Kansas State Wildcats (4-1) at No. 1 LSU Tigers (4-0)

DATE/TIME
• Friday, February 24 @ 2 p.m. CT

(LSU will also play Iowa at 12 p.m. CT Saturday and Sam Houston at 4 p.m. CT Sunday)

STADIUM
• Dell Diamond – Round Rock, Texas

RANKINGS
• LSU – No. 1 in all polls
• KSU – unranked

RADIO
• LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates – 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
• Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com

ONLINE
• The game will be streamed on a pay-per-view basis on D1Baseball.com

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. KANSAS STATE
LSU leads the all-time series vs. 11-8; the teams first met in 1967 and last met in 2001 … the Tigers won two of three games over KSU in the 2001 season-opening series in Baton Rouge – the Wildcats captured the opener, 9-8, before LSU rebounded to post 4-0 and 14-8 victories.

PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – Jr. RH Paul Skenes (1-0, 0.00, ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 BB, 12 SO)
KSU – Sr. LH Owen Boerema (0-0, 15.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 3 BB 4 SO)

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“This trip will be important for our team. There are a lot of things that are great about it, and we’re going to play some great opponents. We’ll be challenged, we’ll be tested, but I’m really excited to get out to Round Rock. It’s a beautiful ballpark; it’s a great venue, and I think this experience will be very beneficial for our team in a lot of ways.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU opened the 2023 season with a weekend series sweep of Western Michigan, outscoring the Broncos, 24-5 … the Tigers defeated Southern, 18-4 (7 innings), on Tuesday before traveling to Round Rock, Texas, to compete in the Karbach Round Rock Classic this weekend at Dell Diamond, the home of the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express.

• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes was named on Monday the SEC Pitcher of the Week and one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week … Skenes, making his debut in an LSU uniform, worked six shutout frames last Friday to defeat Western Michigan, allowing just three hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts .. the 12 Ks represented the most by an LSU pitcher since April 15, 2021, when Landon Marceaux recorded 12 strikeouts versus South Carolina … Skenes’ effort also marked the most strikeouts by an LSU pitcher in a season opener since Scott Schultz fanned 12 Lamar batters in 1995 in the Winn-Dixie Showdown at the Louisiana Superdome.

• Junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan became the first LSU player to hit for the cycle in 13 years on Tuesday in the Tigers’ win over Southern … Morgan hit for the “natural” cycle (single, double, triple, homer in order), as he was 4-for-5 at the plate with a career-high eight RBI … he collected a single in the second inning, a double in the third, and a triple in the fifth before putting an exclamation point on the outing with a dinger to right field in the sixth, officially completing the natural cycle … Morgan is the first LSU player to hit for the cycle since April 6, 2010, when outfielder Mikie Mahtook accomplished the feat versus Alcorn State.

• Graduate second baseman Gavin Dugas led LSU to a season-opening series sweep of Western Michigan last weekend as he batted .750 (6-for-8) with two homers, two RBI and three runs … batting at the top of the order in Games 2 and 3, Dugas opened the bottom of the first inning last Saturday with LSU’s first homer of the year … on Sunday, Dugas was 3-for-3 at the plate with a homer and two runs scored.

• True freshman designated hitter Jared Jones enjoyed a spectacular LSU debut in the Tigers’ weekend sweep of Western Michigan, batting .500 (4-for-8) with two doubles, three RBI, four runs scored and a .750 slugging percentage … Jones launched his first career collegiate homer on Tuesday vs. Southern, a two-run blast that traveled 467 feet.

• Right-hander Christian Little earned his first career LSU victory in a relief effort Tuesday vs. Southern … Little, a transfer from Vanderbilt, entered the game in the third inning and fired 3.2 innings with six strikeouts … he threw 43 pitches while allowing just one hit and one walk, and he fanned six of the 12 batters he faced.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
• Kansas State is 4-1 after opening the season with a four-game sweep at Stephen F. Austin before dropping a 4-3 decision at Lamar on Wednesday night in Beaumont, Texas.
• The Wildcats have hit 11 home runs in five games; outfielder Cole Johnson leads the club with three homers and 11 RBI … infielder Kaelen Culpepper has two homers and 10 RBI in K-State’s first five games.
• Left-hander Owen Boerema, Kansas State’s scheduled starting pitcher vs. LSU, started the Wildcats’ season opener last Friday at Stephen F. Austin and worked three innings, allowing five runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts … Boerema was not involved in the decision in K-State’s 7-6 win.