LSU To Host Kentucky For Series Starting On Thursday Night

No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats (27-5, 9-3 SEC) at No. 1 LSU Tigers (27-5, 7-4 SEC)

DATES/TIMES
Thursday, April 13 @ 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Friday, April 14 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Saturday, April 15 @ 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 college baseball polls
UK – No. 11 Collegiate Baseball, No. 12 Baseball America, No. 12 D1 Baseball

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

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

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. KENTUCKY
LSU leads the all-time series with Kentucky, 55-31-1 … the teams split two games in the 2022 SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.; LSU posted an 11-6 win over UK in the Tigers’ opening SEC Tournament game last season, but the Wildcats recorded a 7-2 elimination game win over LSU two days later … LSU has won 13 of the past 19 SEC regular-season series against UK, including a 2-1 series victory in their last regular-season meeting on April 9-11, 2021, in Lexington, Ky.

LSU PITCHING ROTATION
Game 1 – Jr. RH Paul Skenes (5-1, 1.14 ERA, 47.1 IP, 8 BB, 91 SO)
Game 2 – Jr. RH Ty Floyd (5-0, 3.67 ERA, 34.1 IP, 14 BB, 38 SO)
Game 3 – Jr RH Christian Little (2-1, 4.05 ERA, 20.0 IP, 10 BB, 31 SO)

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Kentucky has a really good identity – they know who they are, and they play to that well. I’ve known (Kentucky coach) Nick Mingione a really long time, and he’s a very thoughtful guy in how he puts together his program, his roster. They bunt as well as any team that we’ve played since I’ve been at LSU. They do a good job with the running game; there are literally no holds barred on that end. So, we have some things we need to do to control what they do well.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
·LSU has won eight of its last 10 games, including an SEC two-game series split at No. 3 South Carolina last weekend … LSU’s 27-5 record is its best through 32 games since 2015, when the Tigers were also 27-5 … the Tigers are No. 4 in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings.

·LSU, which has been ranked No. 1 all season – nine straight weeks – 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 shutouts pitched (7), on-base percentage (.452), runs scored (332) and scoring average (10.4 runs per game) … … the Tigers are No. 3 nationally in batting average (.333), hits allowed per nine innings (6.57) and slugging percentage (.591), No. 4 in strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.9) and No. 5 in WHIP (1.18).

·LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.505), on-base percentage (.639) and in runs scored (55); he is No. 6 in slugging percentage (.860) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.86) and in total RBI (54) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (91), strikeouts per nine innings (17.30), hits allowed per nine innings (3.99) and WHIP (0.61) … Skenes is No. 2 in the nation in ERA (1.14) and No. 5 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.38).

·Graduate second baseman Gavin Dugas is batting .429 (6-for-14) in LSU’s last four games with one double, one triple, one homer and seven RBI … in last Friday’s win at third-ranked South Carolina, Dugas launched a two-out grand slam in the top of the eighth inning, erasing a 7-3 deficit and tying the game at 7-7 … LSU went on to score the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and secure an 8-7 victory … the grand slam was the third of Dugas’ career – he hit two grand slams in 2021 – and it marked his 10th home run this season.

·Shortstop Jordan Thompson is hitting .400 (4-for-10) in LSU’s last three games with three homers, six RBI and five runs scored; Thompson has homered once in each of the Tigers’ last three contests … designated hitter Cade Beloso is batting .500 (6-for-12) in LSU’s last three games with one homer, four RBI and four runs scored … Beloso provided the game-winning hit in the top of the ninth inning last Friday at South Carolina, when he broke a 7-7 tie with an RBI single and lifted LSU to an 8-7 victory.

·Freshman right-hander Gavin Guidry posted the first two pitching wins of his collegiate career last week, as he recorded relief victories over Nicholls (April 4) and third-ranked South Carolina (April 7) … he recorded a combined 3.0 scoreless innings with one hit, one walk and six strikeouts … in the win over the Gamecocks, Guidry pitched the final 1.2 innings, limiting South Carolina to no runs on one hit with one walk and three strikeouts … he entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and the score tied 7-7, and he retired two straight batters to end the inning; after LSU took an 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth, Guidry blanked the Gamecocks in the bottom of the frame by striking out the side to end the game … Guidry earned the win over Nicholls by pitching 1.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

·Junior right-hander Bryce Collins has fired 6.2 straight scoreless innings over his past five relief appearances with no hits, five walks and nine strikeouts … Collins earned the win at Tulane on Tuesday night, working 2.2 innings and allowing no runs on no hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
·Kentucky is in third place in the SEC East with a 9-3 conference mark, two games behind Vanderbilt (10-1) … Kentucky is No. 1 in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings.

·UK is No. 5 in the SEC in team batting average (.299), and the Wildcats lead the SEC in stolen bases (57) and sacrifice bunts (30) … Kentucky is 14th in the league in home runs with 22.

·Infielder Hunter Gilliam is batting .379 on the year with eight doubles, one triple, six homers and 42 RBI … infielder Emilien Pitre is hitting .349 with 10 doubles, one triple, one homer and 31 RBI, and catcher Devin Burkes has 10 doubles, one triple, 4 homers and 40 RBI.

·Kentucky is No. 4 in the league in team ERA (3.29), and the Wildcats have recorded 286 strikeouts in 276.0 innings while limiting opponents to a .211 cumulative batting average.

(Release via LSU Athletics)