LSU host Nicholls Tuesday night in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field

LSU Baseball Report – April 22, 2024
Overall Record: 25-16 SEC: 5-13

Last Week’s Results (3-1)
April 16 (Tue.) – NEW ORLEANS (W, 6-3)
April 19 (Fri.) – at Missouri (W, 12-1 – 7 innings)
April 20 (Sat.) – at Missouri (L, 7-8)
April 21 (Sun.) – at Missouri (W, 6-2)

This Week’s Schedule
April 23 (Tue.) – NICHOLLS, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 26 (Fri.) – AUBURN, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 27 (Sat.) – AUBURN, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
April 28 (Sun.) – AUBURN, 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

Tigers Update
• LSU won three of four games last week, including a victory over New Orleans and a SEC series win at Missouri … the Missouri series marked the Tigers’ fourth road series in the first six weeks of SEC play … LSU was the only school in the league to play four of its first six conference series on the road … the Tigers open a nine-game homestand beginning Tuesday night versus Nicholls … LSU will play 12 of its final 15 regular-season games in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

• Sophomore left-hander Gage Jump was named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday after he fired a seven-inning complete game on Friday to lead LSU to a series-opening win over Missouri … Jump limited Mizzou to one run on three hits with one walk and a career-high 14 strikeouts … he threw 98 pitches in the outing, 65 for strikes … he retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced, including 10 by strikeout … his 14 strikeouts marked the most by an LSU pitcher since Ty Floyd recorded 17 strikeouts versus Florida last June in the College World Series … Jump’s seven-inning complete game was the first by an LSU pitcher since Paul Skenes posted a seven-inning complete-game win over Mississippi State on May 13, 2023.

• Freshman outfielder Ashton Larson was LSU’s leading hitting in its series victory at Missouri, batting .500 (5-for-10) with two doubles, one homer, two RBI, four runs, three walks, one HBP and a .643 on-base percentage … his RBI double in the first inning of Game 1 provided the spark that ignited the LSU offense in a 12-1 victory … his solo home run in the seventh inning of Game 3 expanded LSU’s 3-2 lead to 4-2 in the eventual 6-2 win … for the entire week, Larson batted .429 (6-for-14), helping to lead LSU to three wins in four games … Larson is hitting a team-high .395 (15-for-38) in SEC games this season with five doubles, three homers, six RBI and 10 runs scored.

• Left-hander Griffin Herring worked five scoreless innings in relief Sunday as LSU posted a 6-2 win over Missouri in Taylor Stadium … Herring, who improved to 3-0 on the season, entered the game to start the bottom of the fifth inning with the scored tied 2-2, and he blanked Missouri the rest of the way, allowing just one hit with one walk and eight strikeouts … the eight Ks tied his career high, which he initially set earlier this season (March 29) at Arkansas … Herring is now 2-0 in his six SEC game appearances with two saves and a 0.87 ERA … in 20.2 SEC game innings, he has recorded five walks and 32 strikeouts while allowing just two runs on 15 hits with a .203 opponent batting average.

• Junior shortstop Michael Braswell III hit .400 (4-for-10) in the Missouri series with two doubles, four RBI and one run scored … Braswell III is now hitting .345 (19-for-55) in SEC games with eight doubles, seven RBI and nine runs scored.

• Sophomore first baseman Jared Jones collected two doubles, two homers and three RBI at Missouri … sophomore centerfielder Paxton Kling belted three doubles at Missouri and drove in three runs … graduated designated hitter Hayden Travinski posted two homers and six RBI at Mizzou, including a three-run dinger in Friday night’s LSU win.

PREVIEW: Nicholls Colonels (27-14) at LSU Tigers (25-16)

DATE/TIME
• Tuesday, April 23 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
STADIUM
• Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (10,326)
RADIO
• LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
• Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com
TV/ONLINE
• Tuesday’s game will be streamed on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. NICHOLLS
LSU leads the all-time series with Nicholls, 59-25, as the teams first met in 1968 … the Colonels won the schools’ most recent meeting on April 25 of last season by a score of 6-5 in Alex Box Stadium … the teams also met on April 4 of last season in Alex Box Stadium, and LSU posted a 12-2, seven-inning victory over Nicholls.

