BATON ROUGE, La. — Game 1 of the LSU Baseball Purple-Gold World Series begins at 4 p.m. CT Wednesday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The three-game intrasquad series signals the conclusion of LSU’s six-week fall practice session.
Game 2 is set for 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday and Game 3 starts at 7 p.m. CT Friday. All games will be six innings, and they are open to the public with free admission.
“The Purple-Gold World Series is always a highly competitive event, and our players are eagerly anticipating the games ,” said 10th-year LSU coach Paul Mainieri, who directed the Tigers in 2015 to the SEC title and berth in the College World Series. “We’ve had a very productive fall with a lot of teaching involved, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the players perform in game-like conditions.
“We invite everyone to come out to ‘The Box’ this week to see the 2016 Tigers. We’ve had great crowds at past Purple-Gold World Series, and the energy created by the fans definitely inspires our players.”
The event features former LSU players serving as guest coaches. Kade Scivicque (catcher, 2014-15) will manage the Purple squad, and he will be assisted by Kevin Gausman (pitcher, 2011-12) and Christian Ibarra (infielder, 2013-14).
The Gold team will be managed by Chris McGhee (infielder, 2006-09), and he will be assisted by Jared Mitchell (outfielder, 2007-09) and Michael Hollander (infielder, 2005-08).
The Purple team will start senior left-hander John Valek III on the mound in Game 1 on Wednesday, while the Gold will counter with freshman right-hander Caleb Gilbert.
Game 2 on Thursday will match Purple sophomore right-hander Jake Godfrey versus Gold junior right-hander Riley Smith. Purple sophomore right-hander Alex Lange will start Game 3 Friday against Gold junior left-hander Jared Poche’.
Pitch count limits will be in effect as the LSU pitchers continue their development in preparation for the 2016 season, which begins on Friday, February 19, when the Tigers play host to Cincinnati in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.