No. 1 LSU game with South Alabama postponed ahead of Southern tilt, weekend series at Texas

LSU Baseball Report – February 25, 2019
Overall Record: 7-0

Last Week’s Results (4-0)
Feb. 19 (Tue.) – SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (W, 6-5)
Feb. 22 (Fri.) – BRYANT (W, 13-6)
Feb. 23 (Sat.) – BRYANT (W, 17-8)
Feb. 24 (Sun.) – BRYANT (W, 4-3)

This Week’s Schedule
Feb. 26 (Tue.) – SOUTH ALABAMA, 6 p.m. CT — POSTPONED to April 3
Feb. 27 (Wed.) – SOUTHERN, 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network+)
March 1 (Fri.) – at #19 Texas, 6:30 p.m. CT (Longhorn Network)
March 2 (Sat.) – at #19 Texas, 3:30 p.m. CT (Longhorn Network)
March 3 (Sun.) – at #19 Texas, 1 p.m. CT (Longhorn Network)

Notes on the Tigers
Top-ranked LSU is off to a 7-0 start to the 2019 season after defeating Southeastern Louisiana in a mid-week contest and sweeping the Bryant Bulldogs in three games over the weekend … It is the fifth time under head coach Paul Mainieri that the Tigers are a perfect 7-0 (2009, ’10, ’11, ’14, ’19), which is the most 7-0 starts in LSU baseball history … Senior outfielder Antoine Duplantis led the Tiger offense batting .412 in the week (7-for-17) with one double, one home run, eight RBI and six runs scored … In Saturday’s 17-8 win against Bryant, Duplantis blasted a three-run homer to put the Tigers up 11-1 in the in the bottom of the fourth inning … It was Duplantis’ third home run of the season, which is a career high … Duplantis now has 280 career hits, 72 shy of matching former LSU first baseman Eddy Furniss (1995-98) as the all-time SEC hits leader with 352 … Junior Josh Smith continued his torrid start over the week and currently is tied for first in the SEC with 12 hits on the year … The shortstop batted .400 (6-for-15) during the week with one double, two RBIs and six runs … For the season he is batting a team-high .519 (14-for-27) and has hit safely in all seven of LSU’s games this season … As a team, LSU leads the conference with a .341 batting average … Junior right-hander Zack Hess was phenomenal in his Friday start against Bryant, limiting the Bulldogs to one run on four hits, walking two and striking out a season-high six batters in five innings of work … Freshman Jaden Hill continued his solid start to the season, pitching five innings in Sunday’s game against Bryant … The right-hander allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out three while holding opponents to a .111 batting average … Todd Peterson earned his second win of the season and improved to 2-0 on the year after firing the final 1.1 innings versus Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday night … The right-handed junior also pitched the final six outs against Bryant Sunday and struck out one batter to earn his first save of the season.

Southern University Jaguars (4-2) at No. 1 LSU Fighting Tigers (7-0)

DATE/TIME
Wednesday, Feb. 27—6:30 p.m. CT

STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La. (10,326)
Tickets available at lsul.su/2ExPfAt

RANKINGS
LSU – No. 1 Collegiate Baseball, No. 1 USA Today, No. 2 Baseball America, No. 2 D1 Baseball
Southern– unranked

RADIO
The game will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baoton Rouge.
Live audio at LSUsport.net/live
Live stats at LSUstats.com

ONLINE
SEC Network + – accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app

SERIES RECORD VS. SOUTHERN
LSU leads the series with its intra-city rival, 52-2, as the squads first met in 1970. LSU has won 13 consecutive games against Southern, including an 8-2 win in their last meeting on March 6, 2018, in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. The Jaguars’ last win against the Tigers came on May 3, 2005, a 9-5 Southern triumph in the original Alex Box Stadium. Southern’s only other win in the series occurred on March 6, 2001, an 11-6 victory in the original Alex Box Stadium.

PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – So. RH Eric Walker (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 SO)
SOUTHERN – TBD

QUOTING PAUL MAINIERI
“It’s great for our community for both schools and for the players on both teams that LSU and Southern are meeting once again this year. I have a ton of respect for Kerrick Jackson and what he has done for the program. We know the Southern team well because a lot of their players work at our camps during the summer. They have a lot of talented ballplayers, so we are very focused on facing Southern Wednesday night.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Top-ranked LSU is 7-0 for the first time since 2014, when LSU won its first seven games of the season … LSU continued the strong start to the 2019 season last week after defeating Southeastern Louisiana, 4-0, Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field before sweeping Bryant in a three-game series,13-6 Friday night, 17-8 Saturday night and 4-3 Sunday afternoon. It is the fifth time under Head Coach Paul Mainieri that the Tigers are 7-0 to start the season, marking most 7-0 starts in LSU baseball history (2009, ‘10, ‘11, ‘14, ‘19).
• LSU right-hander Eric Walker will make his first start for the Tigers since June 19, 2017 when he threw two innings in the College World Series second round game against Oregon State before having to leave the contest with a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. Walker made his first appearance back on the mound on Opening Night against ULM, one-hitting the Warhawks in two innings with two strikeouts. He allowed three runs on one hit and walked two against Bryant Friday.
• Junior shortstop Josh Smith is off to a torrid start, batting a team-best .519 (14-for-27) with three doubles, four RBI and 12 runs scored … Smith leads the SEC in hits, is second in runs scored and is sixth in batting average … Smith returned to the lineup on a full-time basis this season after missing all but six games in 2018 due to stress reaction in his back.
• Senior outfielder Antoine Duplantis led the Tiger offense batting .412 in the week (7-for-17) with one double, one home run, eight RBI and six runs scored … In Saturday’s 17-8 win against Bryant, Duplantis blasted a three-run homer to put the Tigers up 11-1 in the in the bottom of the fourth inning … It was Duplantis’ fourth home run of the season, which is a career high … Duplantis now has 280 career hits, 72 shy of matching former LSU first baseman Eddy Furniss (1995-98) as the all-time SEC hits leader with 352
• Right-hander Todd Peterson is the first LSU pitcher since Kurt Ainsworth to record two wins in LSU’s first four games of the season. He earned wins against Army and Southeastern Louisiana. Peterson has a 2-0 record and has recorded one save this season. Tuesday night against Southeastern, Peterson fired the final 1.1 innings of the game. He also pitched the final six outs against Bryant and struck out one batter to earn his first save of the season.

ABOUT THE JAGUARS
• Southern is 4-2 this season, and the Jaguars were 1-2 on the week, splitting a doubleheader with Northwestern State and earning a 7-5 win in Game 2. The Jaguars dropped a contest to Air Force Monday.
• As a team, Southern is hitting .282 with eight doubles, three triples, six home runs and 24 steals on 25 attempts. The Jaguars are averaging 6.2 runs per game.
• Junior first baseman/catcher Hunter David leads Southern with a .450 batting average and is tied for first with six RBIs.
• Junior first baseman Coby Taylor has a team-high three home runs and a team-best three doubles and is batting .370.