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“We’re playing the best team (Nicholls) that we will see on a Tuesday this season. We have great respect for them; it feels like it’s almost the same team that was an NCAA Tournament team last season. This will be a really strong challenge for our team. We’re not where we want to be in the SEC, but we’ve done a nice job outside of the conference with a 20-3 record. We’re playing a really good baseball team on Tuesday, and this game has a lot of value for our team. Everything is important for us – we want to win every game we play here, but it’s goes much deeper than that in developing consistency within our program.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU won three of four games last week, including a victory over New Orleans and a SEC series win at Missouri … the Missouri series marked the Tigers’ fourth road series in the first six weeks of SEC play … LSU was the only school in the league to play four of its first six conference series on the road … the Tigers open a nine-game homestand beginning Tuesday night versus Nicholls … LSU will play 12 of its final 15 regular-season games in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

• Sophomore left-hander Gage Jump was named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday after he fired a seven-inning complete game on Friday to lead LSU to a series-opening win over Missouri … Jump limited Mizzou to one run on three hits with one walk and a career-high 14 strikeouts … he threw 98 pitches in the outing, 65 for strikes … he retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced, including 10 by strikeout … his 14 strikeouts marked the most by an LSU pitcher since Ty Floyd recorded 17 strikeouts versus Florida last June in the College World Series … Jump’s seven-inning complete game was the first by an LSU pitcher since Paul Skenes posted a seven-inning complete-game win over Mississippi State on May 13, 2023.

• Freshman outfielder Ashton Larson was LSU’s leading hitting in its series victory at Missouri, batting .500 (5-for-10) with two doubles, one homer, two RBI, four runs, three walks, one HBP and a .643 on-base percentage … his RBI double in the first inning of Game 1 provided the spark that ignited the LSU offense in a 12-1 victory … his solo home run in the seventh inning of Game 3 expanded LSU’s 3-2 lead to 4-2 in the eventual 6-2 win … for the entire week, Larson batted .429 (6-for-14), helping to lead LSU to three wins in four games … Larson is hitting a team-high .395 (15-for-38) in SEC games this season with five doubles, three homers, six RBI and 10 runs scored.

• Left-hander Griffin Herring worked five scoreless innings in relief Sunday as LSU posted a 6-2 win over Missouri in Taylor Stadium … Herring, who improved to 3-0 on the season, entered the game to start the bottom of the fifth inning with the scored tied 2-2, and he blanked Missouri the rest of the way, allowing just one hit with one walk and eight strikeouts … the eight Ks tied his career high, which he initially set earlier this season (March 29) at Arkansas … Herring is now 2-0 in his six SEC game appearances with two saves and a 0.87 ERA … in 20.2 SEC game innings, he has recorded five walks and 32 strikeouts while allowing just two runs on 15 hits with a .203 opponent batting average.

• Junior shortstop Michael Braswell III hit .400 (4-for-10) in the Missouri series with two doubles, four RBI and one run scored … Braswell III is now hitting .345 (19-for-55) in SEC games with eight doubles, seven RBI and nine runs scored.

• Sophomore first baseman Jared Jones collected two doubles, two homers and three RBI at Missouri … sophomore centerfielder Paxton Kling belted three doubles at Missouri and drove in three runs … graduated designated hitter Hayden Travinski posted two homers and six RBI at Mizzou, including a three-run dinger in Friday night’s LSU win.

ABOUT THE COLONELS
• Nicholls is 10-5 in the Southland Conference this season, and the Colonels are in second place in the SLC standings … Nicholls was the 2023 Southland Conference Tournament champion and participated in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional last season.
• Nicholls is hitting .310 as a team with 86 doubles, 13 triples, 41 homers and 60 steals in 81 attempts … the Colonels’ pitching staff has a 5.42 cumulative ERA with 378 strikeouts in 353.2 innings and a .263 opponent batting average.
• The Colonels are led offensively by infielder Edgar Alvarez, who is hitting .423 with 15 doubles, one triple, nine homers and 51 RBI … infielder/outfielder Cade Crosby is second on the team in homers with six, and infielder Garrett Felix is second on the team in RBI with 30 … nine players on the Nicholls roster have 20 or more RBI on the year.