Nicholls Colonels (17-13) at No. 1 LSU Tigers (24-4)
APPOINTMENT TIME
• Tuesday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
STADION
• Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (10,326)
RANKINGS
• LSU – #1 in all college baseball polls
• Nicholls – unranked
RADIO
• LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 in Baton Rouge
• Live audio for LSU games at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live statistics for LSU games at www.LSUstats.com
ON-LINE
• The game will be streamed live on SEC Network +
RECORD LSU SERIES VS. NICHOLLS
• LSU leads the all-time streak with Nicholls, 58-24, including a 10-6 win over the Colonels last season (May 3) at Baton Rouge…the Tigers have 31 of their last 34 encounters with the Colonels won… Nicholls’ only wins in the last 34 games against LSU were a 4-2 win in 2020 at Thibodaux; a 6-3 triumph at Baton Rouge in 2015; and a 3-1 win in 2009, also at Baton Rouge.
QUOTE COACH JAY JOHNSON
“I would give us an A for the first half of the season. We’re a team that’s easy to lag behind in terms of how we play, how important it is to them and how much money they invest. I love coaching them and we have great leadership and team dynamics. I’m looking forward to the week that lies ahead of us.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU won three of their four games last week, including an SEC series win over No. 9 Tennessee … LSU’s 24-4 record is its best in 28 games since 2013, when the Tigers went halfway through a regular 26- 2 lay season.
• LSU, ranked #1 by all college baseball polls all season, is at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories this week… , batting average (.336), on-base percentage (.457 ), runs scored (296) and shutouts (7)…LSU is #2 in the nation in scoring average (10.6 runs per game) and the Tigers are #4 in slugging percentage (.588) and WHIP ( 1.11).
• LSU midfielder Dylan Crews ranks No. 1 in the nation for batting average (.543), on-base percentage (.664) and runs scored (49); He is No. 3 in slugging percentage (.947) and No. 4 in base hits (51)… Third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.80) and No. 3 in RBI overall (45) …Right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (83), hits allowed per nine innings (3.86) and WHIP (.61) …Skenes is ranked No. 3 in the nation in ERA (.81).
• Junior midfielder Dylan Crews led the top-ranked Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series win over ninth-ranked Tennessee … he hit .615 (8-on-13) in four games with a double, three RBI and three runs…he also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, contributing to his .706 percentage on base for the week…Crews extended his current hitting streak to 26 games and his current on-base streak to 32 games, spanning the last four games of the 2022 season… in the Tigers SEC series win over Tennessee, Crews batted .545 (6-for-11) with a double, three RBI, a run, a .643 on-base percentage and a Slugging percentage of .636…he leads the SEC with a cumulative batting average of .543, and he’s also ranked No. 1 in the league for on-base percentage (.664), base hits (51), and runs scored (49).
• Freshman first baseman/DH Jared Jones hit .600 (6 of 10) last week with a double, a homer, an RBI and five runs scored…first baseman/outfielder Tre’ Morgan hit .412 (7 of 17). ) last week with three doubles, three RBI and three runs scored… Shortstop Jordan Thompson recorded two doubles, four RBI and three runs last week, and his base-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night against Tennessee broke a 2-2 -Draw and took LSU to a 5-2 win…Second baseman Gavin Dugas registered two doubles and two homers last week, and he shares the team lead in Dingers (9) with Dylan Crews…Dugas’ fourth-inning solo homer on Friday night against Tennessee, a 4-4 tie broke and proved a crucial strike in LSU’s 6-4 win.
• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes helped lead LSU to an opener win over No. 9 Tennessee Thursday night by firing 7.0 innings and allowing just one run to five hits with a walk and 12 strikeouts…. Skenes fired four shutout innings before Tennessee hit a run in the fifth; Skenes then eliminated seven of the last eight batsmen he faced after conceding the run… Skenes has hit double-digit strikeouts in all seven of his starts this season, with at least 11 Ks in each outing… Skenes leads the SEC this season in strikeouts (83), innings served (44.1), wins (5), and opposing batting average (.127).
• Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards earned a relief win over Tennessee Thursday night when he ran 1.2 scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and two strikeouts… Edwards is 4-0 on the year with a .81 ERA and a .163 opponent Batting average… Rookie left-hander Griffin Herring made his first save of his career against Tennessee on Friday night when he faded the vols through two innings without hits, no walks and four strikeouts.
ABOUT THE COLONELS
• Nicholls is 17-13 overall and 4-2 in Southland Conference games…the Colonels won two of three games in Lamar last weekend in an SLC series matchup…Nicholls is scoring as a team with 23 home runs and 39 steals in 50 .281 tries… the Colonels pitching staff has a cumulative ERA of 4.28 with 260 strikeouts in 271 innings.
• The Colonels are driven offensively by infielder Edgar Alvarez, who hits .341 with 13 doubles, a triple, four homers and 22 RBI…outfielder Xane Washington hits .328 with nine doubles, a triple, two homers and 16 RBI and infielder Parker Coddou has 10 doubles, three triples, four homers and 17 RBI.
• Outfielder Wes Toups, a freshman at LSU in 2020, has hit four homers and completed nine carries for Nicholls this season.
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