BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 4 LSU (17-5, 3-0 SEC) opens a three-game SEC sies at 6 p.m. CT Friday in Gainesville, Fla., as the Tigers meet the 11th-ranked Florida Gators (14-8, 0-3 SEC) at McKethan Stadium.
Game 2 of the series is set for 2 p.m. CT on Saturday, and first pitch for Game 3 is 12 p.m. CT on Sunday.
The games will be carried on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), and the radio broadcast may be heard at www.LSUsports.net/live, The games on Friday and Sunday will be televised on the SEC Network, and Saturday’s contest will be televised on ESPN2.
The games may also be viewed on SEC Network +, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
The Tigers have won four straight games, including a three-game sweep of Georgia last weekend to open Southeastern Conference play and an 8-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday night.
Florida opened SEC play last weekend by losing three games at Auburn, and Gators posted a 9-8 win at Stetson on Tuesday night.
LSU leads the overall series with Florida, 60-45-1, and the Tigers have won nine of the last 16 meetings between the teams. LSU and Florida played five times last season, with the Tigers winning three of those meetings. LSU won two of three games over the Gators in the regular season before the teams split a pair of games in the SEC Tournament. The Gators defeated the Tigers, 1-0, in the 2016 SEC Tournament semifinal.
Florida swept a three-game series over LSU in March, 2014, in the Tigers’ last trip to Gainesville.
“It’s going to be a big series this weekend with the Gators; it always is when LSU and Florida get together,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “Florida has outstanding players, and they play especially well at home in a ball park that is a difficult place for visiting teams. There’s going to be some significant baseball being played, and we’re excited about the opportunity this weekend.”
LSU enters Friday’s game batting .317 as a team with 18 homers and 29 steals in 39 attempts. The Tigers are ranked No. 2 in the SEC in team batting average, and the LSU pitching staff is No. 8 in the league with a 3.19 ERA.
Florida is hitting .243 as a team – No. 13 in the SEC – and the Gators have 16 home runs and 24 steals in 28 attempts. The Florida pitching staff is No. 6 in the league with a 3.09 ERA.
Senior second baseman Cole Freeman leads the Tigers in batting average at .400 (32-for-80) and on-base percentage (.505). Freeman is fourth in the SEC in batting average and third in the league in on-base percentage.
LSU junior rightfielder Greg Deichmann is hitting .363 with team-highs of eight homers and 31 RBI. Deichmann leads the SEC in home runs, and he is second in the league in RBI.
LSU sophomore leftfielder Antoine Duplantis earned National and SEC Player of the Week honors on Monday after batting .425 (10-for-23) in five games last week with two doubles, one homer, 14 RBI, seven runs and a .536 on-base percentage. Duplantis is hitting .366 this season with four doubles, two triples, one homer, 23 runs, eight steals and 28 RBI.
Senior shortstop Kramer Robertson batted .636 (7-for-11) in the Georgia series with three doubles, two RBI and 10 runs scored. He is hitting .373 on the year with nine doubles, one triple, one homer, 12 RBI and 33 runs scored.
Senior left-hander Jared Poche’, LSU’s Game 2 starter, leads the SEC with a 5-0 mark and a 0.25 ERA. Poche’ extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 32 last Saturday before finally giving up his first run this season on a solo homer by Georgia leftfielder Keegan McGovern in the fourth inning. The home run, however, was the only run that Poche’ allowed in his seven-inning outing as he limited the Bulldogs to seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts in a 5-1 win.
Poche’ earned his 32nd LSU career win last Saturday, and he is only six wins shy of tying the all-time school record for pitching victories. His streak of 32 straight scoreless innings in one season is the second-longest at LSU, trailing only the 44.2 consecutive scoreless frames fired by Ben McDonald in 1989.
Florida sophomore infielder Jonathan India is batting 278 this season, and he leads the Gators in home runs with three and in RBI with 14. Junior DH/catcher JJ Schwarz has two homers and 13 RBI, while junior catcher Mark Kolozsvary has recorded two homers and 10 RBI.
#4 LSU Fighting Tigers (17-5, 3-0 SEC) at #11 Florida Gators (14-8, 0-3 SEC)
DATES/TIMES
Friday, March 24 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 25 – 2 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 26 – 12 p.m. CT
STADIUM
McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 4 by Baseball America; No. 4 by USA Today; No. 5 by D1 Baseball; No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball
UF – No. 11 by D1 Baseball; No. 12 by USA Today; No.13 by Baseball America; No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network; in Baton Rouge on WDGL 98.1 FM
Radio broadcast and live stats for all LSU baseball games are available at www.LSUsports.net
TV
Friday – SEC Network
Saturday – ESPN2
Sunday – SEC Network
ONLINE
SEC Network +, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads the overall series with Florida, 60-45-1, and the Tigers have won nine of the last 16 meetings between the teams. LSU and Florida played five times last season, with the Tigers winning three of those meetings. LSU won two of three games over the Gators in the regular season before the teams split a pair of games in the SEC Tournament. The Gators defeated the Tigers, 1-0, in the 2016 SEC Tournament semifinal. Florida swept a three-game series over LSU in March, 2014, in the Tigers’ last trip to Gainesville.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
LSU – Jr. RHP Alex Lange (3-1, 5.04 ERA, 25.0 IP, 9 BB, 36 SO)
UF – Jr. RHP Alex Faedo (3-1, 2.93 ERA, 30.2 IP, 13 BB, 35 SO)
LSU – Sr. LHP Jared Poche’ (5-0, 0.25 ERA, 36.0 IP, 4 BB, 23 SO)
UF – So. RHP Brady Singer (2-1, 1.74 ERA, 31.0 IP, 9 BB, 31 SO)
LSU – Fr. RHP Eric Walker (3-0, 2.67 ERA, 27.0 IP, 5 BB, 30 SO)
UF – So. RHP Jackson Kowar (3-0, 2.35 ERA, 30.2 IP, 12 BB, 27 SO)