LSU Baseball To Host Nicholls Tuesday Night At Alex Box Stadium

Nicholls Colonels (17-13) at No. 1 LSU Tigers (24-4)

DATE/TIME
·Tuesday, April 4 @ 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
·Nicholls – 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. NICHOLLS
·LSU leads the all-time series with Nicholls, 58-24, including a 10-6 victory over the Colonels last season (May 3) in Baton Rouge … the Tigers have won 31 of the past 34 meetings with the Colonels … Nicholls’ only wins in its last 34 games versus LSU were a 4-2 victory in 2020 in Thibodaux; a 6-3 triumph in 2015 in Baton Rouge; and a 3-1 win in 2009, also in Baton Rouge.

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“I would give us an ‘A’ for the first half of the season. Ours is an easy team to get behind in terms of how we play, how much they care, how invested they are. I love coaching them, and we’ve got great leadership and a great team dynamic. I’m excited for the week ahead of us.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
·LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series victory over No. 9 Tennessee … LSU’s 24-4 record is its best through 28 games since 2013, when the Tigers were 26-2 at the halfway mark of the regular season.

·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 (.986), batting average (.336), on-base percentage (.457), runs scored (296) and shutouts pitched (7) … LSU is No. 2 in the nation in scoring average (10.6 runs per game), and the Tigers are No. 4 in slugging percentage (.588) and WHIP (1.11).

·LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.543), on-base percentage (.664) and in runs scored (49); he is No. 3 in slugging percentage (.947) and No. 4 in base hits (51) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.80) and No. 3 in total RBI (45) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (83), hits allowed per nine innings (3.86) and WHIP (0.61) … Skenes is No. 3 in the nation in ERA (0.81).

·Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews led the top-ranked Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series victory over ninth-ranked Tennessee … he batted .615 (8-for-13) in four games with one double, three RBI and three runs … he also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, which contributed to his .706 on-base percentage for the week … Crews extended his current hitting streak to 26 games and his current on-base streak to 32 games, which dates back to the final four games of the 2022 season … in the Tigers’ SEC series victory over Tennessee, Crews batted .545 (6-for-11) with one double, three RBI, one run, a .643 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage … he leads the SEC with a .543 cumulative batting average, and he is also No. 1 in the league in on-base percentage (.664), base hits (51) and runs scored (49).

·Freshman first baseman/DH Jared Jones batted .600 (6-for-10) last week with one double, one homer, one RBI and five runs scored … first baseman/outfielder Tre’ Morgan hit .412 (7-for-17) last week with three doubles, three RBI and three runs scored … shortstop Jordan Thompson recorded two doubles, four RBI and three runs last week, and his bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night versus Tennessee broke a 2-2 tie and lifted LSU to a 5-2 win … second baseman Gavin Dugas registered two doubles and two homers last week, and he shares the team lead in dingers (9) with Dylan Crews … Dugas’ solo homer in the fourth inning on Friday night versus Tennessee broke a 4-4 tie and proved to the game-winning hit in LSU’s 6-4 victory.

·Junior right-hander Paul Skenes helped lead LSU to a series-opening win over No. 9 Tennessee on Thursday night by firing 7.0 innings and allowing just one run on five hits with one walk and 12 strikeouts …. Skenes fired four shutout innings before Tennessee scored a run in the fifth; Skenes then retired seven of the final eight batters he faced after allowing the run … Skenes has reached double figures in strikeouts in all seven of his starts this season with a minimum of 11 Ks in each outing … Skenes leads the SEC this season in strikeouts (83), innings pitched (44.1), wins (5) and opponent batting average (.127).

·Junior right-hander Garrett Edwards earned a relief win over Tennessee on Thursday night, as he fired 1.2 scoreless innings with two hits, no walks and two strikeouts … Edwards is 4-0 on the year with a 0.81 ERA and a .163 opponent batting average … freshman left-hander Griffin Herring earned his first career save on Friday night versus Tennessee, as he blanked the Vols over two innings with no hits, no walks and four strikeouts.

ABOUT THE COLONELS
·Nicholls is 17-13 overall and 4-2 in Southland Conference games … the Colonels won two of three games at Lamar last weekend in an SLC series matchup … Nicholls is hitting .281 as a team with 23 home runs and 39 steals in 50 attempts … the Colonels pitching staff has a 4.28 cumulative ERA with 260 strikeouts in 271 innings.

·The Colonels are paced offensively by infielder Edgar Alvarez, who is batting .341 with 13 doubles, one triple, four homers and 22 RBI … outfielder Xane Washington is hitting .328 with nine doubles, one triple, two homers and 16 RBI, and infielder Parker Coddou has collected 10 doubles, three triples, four homers and 17 RBI.

·Outfielder Wes Toups, who played at LSU as a true freshman in 2020, has hit four homers and driven in nine runs this season for Nicholls.

(Release via LSU Athletics)