No. 1 LSU Tigers (8-0) at No. 18 Texas (7-3)
Friday 6:30, Saturday 3:30, Sunday 1:00- ALL GAMES ON LHN
RANKINGS
Texas – No. 18 Collegiate Baseball, No. 19 Baseball America, No. 20 NCBWA, No. 22 D1 Baseball, NR Perfect Game
LSU – No. 1 Collegiate Baseball, No. 1 Perfect Game, No. 1 NCBWA No. 2 Baseball America, No. 2 D1 Baseball
Probable Pitching Matchups:
Game 1Texas – So. RH Bryce Elder (1-0, 0.64 ERA, 14.0 IP, 3 BB, 15 K)
LSU – Jr. RH Zach Hess (1-0, 5.19 ERA, 8.2 IP, 4 BB, 10 K)
Game 2
Texas – Jr. RH Blair Henley (1-0, 8.31 ERA, 8.2 IP, 1 BB, 4 K)
LSU – Fr. RH Landon Marceaux (1-0, 4.76 ERA, 11.1 IP, 4 BB, 9 K)
Game 3Texas – Fr. RH Coy Cobb (0-1, 2.61 ERA, 10.1 IP, 2 BB, 2 K)
LSU – So. RH Eric Walker (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 5 K)
SERIES RECORD VS. LSU
Texas leads the all-time series with LSU, 22-12-1, and this weekend’s matchup marks the Tigers’ first visit to Austin since 1998, when Texas took two games of the three game series against the Tigers in the second weekend of the season. Last season, Texas traveled to Baton Rouge for the first time since 1999, and LSU took the series with two wins against the Longhorns. The 2018 meetings were the first since the 2009 College World Series Finals in Omaha, Neb., where LSU won two of three games against Texas to claim the ‘09 National Championship. Texas and LSU each have won six College World Series titles, which is the second-highest total in NCAA Division I history and trails only Southern California, which has 12 baseball national championships.
Texas Notes-
• Texas is 7-3 on the season and is 1-1 in this week’s contests. The Longhorns defeated Sam Houston State, 10-3, Tuesday before dropping a 10-7 game to UTSA Wednesday night. • As a team, Texas is batting .269 while holding opponents to a .209 average. The Longhorns have combined for 22 doubles, eight home runs and have stolen 12 bases on 14 attempts. • Junior infielder Ryan Reynolds is batting a team-high .389 and also has a team-best five doubles. He has also scored eight runs and has driven in six. • Texas’ pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.00. Sophomore right-hander Bryce Elder is 1-0 in two games starter with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings of work. He has a team-high 15 strikeouts.
LSU Notes-
• Top-ranked LSU is 8-0 for the first time since 2011, when LSU won its first eleven games of the season … LSU continued the strong start to the 2019 season last week after defeating Southeastern Louisiana, 4-0, Tuesday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field before sweeping Bryant in a three-game series,13-6 Friday night, 17-8 Saturday night and 4-3 Sunday afternoon. It is the fourth time under Head Coach Paul Mainieri that the Tigers are 8-0 to start the season. LSU has started a season 8-0 nine times in school history (1919, '88, '89, '96, '97, '09, '10, '11, '19).
• Junior shortstop Josh Smith is off to a torrid start, batting a team-best .517 (15-for-29) with four doubles, six RBI and 14 runs scored … Smith is third in the SEC in hits, runs scored, batting average and on base percentage ... Smith returned to the lineup on a full-time basis this season after missing all but six games in 2018 due to stress reaction in his back.
• Senior outfielder Antoine Duplantis went 4-for-5 with five RBI Wednesday night on the way to LSU’s victory against Southern ... He has a conference-best 23 RBI ... Duplantis now has 284 career hits, 68 shy of matching former LSU first baseman Eddy Furniss (1995-98) as the all-time SEC hits leader with 352.
• Since moving into the second spot in the lineup, junior outfielder Zach Watson has recorded eight hits and has a .471 batting average on the week (8-for-17). On the season, he has a .333 batting average and has scored 11 runs, which is second-most on the team. He is tied with Smith with four doubles.
• Right-hander Todd Peterson is the first LSU pitcher since Kurt Ainsworth to record two wins in LSU’s first four games of the season. He earned wins against Army and Southeastern Louisiana. Peterson has a 2-0 record and has recorded one save this season. Tuesday night against Southeastern, Peterson fired the final 1.1 innings of the game. He also pitched the final six outs against Bryant and struck out one batter to earn his first save of the season.
Should be great matchup in the middle of a tough stretch for us This will be the best opponent each team has faced. On paper, we have the advantage with arms and they have it with bats.