Austin Bain named SEC Co-Player of the Week after LSU unbeaten week

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU senior second baseman/pitcher Austin Bain was named SEC Baseball Co-Player of the Week Monday by the league office. He shared the honor with Florida infielder JJ Schwarz.

Bain, a product of Geismar, La., led LSU to a 4-0 record last week, batting .500 (9-for-18) with two doubles, two runs and eight RBI. He also earned a save in LSU’s 2-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night, firing a perfect ninth inning to preserve the victory.

In LSU’s three-game SEC weekend sweep over Tennessee, Bain hit .533 (8-for-15) with two doubles, two runs and eight RBI. He was a catalyst in the Tigers’ thrilling comeback win over Tennessee on Sunday, providing a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning to draw LSU within one run and set the stage for the game-winning hit two batters later.

In Friday night’s win over the Vols, Bain produced career-bests of four hits and three RBI. He is hitting .314 (37-for-118) this season with 12 doubles, two homers and 26 RBI, and he has a 2.31 ERA in 11 relief appearances, recording three saves and 16 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.

LSU Baseball Report – April 16, 2018
Overall Record: 24-13 (9-6 in SEC)

Last Week’s Results (4-0)
April 10 (Tue.) – LOUISIANA TECH (W, 2-0)
April 13 (Fri.) – TENNESSEE (W, 9-3)
April 14 (Sat.) – TENNESSEE (W, 14-5)
April 15 (Sun.) – TENNESSEE (W, 9-7)

This Week’s Schedule
April 18 (Wed.) – at Tulane, 6:30 p.m. CT (Tulane All-Access Video)
April 20 (Fri.) – at South Carolina, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 21 (Sat.) – at South Carolina, 3 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 22 (Sun.) – at South Carolina, 12:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)

Notes on the Tigers
The Tigers are No. 18 in both this week’s Baseball America poll and Collegiate Baseball poll, marking the 124th consecutive week LSU has appeared in a Top 25 poll … LSU has been ranked every week since the beginning of the 2012 season … LSU is 9-6 in the SEC after last weekend’s series sweep of Tennessee , and the Tigers are one game out of first place in the Western Division behind Arkansas … senior second baseman/right-handed pitcher Austin Bain led LSU to a 4-0 record last week, batting .500 (9-for-18) with two doubles, two runs and eight RBI … Bain also earned a save in LSU’s 2-0 win over Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night, firing a perfect ninth inning to preserve the victory … in LSU’s three-game SEC weekend sweep over Tennessee, Bain hit .533 (8-for-15) with two doubles, two runs and eight RBI … Bain was a catalyst in the Tigers’ thrilling comeback win over Tennessee on Sunday, providing a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning to draw LSU within one run and set the stage for the game-winning hit two batters later … in Friday night’s win over the Vols, Bain produced career-bests of four hits and three RBI … sophomore right-hander Zack Hess earned an SEC win for the third straight weekend, defeating Tennessee on Friday night … Hess limited the Vols to one run on three hits in seven innings with one walk and eight strikeouts … he improved his recorded to 6-3 this season and increased his strikeout total to 68 in 53.1 innings … Hess is fifth in the SEC in strikeouts (68) and fifth in opponent batting average (.195) … in his last three starts – wins over Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Tennessee – Hess is 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA in 21.2 innings, and he’s allowed just two earned runs on 10 hits with eight walks and 23 strikeouts in that span … freshman right-hander Ma’Khail Hilliard improved to 7-2 this season with a win over Tennessee on Saturday night … he worked six innings, limiting the Vols to three runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts … Hilliard’s cumulative ERA is 1.75, the third-best mark in the SEC … he is No. 2 in the league in wins, and he is No. 6 in the conference in opponent batting average (.200) … LSU coach Paul Mainieri has 1,400 wins in 36 seasons as a collegiate head coach, and he has become just the fourth active NCAA Division I coach to reach 1,400 career wins … Mainieri is also just the 13th coach in the all-time history of NCAA baseball to reach 1,400 wins, and the 10th all-time in Division I only … Mainieri’s 36-season career record currently stands at 1,400-707-8 (.664), and his record at LSU in 12 seasons is 536-215-3 (.713).