No. 14 LSU Travels To Alabama This Weekend

No. 14 LSU Fighting Tigers (30-14, 12-9 SEC) at Alabama Crimson Tide (25-20, 9-12 SEC)

DATES/TIMES
·Friday, May 6 @ 6 p.m. CT
·Saturday, May 7 @ 7:30 p.m. CT
·Sunday, May 8 @ 1 p.m. CT

STADIUM
·Sewell-Thomas Stadium

RANKINGS
·LSU – No. 14 NCAA RPI, No. 19 USA Today, No. 20 D1 Baseball
·Alabama - unranked

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

TV/ONLINE
·Saturday’s game will be televised live on the SEC Network
·All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. ALABAMA
Alabama leads the all-time series with LSU,199-175-3, and the first meeting between the squads occurred in 1906. LSU has won 12 of the 14 SEC regular-season series versus the Tide since 2007, including a 2-1 series victory last season in Baton Rouge. Alabama’s series victories since 2007 came in 2011 at Tuscaloosa and in 2016 in Baton Rouge. LSU has a 34-12 mark in games played vs. Alabama since 2007 (29-12 in regular-season games, 5-0 in the SEC Tournament).

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Alabama has a very good team, (head coach) Brad Bohannon has done a really good job in recruiting. The longer he’s been there, the more talented their roster has become. They’ve survived some tough injuries and some tough luck, but they have a good pitching rotation and competitive position players with speed and power. They’re going to fight, I know that, and we have to be prepared. In the SEC, every game is literally the same, because everybody can beat you; you’re always facing good pitching and defense, and a strong lineup of hitters. We’ll just focus on our play, get out there and be ready to go.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
·LSU opened this week with a 10-6 win over Nicholls on Tuesday night in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field … the Tigers posted an SEC series victory at home last weekend over NCAA RPI No. 4 Georgia … LSU is No. 14 in the official NCAA RPI ranking entering the Alabama series … LSU, which is 12-9 in the SEC, is in a four-way tie for third place in the overall league standings with Auburn, Texas A&M and Georgia.

·Sophomore third baseman Jacob Berry led LSU to the series win over No. 4 RPI Georgia, batting .462 (6-for-13) in three games with one double, one homer and three RBI … Berry also posted a .500 on-base percentage and a .769 slugging percentage in the series … with LSU trailing Georgia, 3-2, entering the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday, Berry started the Tigers’ comeback with a single and scored when Cade Doughty followed with a two-run walk-off homer … Berry also launched a three-run homer in the seventh inning on Saturday, reducing an 8-4 Georgia lead to 8-7 … Berry is batting a team-high .377 this season, and he leads LSU in hits (66) and homers (15) and RBI (45).

·Second baseman Cade Doughty delivered a walk-off hit for the second straight weekend last Sunday, as his two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted LSU to a 4-3 win over Georgia … Doughty also lined a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat Missouri on April 22 … LSU homered nine times in the Georgia series last weekend – centerfielder Dylan Crews hit three dingers, including two in Sunday’s win … true freshman leftfielder Josh Stevenson’s three-run homer on Saturday was the first dinger of his career.

·LSU is near the top of the SEC in several offensive categories, including batting average (No. 2 - .292); slugging percentage (No. 2 - .520); on-base percentage (No. 2 - .406); runs scored (No. 2 – 348); RBI (No. 2 – 327); doubles (No. 2 – 89); home runs (No. 4 – 79) and total bases (No. 2 – 780) … LSU’s batters have been hit by a pitch 86 times through 44 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 75 HBPs.

·Senior right-hander Ma’Khail Hilliard improved to 12-0 in his last 12 career decisions as he defeated Georgia last Friday night … Hilliard pitched six innings, limiting the Bulldogs to two run on eight hits in six innings with three walks and seven strikeouts … Hilliard has not lost a decision since May 22, 2019, to Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala. … he worked out of two bases-loaded jams in Friday night’s win, including one in the first inning and one in the fourth inning; he recorded back-to-back strikeouts to escape the first-inning predicament … Hilliard retired seven of the final eight batters he faced in earning the victory … he is now 5-0 this season with a 3.57 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 53 innings.

·True freshman right-hander Samuel Dutton delivered the longest outing of his career last Sunday, working the first 4.2 innings versus Georgia … Dutton limited the Bulldogs to two runs on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts, and he fired 65 total pitches.

·The LSU pitching staff is near the top of the SEC in a number of categories, including ERA (No. 4 - 3.68); opponent batting average (No. 4 - .229); fewest runs allowed (No. 4 - 202); fewest earned runs allowed (No. 4 - 160); fewest hits allowed (No. 4 - 340) and fewest walks allowed (No. 4 – 152).

ABOUT THE CRIMSON TIDE
·Alabama is 25-20 overall, and the Tide is 9-12 in the SEC, tied for fifth place with Mississippi State in the Western Division … Alabama is No. 48 in the official NCAA RPI ranking entering Friday’s game versus LSU.

·Alabama is hitting .281 as a team (No. 9 in the SEC) with 79 doubles, seven triples and 50 homers, and the Tide has stolen 29 bases in 40 attempts … the Alabama pitching staff has a 4.27 ERA (No. 5 in the SEC) with 413 strikeouts in 396.1 innings.

·Alabama is led at the plate by infielder Drew Williamson, who has seven homers and a team-high 37 RBI … infielder Zane Denton leads the Tide with 12 doubles and 11 homers, and he has driven in 36 runs … outfielder Andrew Pinckney has a team-best .314 batting average, and he has 10 doubles, three triples, five homers and 21 RBI.

·The Tide’s Game 1 starting pitcher, right-hander Garrett McMillan, is No. 9 in the SEC in opponent batting average (.215) and No. 10 in the league in strikeouts (65).

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