Preview: LSU Baseball vs. Sacramento State This Weekend In Alex Box Stadium

Sacramento State Hornets (3-9) at No. 2 LSU Tigers (11-3)

DATES/TIMES
Friday, March 6 @ 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 7 @ 6 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 8 @ 1 p.m. CT

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

RANKINGS
LSU – No. 2 NCBWA, No. 2 Perfect Game; No. 2 Baseball America; No. 2 D1 Baseball, No. 2 USA Today
Sacramento State - unranked

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

ONLINE
The games will be streamed live on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. SACRAMENTO STATE

-This weekend’s series marks the second all-time series meeting between LSU and Sacramento State … the Tigers won two of three games over the Hornets in 2016 in Baton Rouge … LSU won Games 1 and 3 by scores of 6-0 and 11-1, and Sacramento State won the middle game of the series, 5-4 … Sacramento State plays in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which also includes Utah Tech, California Baptist, Tarleton State, Abilene Christian, Utah Valley and UT Arlington … LSU is 5-1 all-time against the current members of the WAC – 2-1 vs. Sacramento State, 2-0 vs. UT Arlington and 1-0 vs. Utah Valley.

QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON

-“It’s tough to have lessons in losses, but sometimes it grabs the team’s attention. We’re ready to get into more of a normal routine now, and I do think we will gain value from (Wednesday night’s) game (at UL Lafayette). I’m glad we’re learning some things that we need and will do better. We’ve had a little bit of speed bump, and I’ll use that to make this team better.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS

-Second-ranked LSU has posted a 3-3 mark in its last six games with two wins over Dartmouth, a victory over Northeastern and losses to McNeese, Northeastern and UL Lafayette.

-Coach Jay Johnson earned his 200th win at LSU when the Tigers defeated Northeastern, 3-1, last Saturday in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field … Johnson, the 2023 and 2025 National Coach of the Year who is in fifth season with the Tigers, currently has a 201-80 (.715) mark at LSU, and he is 518-252 (.673) overall in 14 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

-Sophomore right-hander William Schmidt fired 7.1 shutout innings to earn a win over Dartmouth last Sunday … the outing was the longest of Schmidt's career, as he limited Dartmouth to no runs on four hits with no walks and an career-high nine strikeouts … Schmidt threw 95 pitches - 63 for strikes - and he retired the first 12 batters that he faced before allowing the leadoff hitter in the fifth inning to reach base … he then retired nine of the next 13 batters to complete the outing … only two Dartmouth baserunners advanced as far as second base while Schmidt was on the mound.

-Junior right-hander Cooper Moore defeated Northeastern last Saturday, limiting the Huskies to one run on three hits in 7.2 innings with one walk and 10 strikeouts … Moore improved to 3-0 on the season, and he has a 2.33 ERA in 19.1 innings with two walks and 27 strikeouts.

-Junior right-hander Gavin Guidry delivered a brilliant relief outing last Friday to earn a win over Dartmouth … Guidry worked the final 3.2 innings of the contest, blanking Dartmouth on one hit with no walks and five strikeouts … Guidry is 3-1 this season with a 2.38 ERA and one save in 11.1 innings (five appearances), and he has allowed just five hits with one walk and 18 strikeouts.

-Sophomore right-hander Deven Sheerin delivered two dominant relief outings last week versus McNeese and Northeastern, working a total of 3.0 scoreless innings with no hits, no walks and five strikeouts … Sheerin earned the save in last Saturday’s win over Northeastern, pitched the final 1.1 innings with three strikeouts … in five appearances this season, Sheerin has worked 6.1 scoreless innings and has not allowed a hit while recording two walks and 13 strikeouts.

-Junior right-hander Jaden Noot earned his second career save and preserved the shutout in LSU’s 3-0 win over Dartmouth last Sunday … Noot struck out the final Dartmouth hitter with two runners on base in the top of the ninth inning … Noot also worked a shutout inning versus McNeese on February 24 with no hits, no walks and one strikeout, and he blanked UL Lafayette in 1.0 inning of work on Wednesday night with no hits, no walks and one strikeout.

ABOUT THE HORNETS

-Sacramento State is 3-9 this season, as the Hornets dropped two of three games to UC Irvine, won two of three games over St. Joseph’s, lost three straight games to California, and suffered single-game losses to Pacific and to Fresno State.

-The Hornets are hitting .211 as a team with 20 doubles, five home runs and 10 steals in 12 attempts … outfielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero is batting a team-high .326 with one double, one homer and seven RBI; infielder Jace Jeremiah hitting .300 with three doubles, one homer and four RBI, and outfielder Erick Dessens leads the team in home runs (2) and RBI (10).

-The Sacramento State pitching staff has a 4.01 cumulative ERA with 109 strikeouts in 107.2 innings; the Hornets are limiting opponents to a .231 cumulative batting average while allowing five home runs in 12 games.

(Release via LSU Athletics)