BATON ROUGE, La. – Top-ranked LSU (21-3) concludes a five-game road swing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when the Tigers face Tulane (17-7) at Turchin Stadium in New Orleans.
The game will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge, and live audio and stats may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net.
Tuesday’s game will be televised by Cox Sports Television.
LSU is No. 1 in the Baseball America poll for the third straight week, and the Tigers are also No. 1 this week in the USA Today and D1 Baseball rankings. LSU won three of four games last week, including a 2-1 series victory Arkansas, the Tigers’ 10th series win over the Razorbacks in the past 11 seasons.
LSU batted .384 (43-for-112) in the Arkansas series with five doubles, one triple and four home runs, outscoring the Razorbacks, 24-12.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said that sophomore right-hander Russell Reynolds (1-0, 3.38 ERA) will start on the mound for the Tigers, while first-year Tulane coach David Pierce will counter with junior right-hander Patrick Duester (3-1, 0.34 ERA).
“We always enjoy the opportunity to travel to New Orleans and renew a great rivalry with Tulane,” Mainieri said. “I’m sure there will be a tremendous crowd and a lot of enthusiasm for the game. Coach Pierce has energized the Tulane program, and their team is playing with a lot of confidence, so we’re expecting a highly competitive, intense atmosphere.”
Reynolds worked four innings and threw 57 pitches in his last start at Southern University on March 17, limiting the Jaguars to one unearned run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
LSU is hitting an SEC-high .327 as a team with 19 homers and 39 steals in 52 attempts. The Tigers have struck out just 102 times, the best mark in the conference.
Senior catcher Kade Scivicque helped lead LSU to the series victory at Arkansas, batting .538 (7-for-13) with two doubles, one RBI and one run scored. He also excelled behind the plate, throwing out two Arkansas base runners attempting to steal and picking off another runner at second base. Scivicque is LSU’s leading hitter this season, batting .433 (29-for-67) with seven doubles, three homers and 15 RBI.
Junior centerfielder Andrew Stevenson hit .533 (8-for-15) in the Arkansas series with one RBI and two runs scored. Stevenson had a career-high four hits with an RBI and two runs scored in Friday’s win.
Senior Chris Sciambra was placed in the lead-off spot as the Tigers’ DH for Games 2 and 3 of the Arkansas series, and he responded by going 5-for-10 at the plate with one double, one triple and four RBI. Sciambra drove in four runs with a sac fly and a bases-loaded triple in Friday’s win, and he collected a career-high four hits and scored a run in Saturday’s victory.
Senior second baseman Jared Foster was 4-for-10 in the Arkansas series with two homers, four RBI and two runs, and junior rightfielder Mark Laird batted .500 (7-for-14) against the Razorbacks with three RBI and three runs scored.
Tulane is hitting .248 as a team with 19 homers and 23 steals in 36 attempts. The Green Wave pitching staff has one of the best ERAs in the nation at 1.89.
Tulane is led at the plate by sophomore infielder Stephen Alemais, who is hitting .337 with seven doubles, one triple, one homer, seven RBI and 13 stolen bases. Sophomore infielder Hunter Hope is batting .286 with seven doubles, four homers and 12 RBI, while sophomore outfielder Lex Kaplan is hitting .259 with six doubles, one triple, three homers and 12 RBI.
LSU leads the all-time series with Tulane, 178-126-3, in a series that began with the first intercollegiate athletic event in LSU history, a 10-8 victory for the Fighting Tiger baseball squad over Tulane in 1893. LSU has won 11 of its 14 meetings with Tulane over the past seven seasons; the teams split two games last season – Tulane defeated LSU, 3-2 in 11 innings in New Orleans, and the Tigers blanked the Green Wave, 6-0, in Baton Rouge. Mainieri has an 11-5 mark against Tulane in his nine-season tenure at LSU.
#1 LSU Fighting Tigers (21-3) at Tulane Green Wave (17-7)
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, March 24 – 6:30 p.m. CT (Cox Sports Television)
STADIUM
Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 1 by Baseball America; No. 1 by USA Today; No. 1 by D1 Baseball; No. 2 by Collegiate Baseball
Tulane – unranked
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
LSUsports.net – live audio and live stats
TV
Cox Sports Television
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads the all-time series with Tulane, 178-126-3, in a series that began with the first intercollegiate athletic event in LSU history, a 10-8 victory for the Fighting Tiger baseball squad over Tulane in 1893. LSU has won 11 of its 14 meetings with Tulane over the past seven seasons; the teams split two games last season – Tulane defeated LSU, 3-2 in 11 innings in New Orleans, and the Tigers blanked the Green Wave, 6-0, in Baton Rouge. Paul Mainieri has an 11-5 mark against Tulane in his nine-season tenure at LSU.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – So. RHP Russell Reynolds (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 10.2 IP, 4 BB, 7 SO)
TU – Jr. RHP Patrick Duester (3-1, 0.34 ERA, 26.1 IP, 9 BB, 20 SO)