March 20 Baseball National Rankings, Report

Overall Record: 18-2 (2-1 in SEC)

Last Week’s Results (3-1)
March 14 (Tue.) – NEW ORLEANS (W, 16-0)
March 17 (Fri.) – at Texas A&M (W, 9-0)
March 18 (Sat.) – at Texas A&M (W, 12-7)
March 19 (Sun.) – at Texas A&M (L, 6-8)

This Week’s Schedule
March 21 (Tue.) – CENTRAL ARKANSAS, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 24 (Fri.) – ARKANSAS, 7 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
March 25 (Sat.) – ARKANSAS, 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
March 26 (Sun.) – ARKANSAS, 12 p.m. CT (ESPN2)

Tigers Update
LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series victory at No. 11 Texas A&M … the Tigers’ 8-6 loss to the Aggies on Sunday ended LSU’s 13-game winning streak, its longest since the 2017 club won 17 games in a row … LSU’s 18-2 start this season is the Tigers’ best record through 20 games since the 2015 team also posted an 18-2 mark.

LSU, which has been ranked No. 1 all season by all of the college baseball polls, enters this week at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories … the Tigers are No. 1 in scoring average (11.1 runs per game), shutouts pitched (7) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.62) … LSU is No. 2 in the nation in fielding percentage (.989) and No. 2 in on-base percentage (.466).

LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in on-base percentage (.648) and in runs scored (37), and he is No. 3 in the country in batting average (.508) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (2.00) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (59), pitching wins (5) and WHIP (0.53).

Hitting Notes
Sophomore third baseman Tommy White batted .474 (9-for-19) in LSU’s games last week and helped lead the Tigers to an SEC series victory at No. 11 Texas A&M … White collected one double, one homer, 11 RBI and seven runs in the Tigers four games versus New Orleans and Texas A&M, and he extended his current hitting streak to 14 games … in LSU’s series victory at Texas A&M, White hit .500 (7-for-14) with one double, seven RBI and four runs …. his two-out, bases-loaded two-run single in the fourth inning of Game 2 sparked a six-run rally that allowed the Tigers to erase a 4-0 deficit and go on to post a 12-7 win … White is now hitting .419 on the year with a team-high 34 RBI.

Freshman first baseman/DH Jared Jones batted .400 (6-for-15) for LSU last week with one homer, eight RBI and two runs … he led the Tigers to an SEC-series clinching victory on Saturday at No. 11 Texas A&M by going 4-for-5 at the plate with a three-run homer and a pair of two-run singles … his two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning on Saturday broke a 4-4 tie and allowed the Tigers to go on to a 12-7 win … Jones is batting .367 on the year; he has a team-high seven homers this season, and he is second on the club with 29 RBI.

Pitching Notes
Junior right-hander Paul Skenes defeated No. 11 Texas A&M on Friday night, working 6.1 scoreless innings while allowing four hits and recording no walks and 11 strikeouts … Skenes fired a season-high 106 pitches in the outing to lead LSU to the series-opening victory over the Aggies … Skenes is No. 1 in the SEC in wins (5), strikeouts (59), opponent batting average (.115) and ERA (0.59).

Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards posted relief wins last week of New Orleans and Texas A&M … Edwards worked a combined 7.0 innings in the two outings, allowing just one run on three hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts.