LSU Baseball Report: No. 1 Tigers face big weekend series vs. Tennessee

LSU Baseball Report – March 27, 2023
Overall Record: 21-3 (4-2 in SEC)

Last Week’s Results (3-1)
March 14 (Tue.) – CENTRAL ARKANSAS (W, 10-4)
March 24 (Fri.) – ARKANSAS (L, 3-9 – 10 innings)
March 25 (Sat., Game 1) – ARKANSAS (W, 12-2 – 7 innings)
March 25 (Sat., Game 2) – ARKANSAS (W, 14-5)

This Week’s Schedule
March 28 (Tue.) – GRAMBLING, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
March 30 (Thu.) – TENNESSEE, 7 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
March 31 (Fri.) – TENNESSEE, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
April 1 (Sat.) – TENNESSEE, 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

Tigers Update
• LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series victory over No. 3 Arkansas … LSU’s 21-3 record is the Tigers’ best through 24 games since the 2015 team also posted a 21-3 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 the nation in fielding percentage (.989), runs scored (261), shutouts pitched (7) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.72) … LSU is No. 2 in the nation in on-base percentage (.460) and scoring average (10.9 runs per game), No. 3 in batting average (.332) and WHIP (1.04), and No. 4 in slugging percentage (.592).

• LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.531), on-base percentage (.658) and in runs scored (46), and he is No. 2 in slugging percentage (.988) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (2.00) and No. 2 in total RBI (42) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (71), hits allowed per nine innings (3.38)pitching wins (5) and WHIP (0.56) … Skenes is No 2 in the nation in ERA (0.72) … right-hander Ty Floyd is No. 5 in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (4.10).

Hitting Notes
• Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews led the top-ranked Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series victory over third-ranked Arkansas … he batted a sizzling 625 (10-for-16) in four games with four homers, nine RBI and nine runs … Crews homered once in each of the four games the Tigers played … he also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, which contributed to his .700 on-base percentage for the week … Crews extended his current hitting streak to 22 games and his current on-base streak to 24 games … in the Tigers’ SEC series victory over Arkansas, Crews batted .615 (8-for-13) with three homers, seven RBI, seven runs, a .667 on-base percentage and a 1.308 slugging percentage … he leads the SEC with a .531 cumulative batting average, and he is also No. 1 in the league in on-base percentage (.658), slugging percentage (.988), base hits (43) and runs scored (46).

• Graduate first baseman/DH Cade Beloso started in Games 2 and 3 of the Arkansas series and responded by batting .571 (4-for-7) with one double and two RBI … sophomore third baseman Tommy White launched two homers, including his second grand slam of the season, and collected eight RBI in LSU’s series win over Arkansas … first baseman/leftfielder Tre’ Morgan batted .385 (5-for-13) in the Arkansas series with one triple, one homer, two RBI and five runs scored … second baseman Gavin Dugas homered twice and collected four RBI vs. the Razorbacks.

Pitching Notes
• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes pitched seven innings in Game 1 of the Arkansas series on Friday, allowing just one run on two hits with three walks and 12 strikeouts … junior right-hander Ty Floyd defeated the Razorbacks in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, working 6.1 innings and limiting the Razorbacks to one earned run on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

• Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards pitched in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader vs. Arkansas, working a total of 4.2 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts … freshman left-hander Griffin Herring posted two relief wins last week over Central Arkansas and Arkansas, pitching a combined 4.1 innings and allowing one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Grambling State Tigers (9-14) at No. 1 LSU Tigers (21-3)

DATE/TIME
• Tuesday, March 28 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
STADIUM
• Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (10,326)
RANKINGS
• LSU – No. 1 in all college baseball polls
• GSU – unranked
RADIO
• LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 in Baton Rouge
• Live audio for LSU games at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats for LSU games at www.LSUstats.com
ONLINE
• The game will be streamed live on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. GRAMBLING
• LSU leads the all-time series with Grambling, 11-0, with all 11 games having been played in Baton Rouge, beginning with the first meeting between the schools in 2009 … LSU defeated GSU, 16-3 (seven innings), on April 5, 2022, in the most recent meeting between the teams.

PITCHING MATCHUP
TBA

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“You don’t ‘just win’ in college baseball. The game is not designed that way. Grambling has an athletic team, they play aggressive, and this is one of the more important games on their schedule. They swept their conference series (vs. Alcorn State) last weekend, and I know our players will be ready for the challenge. We got a little bit of a breather with a day off on Sunday, allowing us to practice and prepare today (Monday) for the game.”

ABOUT THE LSU TIGERS
• LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series victory over No. 3 Arkansas … LSU’s 21-3 record is the Tigers’ best through 24 games since the 2015 team also posted a 21-3 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 the nation in fielding percentage (.989), runs scored (261), shutouts pitched (7) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.72) … LSU is No. 2 in the nation in on-base percentage (.460) and scoring average (10.9 runs per game), No. 3 in batting average (.332) and WHIP (1.04), and No. 4 in slugging percentage (.592).
• LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.531), on-base percentage (.658) and in runs scored (46), and he is No. 2 in slugging percentage (.988) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (2.00) and No. 2 in total RBI (42) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (71), hits allowed per nine innings (3.38)pitching wins (5) and WHIP (0.56) … Skenes is No 2 in the nation in ERA (0.72) … right-hander Ty Floyd is No. 5 in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (4.10).
• Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews led the top-ranked Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series victory over third-ranked Arkansas … he batted a sizzling 625 (10-for-16) in four games with four homers, nine RBI and nine runs … Crews homered once in each of the four games the Tigers played … he also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, which contributed to his .700 on-base percentage for the week … Crews extended his current hitting streak to 22 games and his current on-base streak to 24 games … in the Tigers’ SEC series victory over Arkansas, Crews batted .615 (8-for-13) with three homers, seven RBI, seven runs, a .667 on-base percentage and a 1.308 slugging percentage … he leads the SEC with a .531 cumulative batting average, and he is also No. 1 in the league in on-base percentage (.658), slugging percentage (.988), base hits (43) and runs scored (46).
• Graduate first baseman/DH Cade Beloso started in Games 2 and 3 of the Arkansas series and responded by batting .571 (4-for-7) with one double and two RBI … sophomore third baseman Tommy White launched two homers, including his second grand slam of the season, and collected eight RBI in LSU’s series win over Arkansas … first baseman/leftfielder Tre’ Morgan batted .385 (5-for-13) in the Arkansas series with one triple, one homer, two RBI and five runs scored … second baseman Gavin Dugas homered twice and collected four RBI vs. the Razorbacks.
• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes pitched seven innings in Game 1 of the Arkansas series on Friday, allowing just one run on two hits with three walks and 12 strikeouts … junior right-hander Ty Floyd defeated the Razorbacks in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, working 6.1 innings and limiting the Razorbacks to one earned run on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
• Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards pitched in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader vs. Arkansas, working a total of 4.2 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts … freshman left-hander Griffin Herring posted two relief wins last week over Central Arkansas and Arkansas, pitching a combined 4.1 innings and allowing one run on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

ABOUT THE GRAMBLING TIGERS
• Grambling is 5-1 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference after posting a three-game league sweep over Alcorn State last weekend … GSU is hitting .269 as a team with 41 doubles, nine triples, 18 homers and 38 steals in 49 attempts … the Grambling pitching staff has an 8.62 cumulative ERA with 144 strikeouts in 190 innings.
• Infielder Cameron Bufford is batting a team-high .355 with 10 doubles, three triples, four homers and 30 RBI … outfielder Trevor Hatton is hitting .299, and he leads GSU in homers (6), RBI (25) and stolen bases (9) … infielder Keylon Mack is batting .324 with six doubles, three homers and 21 RBI.