OXFORD, Miss. — Two of the pre-season favorites in the Southeastern Conference race, LSU and Ole Miss, look to bounce back from tough opening weekends in league play when the teams open a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Games two and three of the series at Swayze Field are set for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday’s game will be televised live across Louisiana by the Jumbo Sports Network (WB-10 in Baton Rouge), with Lyn Rollins and Ronnie Rantz calling the action. All three games will also be carried by the full LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM) and on the Internet at www.lsusports.net.
This will be one of two series in the SEC matching ranked foes this weekend. The Fighting Tigers (14-9, 1-2) enter ranked 14th by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball and 16th by ESPN/Baseball Weekly, while the Rebels (14-6, 0-3) are 16th in Collegiate Baseball, 17th in Baseball Weekly and 24th in Baseball America. The other series matching two ranked teams is the big SEC East series between Florida and South Carolina in Columbia.
LSU enters on its first three-game losing streak of 2002, dropping a 7-0 decision Tuesday at Louisiana-Lafayette to along with 9-2 and 8-7 losses in the final two games of last weekend’s SEC series with Vanderbilt, leaving LSU 1-2 in the SEC for the third straight year, something that hasn’t previously happened since 1972-74. The Tigers defeated the Commodores 6-0 last Friday in the opener of that series as Bo Pettit threw a four-hit shutout.
The shutout by UL-Lafayette was the first suffered by LSU since a 13-0 setback last March 25 at Mississippi State, and the first blanking by a non-SEC foe since Cal St. Fullerton eliminated the Tigers from the 1992 South I Regional with an 11-0 victory.
Junior right-hander Pettit (2-2, 3.21) will get the start on Friday for coach Smoke Laval’s club, with sophomore left-hander Lane Mestepey (3-2, 3.43) and junior right-hander Jake Tompkins (2-0, 3.34) rounding out the LSU rotation.
LSU junior third baseman Wally Pontiff will be looking to extend his career-high hitting streak to 16 games on Friday. Pontiff got a single in the ninth-inning on Tuesday to extend the streak, as his season average stands at a team-high .407. Pontiff’s streak is the longest current streak in the SEC.
Coach Mike Bianco’s Rebels are looking for their first SEC win, as Ole Miss was swept by Florida last weekend in Gainesville, defeating the Rebels by scores of 24-5, 7-6 and 17-6. Tennessee, which was swept by Alabama last weekend, is the only other 0-3 team in SEC play.
Bianco has juggled his pitching rotation slightly, going with junior right-hander J.R. Pickens (3-1, 2.68) on Friday, then throwing senior right-hander Pete Montrenes (5-1, 4.60) on Saturday and freshman right-hander Alan Horne (0-1, 7.11) on Sunday.
Horne was the Cleveland Indians’ first round pick in the June 2001 draft, as LSU will face first-round picks in successive weekends. Last Friday, the Tigers defeated Vanderbilt left-hander Jeremy Sowers, who was the 19th pick in the draft by the Cincinnati Reds.
The Rebels enter the weekend sporting a strong .345 batting average, led by the .475 mark posted by freshman outfielder Shane Smith. All-SEC outfielder Burney Hutchinson is also enjoying a fine season with a .361 average, as he and Smith are tied for the team lead with four home runs each.
The Tigers hold a 147-124 edge in the series that dates back to 1906.
In 2001, the Tigers won two of three in the regular season, winning 15-2 in the first game and 6-3 in the finale, but sustaining a 23-10 loss in the second game as Ole Miss scored the most runs ever by an opponent in the 64-year history of Alex Box Stadium. LSU also claimed two victories in the SEC Tournament in Birmingham, winning 13-2 in seven innings and 12-6 two days later.
Bianco and Laval both have ties to former LSU coach Skip Bertman. Laval was Bertman’s top assistant from 1984-93, while Bianco played for Bertman in 1988 and 1989 and was an assistant at his alma mater from 1992-97. Laval was on staff for the Tigers’ national championships in 1991 and 1993, while Bianco was a part of the 1996 and 1997 crowns, as well as the ’93 title.
Bertman was 49-14 against Ole Miss in his 18-year tenure (1984-2001), the best winning percentage against any SEC foe. Bianco is 3-7 in his career vs. LSU, including a 2-2 record during his three-year tenure (1998-2000) as coach at McNeese St., while Laval was 3-2 versus Ole Miss during his seven seasons (1994-2000) at Louisiana-Monroe.
LSU completes its five-game road trip on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when it visits Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond. The Tigers resume SEC play Easter weekend at home against Mississippi State.
GAME TIME CHANGE: LSU’s April 27 game against Arkansas at Alex Box Stadium that was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. will now start at 4 p.m. The change was made to avoid conflict with the spring football game that starts at 1 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.