LSU To Host Alabama For Series At Alex Box Stadium

Alabama Crimson Tide (30-12, 9-9 SEC) at No. 1 LSU Tigers (32-8, 12-5 SEC)

DATES/TIMES
Friday, April 28 @ 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Saturday, April 29 @ 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Sunday, April 30 @ 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La. (10,326)

RANKINGS
LSU – No. 1 in all polls; No. 4 in NCAA RPI
Alabama – unranked in polls; No. 21 in NCAA RPI

RADIO
·LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
·Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com

ONLINE
All three games will be streamed on SEC Network +
Friday’s game will also be televised on the SEC Network

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. ALABAMA
·Alabama leads the all-time series with LSU, 200-177-3, and the first meeting between the squads occurred in 1906. LSU has won 13 of the 15 SEC regular-season series versus the Tide since 2007, including a 2-1 series victory last season in Tuscaloosa. Alabama’s series victories since 2007 came in 2011 at Tuscaloosa and in 2016 in Baton Rouge. LSU has a 36-13 mark in games played vs. Alabama since 2007 (31-13 in regular-season games, 5-0 in the SEC Tournament).

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1
LSU – Jr. RH Paul Skenes (7-1, 1.97 ERA, 59.1 IP, 12 BB, 115 SO)
UA – So. RH Luke Holman (5-2, 3.15 ERA, 45.2 IP, 18 BB, 53 SO)

Game 2
LSU – Jr. RH Ty Floyd (6-0, 3.80 ERA, 47.1 IP, 18 BB, 48 SO)
UA – Sr. RH Garrett McMillan (1-1, 3.38 ERA,10.2 IP, 6 BB, 10 SO)

Game 3
LSU – Jr. RH Christian Little (2-1, 4.08 ERA, 28.2 IP, 14 BB, 35 SO)
UA – Gr. RH Jacob McNairy (5-1, 3.92 ERA, 43.2 IP, 8 BB, 40 SO)

QUOTING LSU COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Alabama is a veteran team; it’s almost the identical team we played last year in Tuscaloosa. They’re an older team that’s won five SEC games in a row, and they’re playing really well. They’re not going to be overwhelmed by the situation or the environment. We’re going to have to pitch, defend, run the bases and play good offense in order to have a chance to win. We need our fans out here; it should be a great weekend, and we only have two SEC home weekends left, so we definitely want to see our fans out here.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
·LSU is in first place in the SEC Western Division with a 12-5 mark and the Tigers have a 1.5 game lead over second-place Arkansas (11-7) … LSU is third in the overall SEC race, one game behind first place South Carolina (13-4) and 0.5 game behind second-place Vanderbilt (13-5) … last weekend LSU posted an SEC series sweep at Ole Miss, the reigning College World Series champion … LSU’s 32-8 record is its best through 40 games since 2015, when the Tigers were 34-6 … LSU’s 12-5 SEC record this season is the Tigers’ best conference mark through 17 games since the 2015 club was also 12-5 in the league.

·LSU enters this week at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories … the Tigers are No. 1 in the nation in shutouts pitched (7); No. 2 in on-base percentage (.447) and No. 2 in slugging percentage (.570); No. 3 in scoring average (9.9 runs per game) No. 4 in runs scored (397) and No. 4 in hit-by-pitch (90); No. 5 in strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.4) and No. 5 in hits allowed per nine innings (7.19); and No. 10 in batting average (.320).

·LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.485), on-base percentage (.636) and runs scored (66); Crews is No. 2 in walks (45) and No. 7 in slugging percentage (.841) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.83), and he is No. 3 in total RBI (66) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (115), strikeouts per nine innings (17.44) and WHIP (0.74) … Skenes is No. 3 in hits allowed per nine innings (4.85), No. 4 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.58) and No. 13 in ERA (1.97).

·The Tigers have recorded 16 come-from-behind wins this season, including comebacks from a four-run deficit on three occasions – LSU trailed Southern, 4-0, in the bottom of the third inning on Feb. 21 (W, 18-4); the Tigers trailed Texas A&M, 4-0, in the top of the fourth inning on March 18 (W, 12-7); and LSU trailed South Carolina, 7-3, in the top of the eighth inning on April 7 (W, 8-7).

·Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews led LSU to a three-game sweep last weekend at Ole Miss … he hit .538 (7-for-13) in the Ole Miss series with one triple, two homers, seven RBI and five runs scored … in last Saturday’s win over the Rebels, Crews blasted a two-run homer and a grand slam to collect a career-high six RBI … the grand slam was the first of his three-season LSU career … Crews enters the Alabama series with a reached base streak of 44 straight games, which includes all 40 games this season and the final four games of last season.

·Junior right-hander Ty Floyd defeated Ole Miss last Saturday in the longest outing of his career, as he worked 8.1 innings to post the win over the Rebels … Floyd limited Ole Miss to three runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts, tying his career high for strikeouts … Floyd threw 111 pitches, including 76 for strikes to improve to 6-0 on the year.

·Junior pinch hitter Hayden Travinski launched a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning last Sunday to lift top-ranked LSU to a 7-6 win over Ole Miss at Swayze Field … Travinski’s homer, his first of the season, erased a 6-4 Ole Miss lead … Travinski also earned his first start of the season at catcher on Saturday versus Ole Miss, and he provided an RBI single and scored a run in the Tigers’ 8-4 win.

·Freshman right-hander Gavin Guidry pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth last Sunday at Ole Miss to preserve the win and earn his first career save … Guidry allowed a one-out double, but then retired the final two Ole Miss hitters to seal the victory.

·Junior right-hander Paul Skenes and freshman left-hander Griffin Herring combined to defeat Ole Miss last Friday night … Skenes improved to 7-1 on the year, as he limited the Rebels to three runs on four hits in six innings with three walks and 11 strikeouts … Herring worked the final three innings to earn his second save of the year, blanking Ole Miss on no hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

·Junior right-hander Christian Little delivered his best performance in an LSU uniform last Sunday at Ole Miss, as he worked the first 5.1 innings and limited the Rebels to three runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts … LSU homered six times in the Ole Miss series, including a fifth-inning grand slam in Game 1 by sophomore third baseman Tommy White, which erased a 3-2 Ole Miss lead and proved to be the game-winning hit … the blast was White’s third grand slam and 13th home run of the season … graduate designated hitter Cade Beloso has homered in three consecutive games – at Ole Miss last Saturday and Sunday, and vs. Nicholls on Tuesday night, increasing his season total to eight dingers.

ABOUT THE CRIMSON TIDE
·Alabama (9-9) is tied with Texas A&M for third place in the SEC Western Division, 3.5 games behind first-place LSU and two games behind second-place Arkansas … the Crimson Tide is No. 2 in the league with a .308 team batting average, trailing only LSU, which is hitting .320 on the year.

·The Tide has hit 73 home runs, a total that ranks No. 6 in the league … Alabama is No. 3 in the league in team ERA (3.77) and No. 9 in fielding percentage (.975).

·Infielder Drew Williamson leads Alabama in RBI with 43, and he has 10 home runs this season … infielder Colby Shelton has a team-high 16 homers, and he is second on the club in RBI with 35 … Alabama’s hitters have struck out only 295 times, which is the third-best total in the league.

(Release via LSU Athletics)