5 days Ago
Jay Johnson and the seventh-ranked LSU Tigers will return to Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday night for an in-state matchup against the McNeese State Cowboys. Johnson and Co. will look to bounce back following an SEC series loss to the Auburn Tigers after being swept in Plainsman Park over the weekend.
Now, all focus has shifted towards Tuesday's clash against a red-hot Cowboys squad that will enter the matchup with a 27-5 record. A look into the preview for Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, the latest on the Tigers and a scouting report on McNeese. The Preview: McNeese Cowboys (27-5) at No.
7 LSU Tigers (31-6) DATE/TIME • Tuesday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. CT STADIUM • Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La.
RANKINGS • LSU – No. 7 USA Today, No. 8 Baseball America, No.
9 D1 Baseball • McNeese – unranked RADIO • LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates • Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.
LSUstats.com ONLINE • The game will be streamed live on SEC Network + LSU SERIES RECORD VS. McNEESE LSU leads the overall series with McNeese, 34-12, and the Tigers posted a 16-0 win over the Cowboys last season (April 9) in Baton Rouge .
.. LSU has won 16 of its past 19 games versus McNeese.
LSU, however, has just a 5-3 advantage in the last eight meetings between the schools since 2016 ...
McNeese defeated LSU 7-0 in 2016 in Baton Rouge and 5-4 in 2017 in Lake Charles ...
LSU recorded a 13-3 win over the Cowboys in 2018 in Baton Rouge before McNeese defeated the Tigers, 2-0, in 2019 at Alex Box Stadium. LSU has won the last four matchups, all in Baton Rouge – a 14-1 win in 2021, a 6-3 victory in 2022, a 7-4 win in 2023 and the 16-0 victory last season. QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON “We need to be better offensively.
It’s pretty hard 37 games in to be critical of what our position player group has done, but we were not very good last weekend (at Auburn). We will be better. "You’re not going to be able to do what you want at the plate all the time, so you have to take what the opposing pitching staff gives you.
We need at least one more good at-bat per inning; we need more strands of three quality at-bats in a row.” ABOUT THE TIGERS Seventh-ranked LSU is 31-6 overall and 10-5 in the Southeastern Conference ..
. LSU is tied for f fourth with Georgia in the SEC standings, three games behind first-place Texas (13-2), two games behind second-place Arkansas (12-3) and one game behind third-place Tennessee (11-4). The Tigers’ bullpen allowed just one earned run in 12.
2 innings of work in last weekend’s series at Auburn. The relief effort was highlighted by junior right-hander Zac Cowan, who pitched a season-high 4.2 scoreless innings on Sunday while allowing four hits and recording two strikeouts.
LSU freshman leftfielder Derek Curiel has reached base safely in all 37 games this season, the only Tiger to accomplish the feat ...
he holds the LSU freshman record for longest reached-base streak, a mark that was previously held by second baseman Mike Fontenot (32 straight games in the 2000 season). Curiel’s current 37-game streak is the longest by an LSU player since 2005, when outfielder Ryan Patterson also reached base safely in 37 consecutive games. LSU junior first baseman Jared Jones is No.
4 in the SEC in RBI (50), No. 4 in hits (54), No. 6 in total bases (98) and No.
10 in batting average (.360). Leftfielder Derek Curiel is No.
3 in the SEC in doubles (13), No. 4 in walks (33), No. 5 in on-base percentage (.
500), No. 8 in runs (42), No. 8 in batting average (.
362) and No. 8 in hits (50). LSU sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson is No.
2 in the SEC in strikeouts (81) and No. 4 in the league in innings pitched (51.2) .
.. junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson is No.
5 in the SEC in strikeouts (71). Junior second baseman Daniel Dickinson is No. 5 in the SEC in on-base percentage (.
500). LSU’s .317 cumulative team batting average ranks No.
2 in the SEC, and LSU is No. 1 in the league in doubles (87), No. 3 in hits (389), No.
3 in on-base percentage (.435), No. 4 in runs scored (329) and No.
5 in total bases (650). The Tigers’ pitching staff is No. 3 in the league with a 3.
51 cumulative ERA, and LSU is No. 3 in strikeouts (405), No. 3 in fewest earned runs allowed (123), No.
5 in opponent batting average (.216), No. 5 in fewest hits allowed (250) and No.
5 in fewest runs allowed (141). ABOUT McNEESE McNeese is 27-5 overall and 14-4 in the Southland Conference ..
. the Cowboys have won 12 straight games, including an SLC sweep last weekend of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. McNeese head coach Justin Hill was a pitcher at LSU in 2001 and 2002 .
.. he is in his 12th season at the helm of the Cowboys program.
McNeese his hitting .303 as a team this season with 81 doubles, 15 triples and 32 home runs ..
. infielder Easton Dowell is batting .413 with 13 doubles, one triple, five homers, and 28 RBI .
.. Outfielder Conner Westenburg is hitting .
344 with seven doubles, eight triples, five homers and 28 RBI ...
outfielder Larry Edwards Jr. is batting .333 and has a team-high 33 RBI.
The McNeese pitching staff has a 3.92 cumulative ERA, and the Cowboys have recorded 307 strikeouts in 278 innings ..
. opponents are batting a cumulative .252 against the Cowboys staff, which has allowed 19 home runs this season.
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