LSU baseball has found itself in free fall after dropping the first two SEC series of the season and being run-ruled in both.
The Tigers will try to get back on track tonight in a rematch with Southeastern Louisiana.
Southeastern (17-7) is coming off a 2-1 series win over Northwestern State this weekend and has won eight of its last nine games. Before it dropped the series finale to Northwestern the Lions had won eight games in a row.
LSU (19-6, 2-4 SEC) is trending in the opposite direction after losing the final two games of its series with Florida. LSU lost by ten runs in eight innings on Sunday and has gone 3-4 in its last seven games.
The Tigers have dropped from No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches Poll to No. 7 in that time frame. After LSU plays Southeastern, it’ll head on the road to take on No. 1 Arkansas. Game one of the LSU-Arkansas is Thursday night.
In the first matchup against Southeastern, LSU came back from down 3-1 in the ninth inning to win 4-3. Southeastern needed just one out to complete the upset but an RBI double from Ethan Frey and a two-RBI double from Paxton Kling handed LSU the win.
LSU’s offense struggled against Florida and recorded only three hits on Sunday. Tommy White had just one hit all weekend and no RBI after previously having a home run in four straight games.
The Tigers are batting .291 as a team only have two players batting over .300. Hayden Travinski leads the way with a .333 batting average and Tommy White is behind him with a .317. Jared Jones leads the team in home runs with 10 and Travinski leads with 25 RBI.
The Lions are batting .280 this season with 31 home runs, 45 doubles and three triples. Shea Thomas leads the team with a .379 batting average, 22 RBI and five home runs. TJ Salvaggio is second on the team with a .338 batting average and 19 RBI.
Southeastern has a 4.46 ERA this season with a 1.28 WHIP. The lions are holding opposing batters to a .234 batting average. Brennan Stuprich leads the team with a 2.41 ERA and 20 strikeouts through 33.2 innings pitched. He pitched last Friday and went 7.0 innings only giving up two hits and two walks with no earned runs.
LSU has a 4.04 ERA this season and is holding opposing batters to a .227 batting average. Kade Anderson started the last game against Southeastern and went 5.0 innings while allowing two hits and no earned runs in the 4-3 win. Anderson pitched on Sunday and went just one inning and gave up three hits and three earned runs.
LSU head coach Jay Johnson said that he expects Aidan Moffett, Cam Johnson and Micah Bucknam to pitch against the Lions. Moffett has gone 5.0 innings this season while Johnson and Bucknam have each pitched 3.2 innings this season. Johnson also said he would like to put them in weekend roles if they pitch well during the midweek.
LSU and Southeastern will start at 6:30 p.m. from Alex Bos Stadium and can be streamed on SEC Network+.
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