COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the second consecutive weekend, LSU gets the opportunity to knock off the leaders of the Southeastern Conference’s East Division.
Last week, the Fighting Tigers took advantage of the opportunity by sweeping Georgia at home. This weekend, it’s the same task, just a much different setting, as LSU (25-13, 8-6) visits South Carolina (29-8, 9-5) for a three-game series that begins Friday at 7 p.m. EDT.
The series in Columbia continues Saturday at 4 p.m. and concludes Sunday at 1:30 p.m. All three games can be heard on the full LSU Sports Network (WDGL-98.1 FM in Baton Rouge, WWL-870 AM in New Orleans) and on the Internet at www.lsusports.net.
Sunday’s game will be televised live throughout Louisiana on the Jumbo Sports Network (WVLA-NBC 33 in Baton Rouge) and in other SEC markets by Comcast Sports Southeast.
LSU hits the road on the high of a season-long six-game winning streak, which was extended on Tuesday with a 13-2 victory over cross-town rival Southern, the Tigers’ 37th win in 38 tries over the Jaguars, who currently lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
LSU has been hot at the plate, scoring 40 runs in its last three games and batting .357 during the current winning streak. Leading the Tigers at the plate is sophomore shortstop Aaron Hill (.385-5 HR-29 RBI), who was named the Louisiana Sportswriters’ Association Position Player of the Week on Wednesday as he went 9-for-20 with two home runs and six RBI in four games last week as the Tigers beat Tulane in the Superdome in front of an NCAA record crowd of 27,673, then swept Georgia at Alex Box Stadium.
Also contributing to the Tigers’ surge into a third-place tie in the SEC West has been junior third baseman and team captain Wally Pontiff (.382-5-29), who has regained his stroke after a slight slump in late March. Pontiff is hitting .395 with seven doubles and seven RBI in the Tigers’ last 10 games.
On the mound, LSU will stick with the same rotation that swept Georgia, going with sophomore left-hander Lane Mestepey (7-2, 3.33) on Friday, sophomore right-hander Brian Wilson (5-2, 3.13) on Saturday and junior right-hander Bo Pettit (5-5, 3.69) on Sunday.
Pettit was named the SEC and LSWA Pitcher of the Week for winning games last week against Tulane and Georgia, posting a 2.08 with 12 strikeouts in the process.
For LSU to continue to make noise in the SEC race, it will have to beat a hot Gamecock squad that has won five straight games, including a three-game sweep at Vanderbilt last week and an 8-6 win at top-ranked Clemson on Wednesday. The win over Clemson was the 134th since the start of the 2000 season for USC, the most by any Division I team.
The Gamecocks head into the weekend second only behind Florida in the SEC with 62 home runs, led by senior first baseman Yaron Peters (.404-14-56) and senior left fielder Garris Gonce (.324-11-39). USC also features preseason All-America shortstop Drew Meyer (.387-3-24), a member of the U.S. national team.
The Gamecocks will start three left-handers against LSU, going with junior Steven Bondurant (5-0, 2.31) on Friday, sophomore David Marchbanks (6-2, 3.88) on Saturday and senior Gary Bell (6-2, 5.19) on Sunday. Carolina has the luxury of the best closer in the SEC in senior right-hander Blake Taylor, who notched his league leading ninth save against Clemson.
LSU has never lost a series to the Gamecocks, holding a 15-4-1 all-time edge since USC joined the SEC in 1992. The Tigers won two of three games last year at Columbia, taking the first two contests 5-3 and 12-6 before dropping a 4-2 decision in the finale.
LSU wraps up its four-game road trip Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when it visits Louisiana-Monroe, a team the Tigers swept at home in March. The game will mark the return of LSU coach Smoke Laval to the school where he coached for seven years and led the Indians to three NCAA regional berths.