LSU To Face Georgia in Top 20 SEC Matchup At Alex Box

No. 11 Georgia Bulldogs (29-12, 11-7 SEC) at No. 20 LSU Fighting Tigers (27-13, 10-8 SEC)

DATES/TIMES
• Friday, April 29 @ 6:30 p.m. CT
• Saturday, April 30 @ 2 p.m. CT
• Sunday, May 1 @ 1 p.m. CT

STADIUM
• Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (10,326)

RANKINGS
• LSU – No. 20 USA Today, No. 22 D1 Baseball
• UGA – No. 11 USA Today, No. 14 D1 Baseball

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

ONLINE
• All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. GEORGIA
LSU leads the all-time series with Georgia, 68-25-3; the teams’ most recent meeting was on May 25 of last season, when Georgia defeated LSU, 4-1, in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. … the weekend marks the first regular-season meeting between the schools since March 22-24, 2019, when UGA won two of three games over the Tigers in Athens … this weekend marks Georgia’s first visit to Baton Rouge since March 17-19, 2017, when the Tigers won all three games over the Bulldogs … LSU has won 10 of its last 13 SEC regular-season series versus UGA.

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Georgia has excellent starting pitching and a good bullpen, and they have a lot of older position players with experience in the SEC. They’re a strong, physical, aggressive group, a very good team. Every weekend is like this in our league – every team is good enough to beat you, and you’re good enough to beat every other team. It comes down to how you play; in order to win this weekend, there are a few things we need to do well, and if we do those things, we give ourselves a chance.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU is No. 22 in the official NCAA RPI ranking entering Friday’s game versus Georgia … the Tigers began this week with a 9-4 loss at New Orleans on Tuesday night … LSU, which is 10-8 in the SEC, is in third place in the SEC West, just two games behind first-place Arkansas (12-6).
• Sophomore third baseman Jacob Berry led LSU to a three-game sweep of Missouri last weekend, batting .600 (6-for-10) with three homers, four RBI and five runs … Berry also walked three times in the series and recorded a .692 on-base percentage … he was 3-for-4 with two homers, two RBI and three runs in Friday’s Game 1 victory … Berry was 2-for-3 at the plate in Game 3 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored.
• LSU is near the top of the SEC in several offensive categories, including batting average (No. 4 – .292); slugging percentage (No. 2 – .511); on-base percentage (No. 2 – .405); runs scored (No. 2 – 321); RBI (No. 2 – 301); doubles (No. 2 – 83); home runs (No. 5 – 67) and total bases (No. 2 – 700) … LSU’s batters have been hit by a pitch 80 times through 40 games of the regular season; the Tigers are No. 6 in the nation and No. 1 in the SEC in batters hit-by-pitches, and the next-closest SEC team in that category is Missouri with 62 HBPs.
• Senior right-hander Ma’Khail Hilliard defeated Missouri last Thursday, working seven innings and limiting Mizzou to two runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts … Hilliard, who improved to 4-0 this season, has not suffered a loss in 11 consecutive decisions … Hilliard’s last loss came on May 22, 2019, to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala.
• Left-hander Riley Cooper appeared in all three games of LSU’s three-game sweep of Missouri, recording a win and save last weekend … he worked a total of 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with no walks and two strikeouts … he pitched the final 1.1 innings to earn the win in Game 2, allowing no runs on two hits with no walks and one strikeout … Cooper picked up the save in Game 3, pitching a perfect 1.1 innings with one strikeout … he entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with LSU clinging to a 7-6 lead as Missouri had the bases loaded with two outs … Cooper retired Missouri third baseman Luke Mann on a grounder back to the mound to end the inning, and he retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve the win.
• The LSU pitching staff is near the top of the SEC in a number of categories, including ERA (No. 4 – 3.55); opponent batting average (No. 4 – .224); fewest runs allowed (No. 4 – 179); fewest earned runs allowed (No. 4 – 140); fewest hits allowed (No. 4 – 302) and fewest walks allowed (No. 5 – 142).

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
• Georgia is 29-12 overall, 11-7 in the SEC; the Bulldogs are in second place in the SEC Eastern Division behind Tennessee (17-1) … UGA is No. 4 in the official NCAA RPI ranking entering Friday’s game versus LSU … Georgia began this week with a 16-1 win over Georgia State on Tuesday night in Athens, Ga.
• The Bulldogs are No. 5 in the SEC with a .289 batting average, and they rank No. 8 in the league with 45 home runs … outfielder Connor Tate is hitting .338 on the year with 13 doubles, one triple, five homers and 35 RBI … catcher Corey Collins leads UGA in homers with nine, and he has collected 32 RBI … infielder Parks Harber has homered seven times and leads the club with 39 RBI.
• Georgia is No. 13 in the SEC in team ERA (5.29); however, UGA right-hander Jonathan Cannon has the best individual ERA (1.55) in the league, and he’s No. 2 in the SEC in opponent batting average (.157).