Preview & Pitching Matchups: LSU vs. Kentucky This Weekend At Alex Box Stadium

No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats (20-4, 4-2) at LSU Fighting Tigers (17-9, 2-4)

DATES/TIMES
Friday, March 27 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Saturday, March 28 @ 2 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
Sunday, March 29 @ 12 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)

STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La. (10,718)

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

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. KENTUCKY

LSU leads the all-time series with Kentucky, 60-32-1 … this weekend marks the teams’ first meeting since May 22, 2024, when the Tigers posted an 11-0 win over the Wildcats in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala. … LSU and UK met in the 2023 NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional, and the Tigers swept two games from the Wildcats to advance to the College World Series … this weekend marks the first regular-season meeting between the teams since April 13-15, 2023, when LSU won two of three games over UK in Baton Rouge … LSU has won 14 of the past 20 SEC regular-season series against UK ... the teams have met on 11 occasions over the past five seasons, and LSU has won eight of the 11 games … Jay Johnson has a 6-2 record against Kentucky as LSU’s head coach.

RANKINGS
UK – No. 19 (D1 Baseball, NCBWA, USA Today); No. 21 (Baseball America)

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1
LSU – So. RH Casan Evans (2-0, 4.80 ERA, 30.0 IP, 13 BB, 50 SO)
UK – Sr. RH Jaxon Jelkin (5-0, 2.94 ERA, 33.2 IP, 8 BB, 37 SO

Game 2
LSU – So. RH William Schmidt (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 30.0 IP, 9 BB, 46 SO)
UK – So. RH Nate Harris (3-1, 4.97 ERA, 25.1, 12 BB, 28 SO)

Game 3
LSU – TBA
UK – Jr. LH Ben Cleaver (1-1, 2.45 ERA, 18.1 IP, 12 BB, 24 SO)

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON

“(Kentucky) Coach (Nick) Mingione is a great coach and a great human being; his team is very fundamentally sound. Their pitching staff always has a good identity, and they use their strengths really, really well. Offensively, they try to put pressure on you, and they’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. So, it’s going to be a big challenge, and we need to come out ready to go.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS

-Sophomore right-hander Casan Evans defeated seventh-ranked Oklahoma last Thursday, limiting the Sooners to one unearned run on three hits in 7.2 innings with one walk and a career-best 15 strikeouts ... Evans' 15 Ks represented the most by an LSU pitcher in an SEC game since Paul Skenes also recorded 15 strikeouts on May 5, 2023, at Auburn ... Evans' outing was the longest of his career, as he fired 110 pitches and allowed just three singles ... Evans retired 16 of the first 17 Oklahoma batters, and he completed the outing by retiring eight of the last 10 Sooner hitters that he faced … Evans’ previous career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts came last season in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional versus Little Rock (June 2), when he logged 6.0 innings and recorded 12 Ks in a relief outing … he also worked 6.0 innings versus Tennessee on April 27 of last season as a starting pitcher.

-Freshman catcher/first baseman Omar Serna Jr. is batting .381 (8-for-21) in LSU's last five games with two doubles, two homers and six RBI ... he was LSU's leading hitter in the Tigers' SEC series last weekend versus seventh-ranked Oklahoma, batting .400 (4-for-10) with one double, one homer, three RBI, two runs and a .538 on-base percentage ... Serna is batting .344 (11-for-32) in his last eight games with two doubles, three homers, 14 RBI and eight runs.

-The LSU pitching staff compiled a 2.45 cumulative ERA over the Tigers’ four games last week, allowing just 12 earned runs in 44.0 innings with 22 walks, 67 strikeouts and a .199 opponent batting average … the staff ERA in the three-game Oklahoma series last weekend was 2.33, as LSU limited the Sooners to seven earned runs over 27.0 innings with 12 walks, 41 strikeouts and a .202 opponent batting average.

-Senior right-hander Zac Cowan has fired 4.2 straight scoreless innings over his last two relief appearances, allowing just one hit with no walks and six strikeouts … senior right-hander Grant Fontenot has worked 4.0 consecutive scoreless innings over his last three relief appearances, allowing two hits while recording three walks and six strikeouts.

-Sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin has logged 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings over his last three relief appearances, and junior left-hander Santiago Garcia has recorded 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings over his last four relief outings.

-Junior 2B/3B Trent Caraway is hitting .417 (5-for-12) in his last five games with one double and four runs … sophomore centerfielder Derek Curiel is hitting .368 (7-for-19) in his last five contests with two doubles, three RBI and three runs … senior first baseman Zach Yorke is hitting .333 (4-for-12) in his last four games with two homers, six RBI, three runs, four walks and a .529 on-base percentage.


ABOUT THE WILDCATS:

-No. 19 Kentucky is 20-4 this season, 4-2 in the SEC; the Wildcats opened SEC play two weeks ago by sweeping Alabama in Lexington, and they dropped two of three league games at Ole Miss last weekend … the Wildcats are batting .294 as a team with 48 doubles, 10 triples, 22 home runs and 70 steals in 83 attempts.

-Kentucky is led at the plate by infielder Hudson Brown, who is hitting .390 with seven doubles, two homers, 22 RBI and 22 runs … outfielder Jayce Harnish is batting .347 with four doubles, two triples, three homers and 19 RBI, and infielder Ethan Hindle has team-highs of six homers and 27 RBI.

-The Kentucky pitching staff has a 3.88 cumulative ERA with 233 strikeouts in 209.0 innings while allowing a .220 opponent batting average and 18 home runs.

(Release via LSU Athletics)