HOOVER, Ala. – LSU seeks a berth in the SEC Tournament championship game for the third straight season at 9:30 a.m. Saturday when the Tigers face either Ole Miss or Auburn at Regions Park. Auburn and Ole Miss are scheduled to meet Friday evening in a elimination game.
If the Tigers win the Saturday morning contest, LSU advances to the tournament championship game for the third straight year. If Auburn or Ole Miss defeat LSU Saturday morning, the Tigers would face one of those teams again Saturday afternoon for the right to move on to the title game.
The Saturday morning game will be televised by SportSouth, and it can also be seen on Fox Sports Southwest and Fox Sports Houston.
The contest may be heard on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network. Live audio and stats can also be accessed in the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU is making its 26th appearance in the SEC Tournament, and the Tigers have a 61-35 all-time record in the event, including wins this week over Florida and Vanderbilt. LSU is the two-time defending SEC Tournament champion and is seeking to become the first league school to win three straight tournament titles since Alabama from 1995-97.
Alabama won the SEC Western Division Tournament in 1995, and the Tide won the SEC Tournament in its current format in 1996 and 1997.
The SEC played divisional tournaments from 1993-95. No league school has ever won three straight league tournament titles in the current format.
The Tigers defeated Ole Miss in the 2008 tournament final, and LSU posted a win over Vanderbilt in the ’09 tournament championship game. LSU has a total of eight tournament titles, having also won in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 2000.
“I’m very pleased with the way we’ve played thus far in the tournament,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We’ve had excellent starting pitching, and our offense has been tremendous with 17 runs and 34 hits in two games. As they have all year, our guys are playing with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and we hope to advance to the championship game on Sunday.”
Mainieri is looking to win his eighth consecutive conference tournament title as a head coach. He led Notre Dame to five straight Big East Tournament titles from 2002-06, and, after LSU fell short of qualifying for the 2007 SEC Tournament, he has directed the Tigers to the league tournament crown in the past two seasons.
Mainieri said junior right-hander Ben Alsup (3-0, 4.33 ERA) will start Saturday’s game on the mound for the Tigers. Alsup has been very effective in his six SEC relief appearances this season, posting a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings with three walks and 11 strikeouts.
LSU is hitting .410 in its two SEC Tournament victories (34-for-83) with five doubles and two homers. Senior first baseman Blake Dean is batting .600 (6-for-10) in the tournament and has increased his career hits total to 327. Dean is tied for second place on the all-time LSU hits list with Jason Williams (1993-96), and he is 25 hits shy of matching the LSU record of 352 set by Eddy Furniss (1995-98).
Junior catcher Micah Gibbs is batting .444 (4-for-9) in the tournament with one homer and two RBI while sophomore shortstop Austin Nola is hitting .400 (4-for-10) with two doubles and three RBI.
Junior right-hander Austin Ross turned in a brilliant effort to defeat Vanderbilt on Thursday, working eight innings and limiting the Commodores to four runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Ross’ outing represented the longest by an LSU pitcher this season.
Ross’ effort followed the best outing of the season for junior right-hander Anthony Ranaudo, who defeated Florida on Wednesday. Ranaudo pitched 7.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
LSU reliever Paul Bertuccini has made 107 career appearances for LSU, and he is just one shy of tying the school record for appearances set by Mark LaRosa (108 appearances from 1988-91). Bertuccini was named on May 6 as a member of the ESPN The Magazine second-team Academic All-America squad for District VI, and he graduated earlier this month with a 3.53 cumulative GPA in management.
#8 seed LSU Tigers (38-20) vs. # 6 seed Ole Miss Rebels (37-21) or # 2 seed Auburn Tigers (40-18)
GAME DATE/TIME
Saturday, May 29 – 9:30 a.m.
STADIUM
Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 30 NCBWA
UM – No. 21 Collegiate Baseball, No. 22 USA Today/ESPN, No. 25 NCBWA
AU – No. 13 Baseball America, No. 14 Collegiate Baseball, No. 16 NCBWA, No. 16 USA Today/ESPN
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates/flagship station is WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
INTERNET
www.LSUsports.net/live – live audio and stats
www.ESPN3.com – live video
TV
SportSouth, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Houston
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads the all-time series with Auburn, 86-66, in a series that began in 1907. Auburn won two of three games over LSU during the 2010 regular season (April 9-11 at Auburn).
LSU leads the all-time series with Ole Miss, 160-140, in a series that began in 1906. Ole Miss swept three games from LSU during the 2010 regular season (April 23-25 at Oxford).
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – Jr. RHP Ben Alsup (3-0, 4.33 ERA, 35.1 IP, 9 BB, 26 SO)
UM/AU — TBA