Preview: No. 1 LSU Taking On Texas In Tuesday Night Showdown
DATE/TIME
· Tuesday, February 28 @ 6:30 p.m. CT
STADIUM
· Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas
RANKINGS
· LSU – No. 1 in all polls
· UT - unranked
RADIO
· LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates – 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
· Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com
TV
· The game will be televised on the Longhorn Network
LSU SERIES RECORD VS. TEXAS
Texas leads the overall series with LSU, 28-13-1, and the Longhorns have won four of the last five meetings with the Tigers, including a 6-1 win last season (March 5) in the Shriners’ Hospitals Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston … the Tigers are 2-7 in their last three trips to Austin – UT swept three games from LSU in Austin in 2019, and Texas won two of three games over the Tigers in both 1998 and 1994 at Disch-Falk Field … LSU defeated Texas two games to one in the 2009 College World Series Finals to capture the Tigers’ sixth national championship … LSU and Texas each have six CWS titles, which is second only to Southern California’s 12 CWS championships.
PITCHING MATCHUP
LSU is starting Thatcher Hurd
Texas - TBA
QUOTING COACH JAY JOHNSON
“We had a good morning today with strength and conditioning, and study hall; we practiced later in the day to get acclimated to the ball park and put in our final prep for tomorrow. We need to continue to focus on one pitch, one inning at a time, and on playing well. I was very pleased last night (vs. Sam Houston) with every phase of the game. This is another opportunity to develop our team. This is our only true road game before we start conference play; in fact, we’ll play 18 of our next 21 games at home after tomorrow night, so I thought getting a road game against a great opponent was a good idea for our team. Texas is a very talented team, and we’re looking forward to the challenge of playing them in their park.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
· LSU won three of four games last week and captured the Karbach Round Rock Classic title at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas … the Tigers pounded out 23 hits in Sunday’s 16-4 win over Sam Houston that clinched the Round Rock Classic championship … the 23 hits represented the most by an LSU team since May 13, 2014, when the Tigers also collected 23 hits against Northwestern State in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
· Junior centerfielder Dylan Crews batted a sizzling .714 (10-for-14) in the Tigers’ four games last week with three doubles, seven RBI and nine runs scored … he was voted the MVP of the Round Rock Classic, leading LSU to the tournament title … Crews batted .692 (9-for-13) in three games at Round Rock with three doubles, seven RBI and six runs … in the Tigers’ 16-4 win over Sam Houston on Sunday that clinched the tournament championship, Crews was 5-for-6 at the plate with three doubles, four RBI and four runs, tying the LSU single-game record for doubles … on the year, Crews is hitting .565 (13-for-23) with three doubles, one homer, nine RBI and 13 runs.
· Junior right-hander Paul Skenes improved to 2-0 this season as he defeated Kansas State Friday in the opening game of the Round Rock Classic … Skenes worked six innings, limiting the Wildcats to one run on two hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts, firing 101 pitches in the outing … he retired 17 of the final 18 Kansas State hitters that he faced … he was voted to the Round Rock Classic All-Tournament team … Skenes has a 0.75 cumulative ERA this season in 12 innings, allowing only one run on five hits with three walks and 23 strikeouts … Skenes is limiting opponents to a .122 batting average.
· Outfielder Brayden Jobert was voted to the Round Rock Classic All-Tournament team after hitting .455 (5-for-11) in three games with two homers, one triple, five RBI and three runs scored … in Sunday’s 16-4 win over Sam Houston, Jobert blasted two homers, a triple and a single, and he collected five RBI and two runs scored … Jobert became the first LSU player to hit two homers in a game since he did it himself on May 21, 2022, at Vanderbilt.
· Junior first baseman Tre’ Morgan became the first LSU player to hit for the cycle since 2010, when he posted a “natural” cycle, collecting a single in the second, a double in the third, and a triple in the fifth; he then put an exclamation point on the outing with a dinger to right field in the sixth, officially completing the natural cycle … Morgan was 4-for-5 on the day with a career-best eight RBI, and he became the first Tiger to hit for the cycle since April 6, 2010, when Mikie Mahtook accomplished the feat versus Alcorn State.
· Freshman first baseman Jared Jones batted .357 (5-for-14) in LSU’s four games last week with two doubles, two homers, seven RBI and four runs scored … in the Tigers’ 16-4 win over Sam Houston on Sunday that clinched the Round Rock Classic title for LSU, Jones was 2-for-4 with one double, one homer, one RBI and three runs scored … Jones homered and drove in three runs in LSU’s 18-4 win over Southern on Tuesday … junior shortstop Jordan Thompson hit .462 (6-for-13) last week with one double, two RBI and four runs scored.
· Junior right-hander Ty Floyd earned his first save of the season on Friday vs. Kansas State in the Round Rock Classic … Floyd worked the final three innings and limited the Wildcats to one earned run on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts … junior right-hander Garrett Edwards recorded the win in Sunday’s victory over Sam Houston State, as he pitched 3.1 effective relief innings … Edwards limited the Bearkats to one run on four hits with no walks and one strikeout … junior right-hander Christian Little pitched brilliantly in the Tigers’ win over Southern on Tuesday, earned his first career LSU win … Little fired 3.2 shutout innings with one hit, one walk and six strikeouts.
ABOUT THE LONGHORNS
· Texas is 3-4 this season with a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and two wins over Indiana … the Longhorns’ losses have come to Arkansas, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Indiana.
· The Longhorns are led at the plate by outfielder Porter Brown, who is batting .320 on the year with three homers and eight RBI … catcher Garret Guillemette is hitting .316 with four doubles and two RBI, and outfielder Eric Kennedy is batting .296 with one double, one triple, one homer and four RBI.
· Texas is hitting .224 as a team with 10 doubles, two triples and five homers … the Longhorns have seven steals in 11 attempts.
· Texas has reached the College World Series in each of the past two seasons and three times (2018, 2021, 2022) in the past four full seasons.