Preview & Pitching Matchups: LSU at Mississippi State This Weekend in Starkville

LSU Tigers (24-18, 6-12) at Mississippi State Bulldogs (31-10, 10-8)

DATES/TIMES (TV/ONLINE)
Friday, April 24 @ 3 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Saturday, April 25 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
Sunday, April 26 @ 1 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

STADIUM
Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Miss. (15,000)

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

RANKINGS
MSU – No. 11 (USA Today); No. 13 (Baseball America); No. 15 (D1 Baseball)

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State leads the overall series with LSU, 212-199-1; however, LSU has won 14 of the past 18 SEC regular season series with the Bulldogs, including a three-game sweep in Baton Rouge last season (March 27-29) … prior to last season, Mississippi State had captured two series in a row over the Tigers – the Bulldogs won two of three games over the Tigers on May 11-13, 2023, in Baton Rouge, and MSU won two of three over LSU on March 15-17, 2024, in Starkville, Miss. … LSU posted nine straight series wins over MSU from 2007-15, and the Tigers have won five of the last nine series meetings from 2016-25 (no series in 2020).

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1
LSU – So. RH Casan Evans (2-2, 5.47 ERA, 52.2 IP, 26 BB, 76 SO)
MSU – So. LH Tomas Valincius (7-1, 1.81 ERA, 83 K, 13 BB)

Game 2
LSU – So. RH William Schmidt (4-4, 4.14 ERA, 50.0 IP, 22 BB, 67 SO)
MSU – So. RH Duke Stone (6-1, 3.78 ERA, 70 K, 18 BB)

Game 3
LSU – TBA
MSU – So. LH Charlie Foster (0-2, 5.17 ERA, 34 K, 16 BB)

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON

“Mississippi State is loaded with talent, and their stadium is one of my favorite environments to play in. It will be a good battle; we’re all in the thick of this race, and everybody is competing for something in SEC play. We’re going to have to go in there and fight. It’s an opportunity, and we’re looking forward to this weekend.”


ABOUT THE TIGERS

-Junior shortstop Steven Milam has a current reached-base safely streak that has stretched to 19 games, and he is also riding an eight-game hitting streak … Milam batted .385 (5-for-13) last weekend in the Texas A&M series with one double, two homers, two RBI and three runs scored … he is batting .387 (12-for-31) in LSU’s last eight games with four doubles, two homers, five RBI and five runs scored
… Milam has committed just one error all season in 148 chances, producing a .993 fielding percentage.

-Sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin recorded the longest outing of his LSU career last Sunday versus Texas A&M, working 4.1 innings and limiting the Aggies to one run on three hits with no walks and nine strikeouts … he threw 61 pitches in the outing, 47 for strikes, a strikes rate of 77 percent … for the entire week in his two appearances versus Northwestern State and Texas A&M, Sheerin pitched 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on three hits with no walks, 13 strikeouts and a .143 opponent batting average … Sheerin is 3-0 this season with a team-best 2.84 ERA and three saves … he has recorded 12 walks and 45 strikeouts in 25.1 innings, and he is limiting opponents to a .157 batting average.

-Sophomore centerfielder Derek Curiel leads LSU in batting average at .349, and he has produced eight doubles, two triples, five homers, 39 RBI and 44 runs scored … Curiel is No. 3 in the SEC in base hits (58), No. 5 in the league in triples (2) and No. 9 in runs scored (44).

-The LSU bullpen recorded a 3.21 ERA in 14.0 innings versus Texas A&M last weekend, holding the Aggies to five runs on 11 hits with eight walks and 25 strikeouts … the LSU relievers limited Texas A&M to a .204 cumulative batting average in their outings.

-Freshman right-hander Marcos Paz delivered an impressive relief effort on Saturday versus Texas A&M, firing 2.0 shutout innings while allowing just one hit with one walk and three strikeouts … sophomore left-hander Danny Lachenmayer made two appearances in the Texas A&M series, firing 1.1 scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and three strikeouts … Lachenmayer on Tuesday night versus New Orleans recorded a season-high five strikeouts in 1.2 innings with no runs, no hits and one walk.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS

-Mississippi State is 31-10 overall, and the Bulldogs are in a five-way tie for fourth place in the SEC standings with a 10-8 conference mark … Mississippi State enters Friday’s game riding a five-game win streak, which includes a 6-2 win over Memphis on Tuesday night and an SEC sweep at South Carolina last weekend.

-The Bulldogs are No. 2 in the SEC with a .316 team batting average, and they have produced 96 doubles, four triples, 68 home runs and 48 steals in 63 attempts … outfielder Bryce Chance is hitting .364 with 14 doubles and 20 RBI, INF/OF Gehrig Frei is hitting .331 with nine doubles, two triples and seven homers, and infielder Ace Reese is batting .312 with team highs of 17 doubles, 12 homers and 47 RBI.

-The Mississippi State pitching staff is No. 3 in the SEC with a 3.42 ERA, and the Bulldogs have recorded 467 strikeouts in 353 innings while allowing 35 home runs.

(Release via LSU Athletics)