COLUMBIA, S.C. – Top-ranked LSU (44-8, 19-7 SEC) opens its final regular-season weekend series at 6 p.m. CT Thursday when the Tigers meet South Carolina (31-22, 12-15 SEC) at Carolina Stadium.
Game 2 of the series is set for 7 p.m. CT Friday, and first pitch for Game 3 is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT Saturday.
The games on Thursday and Saturday will be televised on the SEC Network, and Friday’s game will be televised on ESPNU.
The games will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge, and live audio and stats may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU is ranked No. 1 this week in the six primary college baseball polls, marking the sixth week in a row and the ninth week overall the Tigers are No. 1 in at least one poll. LSU has won 21 of its last 24 games and 14 of its last 16.
The Tigers have a 1.5-game lead over Vanderbilt in the overall SEC standings, and LSU leads Texas A&M by two games in the SEC Western Division. LSU is attempting to win its league-best 17th conference title and its third in the past seven seasons. The Tigers are also attempting to capture their 18th Western Division championship and their fifth in the past eight seasons.
“One of the reasons our players come to LSU is to have the opportunity to win championships,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We’ve accomplished just about everything we’ve needed to accomplish through the first 14 weeks of the season, and now we’re in a position to add to LSU’s championship legacy. We have a tremendous challenge in front of us because South Carolina is playing as well as anyone in our league right now. We have great respect for their program, and in order to reach our goals, we’ll have to play at a very high level in a difficult road environment.”
LSU has a 16-2 record this season in games away from Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field, including a 9-2 mark in SEC road games.
LSU is No. 2 in the nation in hits (619), and the Tigers are No. 3 in the nation and No.1 in the SEC with a .319 team batting average. The Tigers will face a South Carolina pitching staff which is No. 8 in the SEC with a 4.00 staff ERA.
Senior third baseman Conner Hale led LSU to an SEC series sweep over Missouri last weekend, batting .538 (7-for-13) with five RBI, five runs and a .538 on-base percentage. Hale led off the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday with a single and later scored the game-winning run on a walk-off single by leftfielder Jake Fraley.
Hale leads LSU on the season with 49 RBI, and he is batting .344 with 14 doubles, two triples, four homers and 41 runs.
Senior catcher Kade Scivicque hit .500 (6-for-12) in the Missouri series with three RBI, and he is batting a team-high .376 on the year with 15 doubles, five homers and 38 RBI. Junior first baseman Chris Chinea is batting .368 for the Tigers with 13 doubles, a team-high nine homers and 47 RBI.
LSU junior shortstop Alex Bregman enters the South Carolina series with a hitting streak of 17 games and a reached-base streak of 49 games. Bregman leads the SEC in stolen bases (29), the sixth-highest single-season total in LSU history. He has 56 career doubles, which ranks No. 8 in LSU’s all-time annals.
The Tigers have 101 stolen bases this season, which represents the most steals by an LSU club since the 2009 team posted 114 in 73 games.
The LSU pitching staff is first in the SEC and eighth in the nation with a 2.84 team ERA. Right-hander Alex Lange, the Tigers’ scheduled starting pitcher in Game 3 this weekend, is No. 2 in the SEC in ERA (2.13) and No. 3 in the league in strikeouts.
Lange earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the third time this season after defeating Missouri last Saturday. Lange limited Missouri to one run on two hits in seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.
South Carolina is hitting .262 as a team (13th in the SEC) with 40 homers and 63 steals in 77 attempts. The Gamecocks are led at the plate by Kyle Martin, who is hitting .351 with 11 doubles, two triples, 14 homers and 56 RBI. Elliott Caldwell is batting .346 with five doubles, eight triples, three homers and 39 RBI, while Max Schrock is hitting .317 with 11 doubles, two triples, four homers and 32 RBI.
LSU leads the overall series with South Carolina, 32-24-1, as the squads first met on the diamond in 1992. LSU has won 10 of its last 14 games with South Carolina, though the Gamecocks won two of three games over the Tigers in the teams’ last meeting in 2013 in Baton Rouge.
In the five seasons prior to 2013, LSU had posted a three-game sweep over USC in Baton Rouge in 2008, a first-round win in the 2008 SEC Tournament, a 2-1 series victory in Columbia in 2009, a third-round 2009 SEC Tournament victory and a 2-1 series victory in Columbia in 2012. The series win in 2012 came on the final weekend of the regular season and clinched the 2012 SEC championship for the Tigers.
#1 LSU Fighting Tigers (44-8, 19-7 SEC) at South Carolina Gamecocks (31-22, 12-15 SEC)
DATES/TIMES
Thursday, May 14 – 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Friday, May 15 – 7 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Saturday, May 16 – 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
STADIUM
Carolina Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 1 Baseball America; No. 1 USA Today; No. 1 D1 Baseball; No. 1 Collegiate Baseball; No. 1 Perfect Game; No. 1 NCBWA
USC – unranked
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
LSUsports.net – live audio and live stats
TV
Thursday – SEC Network
Friday – ESPNU
Saturday – SEC Network
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads the overall series with South Carolina, 32-24-1; the schools first met on the diamond in 1992. LSU has won 10 of its last 14 games with South Carolina, though the Gamecocks won two of three games over the Tigers in the teams’ last meeting in 2013 in Baton Rouge. In the five seasons prior to 2013, LSU had posted a three-game sweep over USC in Baton Rouge in 2008, a first-round win in the 2008 SEC Tournament, a 2-1 series victory in Columbia in 2009, a third-round 2009 SEC Tournament victory and a 2-1 series victory in Columbia in 2012. The series win in 2012 came on the final weekend of the regular season and clinched the 2012 SEC championship for the Tigers.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
LSU – So. LHP Jared Poche’ (7-1, 2.87 ERA, 81.2 IP, 19 BB, 50 SO)
USC – Jr. LHP Jack Wynkoop (8-4, 2.83 ERA, 92.1 IP, 13 BB, 80 SO)
Game 2
LSU – Fr. RHP Austin Bain (1-2, 2.98 ERA, 42.1 IP, 17 BB, 45 SO)
USC – TBA
Game 3
LSU – Fr. RHP Alex Lange (9-0, 2.13 ERA, 76, IP, 32 BB, 82 SO)
USC – TBA