Preview & Pitching Matchups: LSU At No. 4 Tennessee Starting Friday Night

#25 LSU Tigers (22-12, 3-9 SEC) at #4 Tennessee Volunteers (27-6, 7-5 SEC)

DATES/TIMES
Friday, April 12 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (ESPNU)
Saturday, April 13 @ 4:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network)
Sunday, April 14 @ 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network)

STADIUM
Lindsey Nelson Stadium (5,548)

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

TV/ONLINE
Friday – ESPNU; Saturday and Sunday – SEC Network (all three games also available via streaming on SEC Network +)

RANKINGS
LSU – No. 25 NCBWA
UT – No. 4 Baseball America, No. 4 D1 Baseball, No. 4 USA Today, No. 4 NCBWA

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. TENNESSEE
LSU leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 62-29 … LSU has won 18 of its last 26 games versus UT, including four of five matchups in 2023 … LSU claimed a 2-1 SEC series win over Tennessee last season (March 30-April 1) in Baton Rouge before defeating the Vols twice in the 2023 College World Series … prior to the 2023 season, UT had won six straight games over the Tigers, including a 2022 SEC Tournament win, a two-game sweep in the 2021 NCAA Knoxville Super Regional and a three-game sweep in the 2021 SEC regular-season series, also in Knoxville.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1
LSU – So. LH Gage Jump (2-0, 3.98 ERA, 31.2 IP, 11 BB, 38 SO)
UT – TBA

Game 2
LSU – Jr. RH Luke Holman (6-1, 2.01 ERA, 44.2 IP, 13 BB, 71 SO)
UT – Jr. RH Drew Beam (4-1, 3.63 ERA, 44.2 IP, 7 BB, 40 SO)

Game 3
LSU – TBA
UT – Sr. LH Zander Sechrist (1-0, 3.37 ERA, 26.2 IP, 5 BB, 32 SO)

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“We’re looking forward to this weekend; I think we will be an improved team. Tennessee recruits at as high a level as anyone in the country, and they have an extremely talented team. I think it’s going to be a great series. We need to make this about baseball; our approach is just taking on ‘what’s next,’ and that’s how we’re going to roll the rest of the season.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU first baseman Jared Jones tied the school single-game record for home runs with three Tuesday night to lead the Tigers to a 16-0 win over McNeese. Jones, batting in the lead-off position for the Tigers on Tuesday night, was 4-for-5 with three homers, one double, six RBI and four runs scored. He tied the LSU single-game record for homers set on several occasions, most recently by outfielder Leon Landry on May 16, 2009, at Mississippi State. Jones has a team-high 14 homers this season, and he leads LSU in RBI with 34.

• Jared Jones is hitting .400 (8-for-20) in his last five games with one double, four homers, 10 RBI, six runs, two walks, a .458 on-base percentage and a 1.050 slugging percentage.

• Junior right-hander Luke Holman defeated sixth-ranked Vanderbilt last Thursday night, limiting the Commodores to four earned runs on four hits in 5.2 innings with no walks and 10 strikeouts … he threw 97 pitches in the outing, recording 62 for strikes, and he pitched 4.1 perfect innings before allowing a Vanderbilt baserunner in the fifth inning … Holman is 6-1 this season with a 2.01 ERA in 34.2 innings … he has recorded 13 walks and 71 strikeouts, and he’s limiting opponents to a .174 batting average.

• Sophomore left-hander Griffin Herring recorded the save in last Thursday’s win over No. 6 Vanderbilt … he worked 3.1 innings and allowed no runs on three hits with one walk and six Ks … Herring is 2-0 this season with a 2.42 ERA and three saves in 22.1 IP with seven BB and 31 Ks.

• Junior third baseman Tommy White is hitting .353 (6-for-17) in his last five games with two homers, four RBI, seven runs, five walks and a .522 on-base percentage … White is the Tigers’ leading hitting on the year, batting .324 with four doubles, 11 homers, 29 RBI and 33 runs.

ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS
• Tennessee is No. 1 in the SEC in team batting average, hitting .338 with 94 doubles, three triples and 89 home runs … Tennessee and Georgia are tied for first in the league in homers.

• The Volunteers’ pitching staff is No. 5 in the SEC with a 3.90 cumulative ERA, and Tennessee has recorded 302 strikeouts in 270.0 innings while allowing 33 home runs.

• First baseman Blake Burke is batting .410 for Tennessee with 19 doubles, 11 homers and 30 RBI; outfielder Kavares Tears is also hitting .410 on the year, and he has eight doubles, 10 homers and 29 RBI … outfielder Dylan Dreiling has a team-high 40 RBI, and infielder Christian Moore lead the Vols in homers with 13.

(Release via LSU Athletics)