BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 14 LSU (18-9) plays host to Southern University (8-17) at 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
The game will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge, Live audio of the games may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net/live with live stats at www.LSUstats.com.
The LSU-Southern game may be viewed online on SEC Network +, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.
“It’s great for our community, for both schools and for the players on both teams that LSU and Southern are able to meet on the baseball diamond each year,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We have great friends at Southern in (head coach) Roger Cador and (pitching coach) Dan Canevari, and a lot of their players work at our camps during the summer. We know their team well, and they have a lot of talented ball players. We had to go into the 10th inning to win against them last season, so we’re very focused on Southern as our next opponent.”
LSU won two of three SEC games last weekend at Auburn, marking the Tigers’ 16th series victory in its last 20 SEC series on the road.
Junior catcher Jordan Romero led LSU to a series victory at Auburn last weekend, batting .333 (4-for-12) with two doubles, two homers and seven RBI. Romero blasted a pivotal three-run homer in the seventh inning on Sunday, increasing LSU’s lead from 6-5 to 9-5. He also launched a solo homer and an RBI double on Saturday in the second game of a doubleheader, and he provided a two-run double in Game 1.
Romero leads LSU in home runs this season with five, and he is batting .327 on the year with four doubles, 18 RBI and nine runs; he also has a team-best .692 slugging percentage.
Sophomore leftfielder Beau Jordan batted .400 (4-for-8) in the Auburn series with one homer, two RBI, and one run scored, and junior second baseman Cole Freeman hit .444 (4-for-9) against Auburn with one RBI, two steals and four runs scored. Freshman third baseman Chris Reid hit .364 (4-for-11) at Auburn with one triple, two RBI and two runs.
As a team, LSU hit .306 (33-for-108) in the Auburn series, collecting 23 runs, three doubles, one triple and four homers. The Tigers accumulated five steals in seven attempts, struck out just 13 times and played near-flawless defense, posting a .990 fielding percentage with just one error.
Southern is led is hitting .255 as a team on the year with seven homers and 44 steals in 57 attempts. The Jaguars are led at the plate by junior infielder Troy Lewis, who is batting .359 with four doubles, one triple, one homer and nine RBI. Senior catcher Jose DeLa Torre is batting .359 with four doubles, two homers and 17 RBI, and sophomore infielder Robinson Mateo is batting .294 with six doubles, one triple and 13 RBI.
LSU leads the series with its intra-city rival, 50-2, as the teams first met in 1970. LSU has won 11 consecutive games over Southern, including an 4-2, 10-inning victory last season at Lee-Hines Field on the Southern campus. The Jaguars’ last win over the Tigers came on May 3, 2005, a 9-5 SU triumph in the original Alex Box Stadium. Southern’s only other win in the series occurred on March 6, 2001, an 11-6 victory in Alex Box Stadium.
Southern Jaguars (8-17) at #14 LSU Fighting Tigers (18-9)
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, April 5 – 6:30 p.m. CT
STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La.
RANKINGS
LSU – No. 14 by USA Today; No. 15 by D1 Baseball; No. 15 by Baseball America
SU – unranked
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge); live audio and live stats at www.LSUsports.net
ONLINE
SEC Network + (accessible at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app)
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads the series with its intra-city rival, 50-2, as the teams first met in 1970. LSU has won 11 consecutive games over Southern, including an 4-2, 10-inning victory last season at Lee-Hines Field on the Southern campus. The Jaguars’ last win over the Tigers came on May 3, 2005, a 9-5 SU triumph in the original Alex Box Stadium. Southern’s only other win in the series occurred on March 6, 2001, an 11-6 victory in Alex Box Stadium.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – So. RHP Jesse Stallings (0-0, 2.79 ERA, 9.2 IP, 3 BB, 7 SO)
SU – TBA