BATON ROUGE, La. — Game 1 of the LSU Baseball Purple-Gold World Series begins at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium. The three-game intrasquad series signals the conclusion of LSU’s six-week fall practice session.
Game 2 is set for 3:45 p.m. Thursday and Game 3 starts at 3 p.m. Friday. All games will be six innings, and they are open to the public with free admission.
“The Purple-Gold World Series is an event our team really enjoys,” said sixth-year LSU head coach Paul Mainieri, who directed the Tigers to the national championship in 2009. “We’ve had a very productive fall practice session, and this week will give us a chance to further evaluate the players in competitive, game-like conditions.”
LSU hitting coach Javi Sanchez will serve as the head coach of the Purple team. Sanchez has managed the winning team in three of the last four Purple-Gold World Series, compiling a 9-2-1 mark in the fall event. Sanchez will be assisted in the dugout by outfielder Alex Edward and equipment manager Shay Dubois.
LSU assistant coach Will Davis will work as the head coach of the Gold squad. Davis led the Gold last fall to the Purple-Gold World Series title, breaking the Purple’s streak of three straight Series wins. Davis will be assisted by infielder Matt Fury and equipment manager A.J. Million.
The Gold team will start sophomore right-hander Ryan Eades on the mound in Game 1 on Tuesday, while the Purple will counter with sophomore right-hander Kevin Gausman.
Game 2 will match Gold freshman left-hander Cody Glenn versus Purple freshman right-hander Aaron Nola. Gold sophomore right-hander Kurt McCune will start Game 3 against Purple sophomore right-hander Joe Broussard.
The coaches conducted a draft in order to form the two squads for the series. Below are the rosters for this week’s games:
PURPLE TEAM
Manager: Javi Sanchez
Assistant Coaches: Alex Edward, Shay Dubois
Jake Barrios #6
Brent Bonvillain #49
Joe Broussard #21
Arby Fields #9
Kevin Gausman #12
Aaron Johnson #32
Aaron Nola #10
Austin Nola #36
Evan Powell #22
Michael Reed #18
Raph Rhymes #4
Ty Ross #26
Nick Rumbelow #38
Jackson Slaid #35
Braden Strickland #44
Casey Yocom #28
GOLD TEAM
Manager: Will Davis
Assistant Coaches: Matt Fury, AJ Million
Carson Baranik #30
Kevin Berry #33
Joey Bourgeois #25
Chris Cotton #58
Beau Didier #27
Grant Dozar #7
Jimmy Dykstra #17
Ryan Eades #37
Cody Glenn #24
Nick Goody #41
Tyler Hanover #11
JaCoby Jones #23
Mason Katz #8
Kurt McCune #39
Tyler Moore #2
Chris Sciambra #5
Jordy Snikeris #20
SAAC to Host Blood Drive During Baseball’s Purple and Gold World Series
by Caroline Downer, LSU Sports Information
LSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will host a blood drive during the Purple-Gold Baseball World Series held at Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
All fans, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to donate blood at the Lifeshares Blood Center mobile unit that will be stationed at Alex Box from 3-7 p.m. on all three days of the series.
Games begin at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday and at 3 p.m. on Friday. Fans who donate will have the chance to receive LSU men’s and women’s basketball posters.