BATON ROUGE — Sixth-ranked LSU (28-12) concludes a six-game homestand at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as the Tigers meet Southeastern Louisiana (23-15) in Alex Box Stadium. Live stats, video and audio of the game may be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net.
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, video and audio of the game may be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net.
Tuesday’s game will also be televised by Cox Sports Television (Cable Ch. 37 in Baton Rouge).
LSU fell from the top of the college baseball polls Monday after dropping two of three games to Tennessee last weekend. The Tigers are No. 6 this week in the Baseball America poll and No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings after LSU was No. 1 in both polls last week.
LSU is No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN poll, down from No. 3 last week.
The game with SLU is the first of five contests for the Tigers this week. LSU travels to Zephyr Field in Metairie, La. to play Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday before beginning a three-game series with Auburn Friday in Alex Box Stadium.
“We’ve certainly got our hands full this week, beginning with a very good Southeastern team,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We’ve been a very resilient team all season, and our character will be tested this week after we lost two games in a row for the first time all year. Now is the time when we need to be at our best with just four weeks left in the regular season.”
Mainieri said sophomore right-hander Ben Alsup (0-0, 4.00 ERA) will start Tuesday’s game on the mound for the Tigers. Alsup, a native of Ruston, La., will make his second career collegiate start.
Alsup was very effective in a relief outing last Wednesday versus Nicholls State as he fired three scoreless innings, allowing no hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
SLU coach Jay Artigues will counter Tuesday night with junior left-hander Shawn Herring (2-3, 6.35 ERA).
LSU lost an SEC series for the first time in nearly a year last weekend when Tennessee defeated the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday. It marked LSU’s first league series loss since April 18-20, 2008 versus Georgia in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers won nine consecutive SEC series prior to last weekend, tying Vanderbilt (2007-08) for the longest conference series win streak in the current 30-game format implemented in 1994.
Junior outfielder/DH Blake Dean continues to swing a hot bat for LSU, as he hit .524 (11-for-21) in five games last week with four doubles, two homers, seven RBI and six runs. In the Tigers’ SEC series versus Tennessee, Dean batted .615 (8-for-13) with two doubles, one homer, four RBI and five runs.
Dean is now LSU’s leading hitter in SEC games, batting .362 (25-for-69) with five doubles, three homers, 21 RBI and 11 runs.
Junior second baseman Ryan Schimpf also had a productive series against Tennessee, as he batted .500 (5-for-10) in three games with one double, one homer, three RBI and three runs. Freshman third baseman Tyler Hanover hit .417 (5-for-12) in the UT series with three RBI and three runs scored.
LSU hit .336 (38-for-113) as a team in the Tennessee series with 10 doubles, one triple and four homers.
Sunday’s game versus Tennessee in Alex Box Stadium was played before a crowd of 5,965 fans, allowing LSU to set a school record for actual attendance in a regular season. LSU’s actual attendance figure through 28 home games this season is 155,866, surpassing the previous school mark of 154,476 (34 regular-season games) set in 2000.
SLU is hitting .300 on the year with 20 homers and 26 stolen bases. The Lions are led by sophomore first baseman Joe Sparacino (.353, 8 2B, 28 RBI), sophomore outfielder Cass Hargis (.351, 4 HR, 24 RBI) and senior outfielder Brandon Street (.331, 5 HR, 39 RBI).
LSU leads the overall series with SLU, 58-17, including a 16-5 victory earlier this season (March 10) in Hammond. LSU has won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the schools, and the Tigers are 31-3 against SLU since 1990.
Southeastern Louisiana Lions (23-15) at #6 LSU Fighting Tigers (28-12)
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, April 21 ? 6:30 p.m. CT
STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. (9,200)
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 6 by Baseball America, No. 8 by USA Today/ESPN, No. 9 by Collegiate Baseball
SLU – unranked
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
The Baton Rouge affiliate is WDGL 98.1 FM
INTERNET
www.LSUsports.net ? live video, audio and stats in the Geaux Zone.
TV
Cox Sports Television (Cable Ch. 37 in Baton Rouge)
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads, 58-17 (second meeting this season; LSU defeated SLU, 16-5, on March 10 in Hammond)
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU ? So. RH Ben Alsup (0-0, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 5 BB, 15 SO)
SLU ? Jr. LH Shawn Herring (2-3, 6.35 ERA, 28.1 IP, 20 BB, 14 SO)