BATON ROUGE — No. 12 LSU (24-11, 5-7 SEC) plays host to No. 20 Ole Miss (23-10, 6-6) this weekend in a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Alex Box Stadium.
Game 1 of the series is set for 6:30 p.m. CDT Friday, Game 2 begins at 2 p.m. CDT Saturday and Game 3 starts at 1 p.m. CDT Sunday.
The games can be heard statewide on the LSU Sports Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge). The radio broadcast and live stats are also available on the LSU Athletics web site, www.LSUsports.net.
Sunday’s game will be televised statewide by Cox Sports Television (Cable Ch. 37 in Baton Rouge).
Ole Miss is tied with Auburn for fourth place in the SEC West, trailing division leader Alabama (8-4) by two games. LSU is sixth in the West, three games behind the Crimson Tide.
LSU has lost four straight conference games, including a three-game sweep at the hands of South Carolina last weekend in Baton Rouge. Ole Miss dropped two of three games last weekend to Alabama in Oxford.
Each team earned a non-conference victory this week — LSU defeated Northwestern State, 19-2, on Tuesday, and Ole Miss edged Southeastern Louisiana, 10-8, on Wednesday.
LSU coach Smoke Laval will send senior left-hander Lane Mestepey (5-4, 2.80 ERA) to the mound in Friday’s series opener. Mestepey moved into second place on the all-time LSU wins list March 18 with a complete-game effort at Georgia; however, he has dropped his last three decisions to Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina.
Mestepey has allowed just five earned runs in his last two outings against Alabama and South Carolina, but LSU scored only one run in those contests.
Mestepey, who has a 34-15 career mark, is four wins shy of the LSU all-time wins record (38) held by Scott Schultz (1992-95).
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco is expected to counter Friday with junior right-hander Mark Holliman (4-1, 4.25 ERA). Holliman is seventh in the SEC in strikeouts with 57 Ks in 53 innings.
Bianco is a former LSU catcher (1988-89) and assistant coach (1993-97) who helped lead the Tigers to three national championships (1993, ’96 and ’97).
LSU outfielder Ryan Patterson was named the top senior player in the country this week by Baseball America magazine in its Mid-Season Report. Patterson leads LSU with a .410 average, 13 doubles, 13 homers and 35 RBI. Patterson is hitting .404 (19-for-47) in SEC games with four doubles, five homers and 11 RBI.
Patterson leads the league in homers (13), runs scored (46), total bases (109) and slugging percentage (.813).
Ole Miss infielder Brian Pettway is hitting an SEC-high .445 (57for-128) with 11 doubles, 11 homers and 36 RBI. The Rebels are third in the league with a .323 team batting average.
LSU leads the overall series with Ole Miss, 152-128, and the Tigers have won 11 of the 17 meetings between the clubs this decade. LSU has also won five of its last six regular-season series with Ole Miss, including a 2-1 series victory last season in Oxford.
Bianco has a 5-9 career mark against LSU in his five seasons as the Ole Miss coach. Laval is 5-4 against Ole Miss in his four seasons at LSU.
SERIES FACTS
# 20 Ole Miss Rebels (23-10, 6-6) at #12 LSU Fighting Tigers (24-11, 5-7)
DATES/TIMES
Friday, April 15 — 6:30 p.m. CDT;
Saturday, April 16 — 2 p.m. CDT;
Sunday, April 17 — 1 p.m. CDT
STADIUM:
Alex Box Stadium (7,760) in Baton Rouge, La.
TICKETS:
$8 adults, $5 children ages 3-12 — available at Alex Box Stadium each day two hours prior to first pitch
RANKINGS:
LSU (# 12 ESPN/Sports Weekly, # 19 Collegiate Baseball, # 22 Baseball America)
Ole Miss (# 20 ESPN/Sports Weekly, # 21 Baseball America, # 28 Collegiate Baseball)
RADIO:
statewide on LSU Sports Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET:
radio broadcast and live stats of all three games at www.LSUsports.net
TV:
None on Friday and Saturday;
Cox Sports Television on Sunday (Cable Ch. 37 in Baton Rouge)
SERIES RECORD:
LSU leads, 152-128
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
LSU — Sr. LHP Lane Mestepey (5-4, 2.80 ERA, 64.1 IP, 12 BB, 36 SO)
UM — Jr. RHP Mark Holliman (4-1, 4.25 ERA, 53.0 IP, 19 BB, 57 SO)
Game 2
LSU — So. LHP Clay Dirks (7-1, 3.16 ERA, 51.1 IP, 17 BB, 35 SO)
UM — Jr. LHP Matt Maloney (4-1, 0.99 ERA, 45.1 IP, 10 BB, 59 SO)
Game 3
LSU — Jr. LHP Greg Smith (4-2, 3.29 ERA, 52.0 IP, 17 BB, 48 SO)
UM — Jr. LHP Eric Fowler (2-1, 3.76 ERA, 26.1 IP, 5 BB, 32 SO)