BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 8 LSU (27-13) faces Tulane (26-13) at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday 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, Live audio of the games may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net/live with live stats at www.LSUstats.com.
The LSU-Tulane game will be televised by the CBS Sports Network (channel finder), which can be found on HD Ch. 1295 on Cox Cable systems. Fans are advised to check satellite and TV listings for the channel number in their areas.
LSU is ranked No. 8 this week in the Baseball America poll after posting a 2-2 mark in its four games last week. The Tigers are in a three-way tie with Ole Miss and Mississippi State for second place in the SEC Western Division, two games behind Texas A&M.
“There are only 16 games left in the regular season, and each one will be important in helping us reach our postseason goals,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We’re going to be facing a challenging environment and a very good team at Tulane, so it’s up to us to meet that challenge by playing as hard as we can and leaving everything on the field. Our team has continued to improve, and now is the time, as we approach the home stretch, for us to be at our best.”
Mainieri said that sophomore right-hander Doug Norman (1-0, 3.26 ERA) will make his second start of the season Tuesday against Tulane. Norman earned a win last Wednesday over Southeastern Louisiana in his first start of the year, firing two scoreless innings in an 11-4 LSU victory.
LSU enters Tuesday’s game batting .303 as a team with 29 homers and 68 steals in 92 attempts. Freshman rightfielder Antoine Duplantis is the Tigers’ leading hitter, batting .358 (58-for-162) with six doubles, four triples, one homer, 25 RBI, 31 runs and 10 stolen bases. Duplantis is No. 10 in the SEC in batting average and No. 6 in the league in base hits, and he has compiled hitting streaks of 19 games and 14 games this season.
LSU shortstop Kramer Robertson has been named to the Watch List for the 2016 Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the nation’s best shortstop … Robertson, a junior from McGregor, Texas, is hitting .320 (49-for-153) this season with 13 doubles, one triple, one homer, 28 RBI, 42 runs and 10 stolen bases. Robertson, who is fourth in the SEC in runs scored and sixth in the league in doubles, batted .462 (6-for-13) in last weekend’s series versus Mississippi State with two doubles, one homer, three RBI and two runs.
Sophomore leftfielder Beau Jordan is batting .352 for the Tigers with eight doubles, four homers and a team-high 35 RBI; junior centerfielder Jake Fraley is hitting .335 with six doubles, five triples, one homer and 21 RBI; and junior catcher Jordan Romero is batting .321 with six doubles, a team-high six homers and and 27 RBI.
Tulane is hitting .271 as a team this season with 39 homers and 35 steals in 45 attempts. The Green Wave is led at the plate by junior shortstop Stephen Alemais, who is batting .339 with nine doubles, one triple, one homer and 18 RBI. Junior infielder Hunter Hope is batting .299 with six doubles, one triple, 10 homers and 25 RBI, and junior catcher Jeremy Montalbano is batting .283 with 10 doubles, two triples, six homers and 31 RBI.
LSU leads Tulane, 180-127-3, 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 13 of its 17 meetings with Tulane over the past nine seasons, though the Green Wave won the matchup earlier this season, 7-1, on March 29 in Baton Rouge. Paul Mainieri has a 13-6 mark against Tulane in his 10-season coaching tenure at LSU.
#8 LSU Fighting Tigers (27-13) at #20 Tulane Green Wave (26-13)
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, April 26 – 6 p.m. CT
STADIUM
Turchin Stadium in New Orleans, La.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 8 by Baseball America; No. 11 by D1 Baseball; No. 13 by USA Today
TU – No. 20 by Baseball America; No. 20 by Perfect Game; No. 22 by D1 Baseball
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge); live audio and live stats at www.LSUsports.net
TV
CBS Sports Network (HD Ch. 1295 on Cox Cable systems; check satellite and TV listings for channel number in your area)
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads Tulane, 180-127-3, 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 13 of its 17 meetings with Tulane over the past nine seasons, though the Green Wave won the matchup earlier this season, 7-1, on March 29 in Baton Rouge. Paul Mainieri has a 13-6 mark against Tulane in his 10-season coaching tenure at LSU.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – So. RHP Doug Norman (1-0, 3.26 ERA, 19.1 IP, 8 BB, 14 SO)
TU – So. RHP J.P. France (3-1, 3.98 ERA, 40.2 IP, 21 BB, 38 SO)