at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as the Tigers begin a two-game series with Harvard (2-10) in Alex Box Stadium. Game 2 of the LSU-Harvard series will begin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The games will be carried by the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network. The Baton Rouge affiliate is WDGL 98.1 FM.
Live stats, video and audio of the games may be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net.
Tuesday’s game will be televised by Cox Sports Television (Cable Ch. 37 in Baton Rouge.)
LSU is ranked No. 2 this week by Baseball America magazine after posting an SEC series victory last weekend at South Carolina. LSU has won six straight conference series, dating back to last season.
Harvard is in the midst of an eight-game road swing through the state of Louisiana. The Crimson lost three of four games to Centenary last weekend will play Louisiana-Monroe Monday afternoon before facing the Tigers.
Harvard concludes its Louisiana tour with a game at UNO on Thursday.
“We have a lot of respect for a program like Harvard,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We’re looking forward to playing them, because we know we’re facing a team that will play hard for nine innings. I felt like we created a lot of positive energy by winning the last two games at South Carolina, and we need to build upon that momentum this week.”
Mainieri said senior left-hander Ryan Byrd (0-0) will start Tuesday’s game on the mound for the Tigers. Byrd was excellent in his last outing, firing 4.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts against McNeese State last Wednesday.
Junior second baseman Ryan Schimpf helped lead LSU to four wins in five games last week, hitting .357 (5-for-14) with three homers and eight RBI. Schimpf has homered four times in the Tigers’ last six games and he has five dingers on the year.
In LSU’s SEC series win at South Carolina, Schimpf hit .375 (3-for-8) with two homers, four RBI and three runs scored.
LSU hit six homers in the series at South Carolina, raising its season total to 40 in 22 games. The 40 HRs matches LSU’s final homer total in Mainieri’s first season in 2007 (56 games).
Sophomore centerfielder Leon Landry, who leads the Tigers with nine dingers, hit his first homer since March 10 in Sunday’s win over South Carolina. Landry was 3-for-9 in the South Carolina series with the homer and five RBI.
Senior right-hander Louis Coleman leads the SEC in wins with five as he earned his fifth victory Saturday at South Carolina. Coleman fired 118 pitches in seven innings of work, limiting the Gamecocks to three runs on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Coleman is 5-1 on the year with a 1.21 ERA in 29.2 innings, recording six walks and 40 strikeouts.
The LSU pitchers posted a 3.27 team ERA in the Tigers’ five games last week, and opponents hit just .203 against them.
Harvard was hitting .295 with eight homers going into its game Monday at Louisiana-Monroe. Senior Taylor Meehan was hitting .390 with two doubles, one homer and six RBI, and senior Harry Douglas was batting .341 with three doubles, two homers and six RBI.
Tuesday’s game marks the first meeting between Harvard and LSU, though the Tigers have faced four other Ivy League schools. The Tigers’ most recent matchup with an Ivy League team came in 1981, when LSU defeated Cornell, 12-9, in Baton Rouge.
LSU is also 2-1 all-time versus Princeton, 0-1 versus Yale and 0-1 versus Pennsylvania.
Harvard Crimson (2-10) at #2 LSU Fighting Tigers (17-5)
DATES/TIMES
Tuesday, March 24 ? 6:30 p.m. CT and Wednesday, March 25 ? 6:30 p.m. CT
STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. (9,200)
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 2 by Baseball America, No. 4 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 5 by USA Today/ESPN
HU – unranked
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
The Baton Rouge affiliate is WDGL 98.1 FM
INTERNET
www.LSUsports.net ? live audio and stats in the Geaux Zone.
TV
Tuesday’s game will be televised by Cox Sports Television (Cable Ch. 37 in Baton Rouge)
SERIES RECORD
First Meeting
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
LSU ? Sr. LHP Ryan Byrd (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP, 2 BB, 10 SO)
HU ? TBA
Game 2
LSU ? Fr. LHP Chris Matulis (3-0, 2.49 ERA, 21.2 IP, 8 BB, 19 SO)
HU — TBA