NOTE: Due to heavy rain in Tuesday’s forecast, this game was moved to Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
BATON ROUGE — The second-ranked LSU baseball squad plays seven of its next eight games on the road, beginning with a matchup at Tulane at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Turchin Stadium.
The game will be carried by the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network. The Baton Rouge affiliate is WDGL 98.1 FM.
Live stats and audio of the game may be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU is ranked No. 2 this week by Baseball America magazine after posting an SEC series victory last weekend over Ole Miss. LSU has won seven straight conference series, dating back to last season.
Tulane began Conference USA play last weekend, dropping two of three games to Houston.
“Beginning with the Ole Miss series,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri, “I felt like this would be a very important 11-game stretch for us. We face some outstanding teams, including a very good Tulane club on Tuesday. LSU traditionally has played its best in April and May, and I feel very confident that our guys are going to come together and perform at a high level, just as the teams of the past have done.”
Mainieri said freshman left-hander Chris Matulis (4-0, 2.51 ERA) will start Tuesday’s game on the mound for the Tigers. Matulis defeated Harvard in his last outing on March 24, limiting the Crimson to two runs on five hits in seven innings with one walk and five strikeouts.
Tulane coach Rick Jones will counter with junior left-hander Aaron Loup (0-1, 5.50 ERA).
LSU freshman rightfielder Mikie Mahtook helped LSU win four of five games last week, batting .385 (5-for-13) with two homers, five RBI, five runs and two steals. Mahtook launched two homers in the Tigers’ 10-2 win over Harvard on Wednesday, the first two dingers of his career.
Mahtook delivered the game-tying single in the bottom of the eighth inning versus Ole Miss on Sunday; he then stole second base and scored the game-winning run on a single by leftfielder Jared Mitchell as the Tigers posted a 2-1 win.
Mitchell hit .417 (5-for-12) in the Ole Miss series with one double, one triple, two RBI, three runs and three stolen bases. Mitchell has an SEC-best 23 steals in 26 attempts this season
LSU designated hitter Blake Dean batted .455 (5-for-11) against the Rebels with one double, one run and five RBI. Dean was 4-for-4 in Saturday’s victory with a double and four RBI
Sophomore right-hander Austin Ross was named SEC Pitcher of the Week Monday after he delivered a superb performance in Sunday’s win over Ole Miss, limiting the Rebels to one run on two hits in eight innings with one walk and five strikeouts.
Ross fired 89 pitches in the outing, and he allowed just one Ole Miss runner to advance beyond first base
Senior right-hander Louis Coleman fired a career-best 10 strikeouts in Saturday’s victory over Ole Miss. Coleman held the Rebels to one earned run on four hits in seven innings with four walks and 10 strikeouts. Coleman improved to 6-1 on the season, as he leads the SEC in wins.
The LSU pitching staff, which had an SEC-best 3.44 cumulative ERA, limited Ole Miss to a .219 (21-for-96) batting average in the three-game series.
Tulane is hitting .293 on the year with 30 homers entering Tuesday’s game with the Tigers. The Green Wave is led by senior infielder Sam Honeck (.389, 10 HR, 39 RBI), junior infielder Josh Prince (.365, 1 HR, 16 RBI) and freshman catcher Jeremy Schaffer (.357, 4 HR, 24 RBI).
LSU leads the overall series with Tulane, 160-123-3, including two wins over the Wave last season — 7-5 in Baton Rouge and 8-4 in New Orleans. Those victories marked LSU’s first season sweep of Tulane since 2000.
Tulane holds a 10-9 series advantage over LSU since the beginning of the 2001 season.
#2 LSU Fighting Tigers (21-6) at Tulane Green Wave (16-11)
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, March 31 ? 6 p.m. CT
STADIUM
Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 2 by Baseball America, No. 5 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 5 by USA Today/ESPN
TU ? 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
none
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads, 160-123-3
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU ? Fr. LHP Chris Matulis (4-0, 2.51 ERA, 28.2 IP, 9 BB, 24 SO)
TU ? Jr. LHP Aaron Loup (0-1, 5.50 ERA, 18.0 IP, 1 BB, 18 SO)