LSU Baseball Opens SEC Tournament Tuesday Night vs. Oklahoma

No. 14 seed LSU Tigers (29-27, 9-21 SEC) vs. No. 11 seed Oklahoma Sooners (32-20, 14-16 SEC)

DATE/TIME (TV)
Tuesday, May 19 @ approx. 8 p.m. CT (SEC Network)

STADIUM
Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. (16,000)

RADIO
·LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
·Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com

PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU – So. RH William Schmidt (5-4, 4.22 ERA, 64.0 IP, 31 BB, 85 SO)
OU – LH Gavyn Jones (0-0, 6.20 ERA, 20.1 IP, 13 BB, 19 SO)

LSU HISTORY IN SEC TOURNAMENT
LSU has a league-best 95-51 (.651) all-time record in the SEC Tournament, and the Tigers own a conference-high 12 tournament titles … LSU has reached the championship round of the SEC Tournament on 20 occasions ... the Tigers were the No. 3 seed and posted a 1-1 mark in the 2025 SEC Tournament, defeating Texas A&M, 4-3, in the quarterfinals before dropping a 2-0 decision to Ole Miss in the semifinal round ... LSU has won six of its SEC Tournament crowns since 2008, claiming the title in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2017 ... the Tigers have reached the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament in nine of the past 12 tournaments … LSU reached the semifinal round in seven straight SEC Tournaments (2013-19) before dropping a first-round, single-elimination game to Georgia in 2021 … the Tigers have reached the SEC Tournament semifinals in each of the past two seasons (2024-25).

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. OKLAHOMA
LSU leads Oklahoma, 13-7, in a series that began in 1959 … the teams met in a three-game SEC series earlier this season (March 19-21), and the Sooners won two of the three contests; LSU won Game 1, 7-1, but Oklahoma defeated the Tigers 4-2 and 4-3 in Games 2 and 3 to win the series … LSU swept a three-game SEC series from the Sooners last season (April 3-5) in Norman, Okla., marking the first time the teams met when both were members of the SEC.

LSU defeated the Sooners, 5-4 (11 innings), on March 4, 2022, in the Astros College Classic in Houston, and Oklahoma posted a 1-0 win over the Tigers in the 2020 Astros College Classic … the 2020 game marked the first meeting between the schools since the 2013 NCAA Super Regional in Baton Rouge, when LSU won two straight over the Sooners to advance to the College World Series … three other LSU-OU matchups have occurred in the NCAA Tournament, all LSU wins in Baton Rouge … the Tigers defeated OU in the second round of the 1997 NCAA South I Regional in the original Alex Box Stadium, where LSU posted a 14-3 win over the Sooners … the teams met in the second round of the 1991 NCAA South Regional, where LSU defeated Oklahoma, 4-3 … the first NCAA Tournament meeting took place in 1986 when LSU recorded an 8-5 victory over OU in the NCAA South I Regional.

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Our focus turns now to a game Tuesday night against a good Oklahoma team. We need to play well in the game; we’ll put our best foot forward, we’re not going to save any pitchers. Guys are going to have to be ready to pitch on back-to-back days if we feel like they can help us win. A positive from (last) weekend (vs. Florida) was that everyone on the pitching staff touched the mound, and it gave us a chance to see where we’re at going into the coming week.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
-Sophomore centerfielder Derek Curiel is No. 3 in the SEC this season in hits with 77, and he is No. 7 in the league in runs scored (62) and No. 9 in the conference in triples (2) … Curiel leads LSU in multiple-hit games (22), and he is second on the club in multiple-RBI games (14) … he enters the SEC Tournament riding an eight-game hitting streak, batting .414 (12-for-29) during the streak with four doubles, two RBI, 11 runs, eight walks and a .526 on-base percentage.

-Freshman first baseman Mason Braun is No. 5 in the SEC this season in on-base percentage (.480) … Braun is LSU’s leading hitter this season in SEC games, batting .355 (27-for-76) with three doubles, one triple, two homers, 11 RBI, 16 runs and a .490 on-base percentage.

-Freshman catcher/DH Omar Serna Jr. compiled a reached-base safely streak that stretched for 19 games from April 10 through May 14 … he is batting .320 (33-for-102) in SEC games this season with eight doubles, seven homers, 21 RBI and 19 runs.

-Junior shortstop Steven Milam has a current reached-base safely streak that has stretched to 33 games, and he composed a 17-game hitting streak that began on April 10 and ended on May 9 … he hit .353 (24-for-68) during the 17-game hit streak with six doubles, three HR, 19 RBI and 11 runs … Milam is batting .417 (10-for-24) in LSU’s last seven games with four doubles, three homers, 14 RBI, eight runs, seven walks and a .531 on-base percentage … he batted .500 (6-for-12) in last weekend’s series versus Florida with one double, three homers, eight RBI and four runs … Milam has committed just three errors all season in 207 chances, boasting a .986 fielding percentage.

-Sophomore catcher Cade Arrambide is No. 9 in the SEC this season in home runs (18) and No. 10 in the league in slugging percentage (.669) … Arrambide is batting .343 (34-for-99) this season in SEC games with four doubles, 12 homers, 34 RBI and 23 runs scored … he launched two homers and collected five RBI in LSU’s series last weekend versus Florida.

-Six Tigers received their LSU degrees in graduation ceremonies on campus last weekend – pitcher Zac Cowan (interdisciplinary studies), infielder Seth Dardar (graduate certificate in construction management), pitcher Grant Fontenot (sport administration), pitcher DJ Primeaux (construction management), infielder Tanner Reaves (sport administration) and outfielder Chris Stanfield (interdisciplinary studies).

ABOUT THE SOONERS
-Oklahoma completed the regular season with a 32-20 overall mark, 14-16 in the SEC; the Sooners dropped two of three games to Tennessee last weekend in Norman, Okla., to conclude the regular season.

-OU is No. 9 in the SEC with a .282 team batting average, and the Sooners have produced 95 doubles, 17 triples, 65 home runs and 112 steals in 131 attempts … Oklahoma is one of three team in the SEC with over 100 stolen bases, along with Kentucky (121) and Texas (102) … catcher Deiten LaChance is hitting a team-high .327 for the Sooners with 12 doubles, two triples, 12 homers and 51 RBI … catcher/outfielder Brendan Brock has recorded 10 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 43 RBI and 24 steals, and infielder Camden Johnson has 11 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 42 RBI and 26 steals.

-The Oklahoma pitching staff is No. 13 in the SEC with a 5.36 ERA, and the Sooners have recorded 522 strikeouts in 441.2 innings while allowing a .236 opponent batting average and 72 home runs.

(Release via LSU Athletics)