Baseball Preview: #4 LSU @ Northwestern St – Thurs 3pm

UPDATE FOR THURSDAY'S GAME: LSU (10-2) bounced back in strong fashion last night against Sacred Heart. The Pioneers' starting pitching is only a couple deep, and it showed as the Tigers were able to jump out early against the midweek opponent and never looked back. Brady Domangue gave up a solo shot in the first, but was able to settle in and throw 3 innings of 1 run ball. Domangue received the 3 inning win due to a designated pitch count, throwing 50 pitches and 30 for strikes. In relief, Person, Fury, McCune, and Faucheux tamed the Sacred Heart bats not allowing a run in the remaining 6 innings. Thursday's makeup game against Northwestern State will feature freshman south-paw Jared Poché on the mound for LSU. Poché is working his way into a weekend role and will likely find himself starting in a crucial game at Hawkins Field in a couple of weeks, so Coach Mainieri hopes to get the freshman some experience starting on the road. I am unaware of any changes at this time on the Northwestern State end. NSU (6-4) is expected to start Steven Spann.


Updated Prediction: NSU 0, LSU 6



All stats and records below are as of Tuesday morning.




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Baseball Preview: #4 LSU @ Northwestern St – Tues 3:30pm


The Tigers (9-2) take to the road on Tuesday heading up I-49 to Natchitoches, LA, to take on the Northwestern State Demons (6-4). LSU looks to bounce back from a Sunday loss in the series finale against Yale. This game has been moved from a night start to a 3:30 pm first pitch in order to avoid the freezing temperatures that are expected to descend upon north Louisiana on Tuesday evening. NSU lost in Baton Rouge last year in just a 2-1 game. LSU makes their first trip to Brown-Stroud Field since 2003. Let's take a quick look at the 2014 Northwestern State baseball team.



Northwestern State University Demons
Record: 6-4
Conference: 0-0 Southland
Non-Conf: 6-4
Home: 3-1
Road: 2-3
Neutral: 1-0

Overview:
Northwestern State is lead by second year head coach Lane Burroughs, former Mississippi State assistant and recruiting coordinator. NSU is the winningest team in the Southland Conference the last 20 years, but Coach Burroughs has his hands full in rebuilding the team that has been down for several years and not been to a regional since 2005. Despite a decent young recruiting class, NSU is expected to finish near the bottom of the Southland again this year. They also did not feature any players on the preseason All-Southland team. This team has a long way to go up after struggling at the plate and on the mound last year, finishing the season with a 15-40 record.

NSU Stats (LSU in parentheses)
RPI: 104 (121)
vs Top 25: 0-0 (2-1)
vs Top 50: 0-1 (2-2)
vs Top 100: 1-3 (3-2)

Team ERA: 3.44 (1.60)
Opponent ERA: 3.96 (6.24)

Team BA: .270 (.309)
Opponent BA: .269 (.210)

Team Fielding %: .954 (.980)
Opponent Fielding %: .968 (.961)


Starting Pitching:
LSU will send out freshman Jared Poché, who will be making his first career road start. NSU will counter with righty Steven Spann. The senior opened the season as the Friday night starter, and statistically has been their best starting pitcher in this young 2014 season. Spann took the loss in the season opener against Jacksonville state, but bounced back with a win against Prairieview A&M and a win in relief in extra innings against Southern.

Tuesday's Pitching Matchup:
Fr. LHP Jared Poché (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, .174 OBA)
Sr. RHP Steven Spann (2-1, 3.27 ERA, 11.0 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, .238 OBA)


Relief Pitching:
Relief pitching has been the bright spot of the NSU season. 5th year senior lefty Andrew Adams leads the team with 6 appearances, throwing 7.2 innings with a 1.17 ERA, walking 1 and striking out 7 with opponents hitting just .182 against him. Joey Parrack (5 app, 7.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, .200 OBA), has been solid so far also, but has some control problems hitting 1 batter and walking 5. Other solid relievers are Cameron Brewer (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, .143 OBA) and Brandon Smith (3 app, 2.25 ERA, 4.0 IP, 1 ER).

Offense: (LSU numbers in parentheses)
Team BA: .270 (.309)
Team OBP: .398 (.412)
Team SLG: .330 (.438)

The Demons are averaging 5.1 runs/game hitting .270 with no home runs yet this season. They are much improved at the plate so far after hitting a pathetic .238 as a team in 2013. NSU is lead at the plate by junior Caleb Dugas, who is off to a great start hitting .333 with a team leading 5 doubles. Senior Edwin Gomez is one of the top returning hitters from last season and is hitting .308 so far with a double and the team’s only triple.


NSU Projected Lineup:
1) SS – Joel Atkinson (.188 avg / 0 HR / 1 RBI)
2) CF – Bret Underwood (.293/0/2)
3) 1B – Caleb Dugas (.333/0/7)
4) C – CJ Webster (.276/0/3)
5) DH – Regan Kaufman (.290/0/4)
6) 3B – Chase Daughdrill (.286/0/11)
7) 2B – Edwin Gomez (.308/0/3)
8) RF – Nathan Lyons (.286/0/7)
9) LF – Jake Clouatre (.200/0/0)


Defense:
The Demons are struggling in the field with a .954 FLD%. The NSU middle infielders combine for 10 errors in 10 games. LSU is fielding .980 so far this season.


Season Stats
Roster
Schedule (via Warren Nolan)

Media Coverage:
TV – None
Online: Audio only on GeauxZone, NSU Live Video (requires subscription)
Radio – 98.1 FM (check local listings for your LSU sports radio network affiliate)


PREDICTION: NSU 0, LSU 3