Tigers Meet South Alabama Tuesday Night

South Alabama Jaguars (13-9) at No. 25 LSU Fighting Tigers (16-8)

DATE/TIME
•    Tuesday, March 30 @ 6:30 p.m. CT
STADIUM
•    Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La.
RANKINGS
•    LSU – No. 25 USA Today
•    USA – unranked
RADIO
•    LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
•    Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com 
ONLINE
•    The game may be viewed on SEC Network +, accessible at Watch ESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app

SERIES RECORD VS. SOUTH ALABAMA
•    Tuesday’s game marks the 44th meeting between LSU and South Alabama in a series that began in 1971 and USA leads, 25-18. The teams have met in each of the four previous seasons in Baton Rouge – South Alabama posted a 7-6 win over the Tigers in 2017, and LSU recorded 9-4, 2-0 and 4-1 wins over the Jaguars in the past three seasons. 

•    The teams also met on March 19, 2014, in Baton Rouge when LSU recorded a 9-0 win over the Jaguars. The 2014 contest was the first meeting between the schools since the 1997 NCAA South I Regional in Baton Rouge, when the Tigers defeated the Jaguars twice on the regional’s final day to advance to the College World Series. 

•    The schools met seven times in NCAA Regional games from 1989 through 1997, and LSU posted a 5-2 mark in those contests.

PITCHING MATCHUP
•    LSU – Fr. RH Will Hellmers  (4-1, 2.95 ERA, 21.1 IP, 5 BB, 25 SO)
•    USA  – Jr. LH Tyler Lehrmann (1-1, 3.71 ERA, 26.2 IP, 14 BB, 22 SO)

QUOTING PAUL MAINIERI
“We’ve got to be ready to go with four very tough ball games this week in a very short period of time. It’s a very big week for us, and we’ve to shake off last week’s Tennessee series very quickly. We face a very good South Alabama club on Tuesday night, then the No. 1 team in the country – Vanderbilt – comes in here on Thursday. That’s the nature of baseball; you’ve got to put what’s happened in the past behind you and get ready to go on to the next challenge. Traditionally, South Alabama has a great team, and (USA coach) Mark Calvi is an outstanding coach. So, they’re going to come here with a lot of confidence, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
•    LSU junior right-hander Landon Marceaux saw his streak of 33.2 straight innings without allowing an earned run end in Friday’s game at Tennessee … Marceaux, whose streak began during his final appearance of the 2020 season, pitched five innings on Friday and gave up two runs – one earned –  on three hits with three walks and nine strikeouts … Marceaux has a 0.26 ERA this season in 35 innings with nine walks and 44 strikeouts, and he’s limiting opponents to a .144 batting average; he is No. 2 in the SEC in ERA, No. 4 in opponent batting average and No. 9 in strikeouts.
•    Junior right-hander AJ Labas delivered a quality start for LSU in Sunday’s game at Tennessee, working seven innings and allowing just two runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
•    freshman first baseman Tre’ Morgan hit .429 (6-for-14) in the Tennessee series with three doubles, one homer, two RBI and three runs scored … Morgan collected a career-best five hits in Saturday’s game, including three doubles and a homer … Morgan tied the LSU single-game record for doubles (3), which has been set on numerous occasions, the last time by Kramer Robertson versus Georgia on March 17, 2017 … Morgan leads the SEC in runs scored (30 – tied with LSU RF Dylan Crews) and in doubles (12), and he is No. 4 in on-base percentage (.483), No. 5 in stolen bases (7), and No. 10 in on-base percentage (.660).
•    Junior leftfielder Gavin Dugas launched two homers and drove in four runs in the Tennessee series – he is No. 3 in the SEC with 30 RBI, and he’s No. 9 in total bases (57).
•    Freshman rightfielder Dylan Crews leads the SEC in base hits (36), runs scored (30 – tied with LSU 1B Tre’ Morgan) and total bases (67) … Crews is also No. 3 in home runs (8 – tied with LSU 3B Cade Doughty), No. 6 in on-base percentage (.479), No. 6 in slugging percentage (.691) and No. 6 in walks (18).
•    Sophomore third baseman Cade Doughty is No. 3 in the SEC in home runs (8 – tied with LSU RF Dylan Crews), No. 5 in RBI (27) and No. 5 in slugging percentage (.707).
•    LSU continues to lead the nation in home runs with 42 on the year; Arkansas and Southern Illinois are No. 2 in the nation with 40, and Old Dominion (36 HR) and Dallas Baptist (35 RH) round out the top five.

ABOUT THE JAGUARS
•    South Alabama, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, is 13-9 overall, 2-1 in league play … the Jaguars enter Tuesday’s game on a five-game win streak, including a three-game non-conference sweep at Northwestern State last weekend.
•    The Jaguars are hitting .232 as a team with 30 doubles, three triples, 24 homers and 15 steals in 21 attempts … the South Alabama pitching staff has a 3.66 cumulative ERA and is limiting opponents to a .228 batting average.
•    South Alabama is led at the plate by junior outfielder Ethan Wilson, who is hitting .320 with six doubles, one triple, five homers and 13 RBI … senior outfielder Michael Sandle is batting .287 with five doubles, two homers and 13 RBI … junior utility player Caleb Balgaard has team-highs of six doubles, five homers and 14 RBI.