Preview: LSU Baseball vs. Louisiana Tech Tuesday Night At Alex Box Stadium
by Staff Reporter
March 24, 20260 Comments
LSU Sports Photography
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (15-10) at LSU Fighting Tigers (16-9)
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, March 24 @ 6:30 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. LOUISIANA TECH
LSU leads the all-time series versus Louisiana Tech, 47-20, in a series that began in 1902 … on April 1 of last season, the Tigers posted a 12-3 win over the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge, and LSU defeated Louisiana Tech, 11-1 (8 innings) on March 19, 2024, also in Baton Rouge … prior to the 2024 game, the most recent meeting occurred on Feb. 23, 2022, in Ruston, when Louisiana Tech posted an 11-6 win over LSU … LSU has won 17 of its last 19 meetings with Louisiana Tech – along with their 2022 win, the Bulldogs’ only other victory over LSU in the last 19 meetings was a 12-1 victory in 2019 in Baton Rouge … prior to 2019, Louisiana Tech’s last win over the Tigers came on April 16, 1987, a 5-4 victory in Ruston.
QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“It’s great that we have some very good opponents on our schedule this week; Louisiana Tech is a good team with a winning record that is playing well, and then Kentucky this weekend is a team that has been in the Top 15, Top 20 this season. One-run games are going to determine the ceiling of our season, and we have not been good in those games up to this point. Those come down to fundamentals, and we’ll keep working at it. I’ll continue to find a better way to make sure we’re tight on the things we need to come out on the right side of these games.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
-Sophomore right-hander Casan Evans defeated seventh-ranked Oklahoma on Thursday night, 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. batted .400 (6-for-15) in LSU's four games last week with two doubles, two homers and four RBI ... Serna also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, and he posted a .500 on-base percentage ... he was LSU's leading hitter in the Tigers' SEC series 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 .346 (9-for-26) in his last seven games with two doubles, three homers, 12 RBI and six runs.
-The LSU pitching staff compiled a 2.00 cumulative ERA over the Tigers’ four games last week, allowing just eight earned runs in 36.0 innings with 15 walks, 56 strikeouts and a .197 opponent batting average … the staff ERA in the three-game Oklahoma series 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 3.1 consecutive scoreless innings over his last two relief appearances, allowing just one hit while recording two walks and five strikeouts.
-Both sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin and junior left-hander Santiago Garcia have logged 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings over their last three relief appearances.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
-Louisiana Tech is 15-10 this season, 4-2 in Conference USA … the Bulldogs dropped two of three Conference USA games at New Mexico State last weekend … the Bulldogs are batting .275 as a team with 46 doubles, three triples, 37 home runs and 19 steals in 25 attempts.
-The Bulldogs are led at the plate by infielder Trey Hawsey, who is hitting .320 with five doubles, one triple, nine homers and 25 RBI … infielder Colby Lunsford is batting .319 with nine doubles, eight homers and 24 RBI, and outfielder Cade Patterson has a team-high 29 RBI with three doubles and four home runs.
-The Louisiana Tech pitching staff has a 4.99 cumulative ERA with 228 strikeouts in 213.0 innings while allowing a .255 opponent batting average and 17 home runs.
DATE/TIME
Tuesday, March 24 @ 6:30 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. LOUISIANA TECH
LSU leads the all-time series versus Louisiana Tech, 47-20, in a series that began in 1902 … on April 1 of last season, the Tigers posted a 12-3 win over the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge, and LSU defeated Louisiana Tech, 11-1 (8 innings) on March 19, 2024, also in Baton Rouge … prior to the 2024 game, the most recent meeting occurred on Feb. 23, 2022, in Ruston, when Louisiana Tech posted an 11-6 win over LSU … LSU has won 17 of its last 19 meetings with Louisiana Tech – along with their 2022 win, the Bulldogs’ only other victory over LSU in the last 19 meetings was a 12-1 victory in 2019 in Baton Rouge … prior to 2019, Louisiana Tech’s last win over the Tigers came on April 16, 1987, a 5-4 victory in Ruston.
QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“It’s great that we have some very good opponents on our schedule this week; Louisiana Tech is a good team with a winning record that is playing well, and then Kentucky this weekend is a team that has been in the Top 15, Top 20 this season. One-run games are going to determine the ceiling of our season, and we have not been good in those games up to this point. Those come down to fundamentals, and we’ll keep working at it. I’ll continue to find a better way to make sure we’re tight on the things we need to come out on the right side of these games.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
-Sophomore right-hander Casan Evans defeated seventh-ranked Oklahoma on Thursday night, 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. batted .400 (6-for-15) in LSU's four games last week with two doubles, two homers and four RBI ... Serna also walked three times and was hit by a pitch, and he posted a .500 on-base percentage ... he was LSU's leading hitter in the Tigers' SEC series 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 .346 (9-for-26) in his last seven games with two doubles, three homers, 12 RBI and six runs.
-The LSU pitching staff compiled a 2.00 cumulative ERA over the Tigers’ four games last week, allowing just eight earned runs in 36.0 innings with 15 walks, 56 strikeouts and a .197 opponent batting average … the staff ERA in the three-game Oklahoma series 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 3.1 consecutive scoreless innings over his last two relief appearances, allowing just one hit while recording two walks and five strikeouts.
-Both sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin and junior left-hander Santiago Garcia have logged 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings over their last three relief appearances.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
-Louisiana Tech is 15-10 this season, 4-2 in Conference USA … the Bulldogs dropped two of three Conference USA games at New Mexico State last weekend … the Bulldogs are batting .275 as a team with 46 doubles, three triples, 37 home runs and 19 steals in 25 attempts.
-The Bulldogs are led at the plate by infielder Trey Hawsey, who is hitting .320 with five doubles, one triple, nine homers and 25 RBI … infielder Colby Lunsford is batting .319 with nine doubles, eight homers and 24 RBI, and outfielder Cade Patterson has a team-high 29 RBI with three doubles and four home runs.
-The Louisiana Tech pitching staff has a 4.99 cumulative ERA with 228 strikeouts in 213.0 innings while allowing a .255 opponent batting average and 17 home runs.
Filed Under: LSU Baseball
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Originally published on TigerDroppings.com
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