Preview: LSU Baseball vs. Northwestern State Tuesday Night At Alex Box Stadium

Northwestern State Demons (19-28) at LSU Tigers (31-18)

DATE/TIME
Tuesday, May 7 @ 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

ONLINE
The game will be streamed on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. NORTHWESTERN STATE
• LSU leads the series with Northwestern State, 61-13, and the Tigers have won 23 of the past 26 matchups, including a 14-4 victory last season (May 9) in Baton Rouge … prior to the Tigers’ 19-7 win over Northwestern State in 2022, the Demons had won two in a row over LSU – a 7-3 victory on May 18, 2021, in Baton Rouge, and a 3-1 win on March 12, 2019, in Natchitoches … the Demons' other win in their past 26 games versus LSU was a 5-2 victory on April 12, 2011, in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“There’s a lot of work to do over these next two weeks. We haven’t put ourselves in the (NCAA Tournament) field yet, but we have put ourselves in the fight. I think the best thing is that we’re playing well enough to win. Our best baseball is still ahead of us.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU won three of four games last week, including a victory over Grambling State and a SEC series win over top-ranked Texas A&M … the Tigers have won three straight SEC series and nine of their past 12 games overall.

• Freshman Steven Milam was LSU’s leading hitting in its series victory versus top-ranked Texas A&M, batting .444 (4-for-9) with two doubles, one RBI, two runs, two walks and a .545 on-base percentage … he was 2-for-2 in the Game 1 win over the Aggies and provided a crucial RBI single in a four-run sixth inning that erased a 3-2 Texas A&M lead … Milam doubled and later scored as part of a two-run rally in the eighth inning of Game 2, as LSU stretched a 4-3 lead to 6-3 in the eventual 6-4 victory … Milam hit .400 for the entire week, which also included a win over Grambling State on Tuesday night.

• Senior right-hander Christian Little defeated top-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday night with a brilliant relief effort … he entered the game at the start of the sixth inning and limited the Aggies – who entered the series with a .315 team batting average – to one run on two hits in 3.2 innings with one walk and six strikeouts … the 3.2 innings and 64 pitches thrown marked Little’s season highs, and the six strikeouts matched his LSU career high … he fired 43 of his 64 pitches (67 percent) for strikes … the win clinched an SEC series victory over Texas A&M, which suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season.

• Sophomore left-hander Griffin Herring earned his fourth save of the season on Friday night, preserving the Tigers’ Game 1 win over top-ranked Texas A&M … Herring worked 2.1 innings, allowing just one unearned run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts … Herring is now 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA and three saves in eight SEC relief appearances this season, recording five walks and 39 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.

• LSU first baseman Jared Jones hit .357 in four games last week with two doubles, one homer, two RBI and three runs scored … leftfielder Josh Pearson hit .333 in four games with three doubles, four RBI and three runs scored … third baseman Tommy White collected one double, two homers, eight RBI and six runs in four games last week … outfielder Jake Brown made three starts in center field last week and posted one double, one homer, four RBI and three runs.

• Junior right-hander Fidel Ulloa earned his first career LSU win on Friday night with a strong relief effort versus top-ranked Texas A&M … Ulloa entered the contest in the sixth inning and fired 1.1 scoreless innings, limiting the Aggies to just one hit with no walks and one strikeout.

ABOUT THE DEMONS
• Northwestern State is 19-28 overall and 10-11 in Southland Conference games … NSU dropped two of three games last weekend at Lamar in an SLC series … the Demons are making their second trip to Baton Rouge this season – they played four games in Alex Box Stadium from Feb. 22-24, two each vs. Northern Illinois and vs. Stony Brook … the Demons split two games against both NIU and SBU.

• The Demons are batting .255 as a team with 73 doubles, 13 triples, 41 homers and 32 steals in 41 attempts … the Northwestern State pitching staff has a 6.46 cumulative ERA with 303 strikeouts in 397.0 innings.

• Outfielder/second baseman Balin Valentine leads the Demons in homers (9) and is second on the club in RBI (40) … outfielder Reese Lipoma is batting a team-high .309 with 12 doubles, one triple, 23 RBI and 47 runs scored … infielder Rocco Gump leads Northwestern State in RBI (41), and he has collected nine doubles, three triples, five homers and 34 runs.

(Release via LSU Athletics)