LSU Baseball At Ole Miss This Week In Oxford

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LSU Baseball Report
For Immediate Release – April 21, 2021

LSU Fighting Tigers (22-14, 4-11) at No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels (27-10, 9-6)

DATES/TIMES
·Thursday, April 22 @ 7 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
·Friday, April 23 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
·Saturday, April 22 @ 12 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

STADIUM
·Oxford-University Stadium, Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss.

RANKINGS
·Ole Miss – No. 9 Collegiate Baseball, No. 10 USA Today, No. 12 Baseball America, No. 12 D1 Baseball

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

TV/ONLINE
·Thursday’s game will be televised on ESPNU
·All 3 games may be viewed on SEC Network +, accessible at Watch ESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app

SERIES RECORD VS. OLE MISS
LSU leads Ole Miss, 177-155, in a series that began in 1906. LSU has captured six of the past nine regular-season series with Ole Miss, though the Rebels have won the last two series versus LSU – a 2-1 series victory in 2018 at Oxford and a 2-1 series victory in 2019 at Baton Rouge.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1
LSU – Jr. RH Landon Marceaux (4-3, 1.65 ERA, 54.2 IP, 12 BB, 67 SO)
UM – Jr. RH Gunnar Hoglund (3-2, 2.73 ERA, 56.0 IP, 16 BB, 87 SO)

Game 2
LSU – Jr. RH AJ Labas (2-0, 3.35 ERA, 51.0 IP, 9 BB, 50 SO)
UM – Jr. LH Doug Nikhazy (4-1, 1.86 ERA, 38.2 IP, 16 BB, 59 SO)

Game 3
LSU – TBA
UM – So. RH Drew McDaniel (4-0, 2.97 ERA, 36.1 IP, 12 BB, 42 SO)

QUOTING PAUL MAINIERI
“I think we’re improving; we’re not where we want to be as a team, but I do think we’re evolving and getting better. At LSU, we’re supposed to be great all the time, and I want us to be great. We’re playing a lot of young players right now, and sometimes it takes them a while to become what you want them to become. It’s hard to be patient, but we are definitely improving.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
·LSU is No. 29 in this week’s official NCAA RPI ratings, and the Tigers are No. 6 in strength of schedule … Ole Miss represents the fifth Top 10 team the Tigers have faced in the past six weekends.

·LSU is No. 3 in the nation in home runs with 54 on the year (tied with Southern Illinois and Texas Tech); Arkansas leads the nation with 70, and Old Dominion is No. 2 with 62.

·Junior right-hander Landon Marceaux defeated fifth-ranked South Carolina last Thursday, firing career-high 12 strikeouts in a 5-1 victory … Marceaux worked seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and one walk … he threw 107 pitches, 70 for strikes … his previous career-best for strikeouts was 11, set this season on March 13 versus UT San Antonio … Marceaux lowered his cumulative ERA to 1.65, and he has recorded 67 strikeouts in 54.2 innings while limiting opponents to a .185 batting average … Marceaux is No. 3 in the SEC in ERA, No. 4 in innings pitched, No. 7 in strikeouts and No. 7 in opponent batting average.

·Junior right-hander AJ Labas provided another quality start for the Tigers in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, limiting South Carolina to two runs on five hits in 6.1 innings with one walk and four strikeouts … six of Labas’ nine starts this season have been quality starts, which are defined as at least six innings pitched while allowing three earned runs or fewer … six of Labas’ last seven starts have been quality starts; the only exception in that span was on April 3 versus Vanderbilt, when he worked 5.1 innings and allowed just three earned runs with one walk and seven strikeouts … Labas is No. 7 in the SEC in innings pitched (51.0).

·Junior designated hitter Cade Beloso led the Tigers in hitting during last weekend’s South Carolina series, batting .444 (4-for-9) with one homer and one RBI … freshman first baseman Tre’ Morgan hit .400 (4-for-10) against the Gamecocks while scoring two runs and recording one stolen base … Morgan is No. 2 this season in the SEC in triples (3), No. 4 in doubles (11), No. 6 in runs scored (37), No. 8 in on-base percentage (.452) and No. 8 in stolen bases (9).

·Freshman rightfielder Dylan Crews is batting .348 this season, which ranks as the seventh-best average in the SEC … Crews is No. 5 in the league in on-base percentage (.463), No. 5 in total bases (83), No. 6 in walks (27), No. 7 in stolen bases (10) and No. 9 in base hits (47).

·Junior leftfielder Gavin Dugas is No. 5 in the SEC in RBI (38), and he’s No. 7 in the league in home runs (10) … sophomore third baseman Cade Doughty is tied with Dugas at No. 5 in the SEC in RBI (38).

ABOUT THE REBELS
·The Rebels are coached by Mike Bianco, a former catcher (1988-89) and assistant coach (1993-97) at LSU … Mike's son, Drew Bianco, is a junior infielder/outfielder at LSU … Mike Bianco is in his 21st season as the Ole Miss head coach.

·Ole Miss is No. 2 in the SEC in team batting average, hitting .301 with 41 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 36 attempts.

·The Ole Miss pitching staff is No. 7 in the SEC in team ERA (3.95), and the Rebels have recorded 429 strikeouts in 321 innings.

·Junior right-hander Gunnar Hoglund leads the SEC in strikeouts with 87, and he’s No. 6 in opponent batting average (.183) and No. 8 in ERA (2.73) … junior left-hander Doug Nikhazy is No. 2 in the league in opponent batting average (.143) and No. 5 in ERA (1.86).

·Catcher Hayden Dunhurst is batting a team-high .342 with six doubles, two triples, four homers and 29 RBI … outfielder Kevin Graham is hitting .336 with eight doubles, six homers and 33 RBI … infielder/outfielder Tim Elko leads Ole Miss in homers (9) and RBI (36), but he has been sidelined since early April with a torn ACL injury.

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