Preview: LSU vs Miss St – Thu 6:30 (ESPNU) | Fri 7 (ESPNU) | Sat 3 (ESPN2)

#1  LSU Fighting Tigers (38-7, 14-6) vs.  Mississippi State Bulldogs at Duby Noble Field, Polk-Dement Stadium in Starkville, MS.

LSU takes to the road for a series with struggling Mississippi State. The Tigers have not lost any series against the Dogs under Paul Mainieri. This will be the 377th meeting between the programs since 1905 with LSU starting to catch up in the all-time series record, which currently stands at 200-178-1 in favor of MSU. LSU swept State last season in Alex Box, capping off the weekend with a 17-run performance on Sunday. This is State’s last home series, so Friday will be senior day at Dudy Noble. For the 2nd weekend in a row, all 3 games will be nationally televised.







Mississippi State Bulldogs
Record: 23-22
Conference: 7-14, 7th SEC west
Non-Conf: 16-8
Home: 20-12
Away: 3-8
Neutral: 0-2

Team Overview:
Mississippi State has made 4 straight NCAA tournament appearances, but that that record is in serious jeopardy in 2015 as the Dogs sit at 7-14 in the SEC. After starting the season 13-0 and being ranked as high as #7 in the country, MSU has gone just 10-22 and lost 7 of 8 weekend series. Barring an nearly undefeated finish and/or SEC tournament sweep, State’s season will end in disappointing fashion. MSU ranks 9th in the SEC in batting and 13th in ERA. Defense is their bright spot, ranking 3rd in the league.


Lucas Laster is the opening night starter for State. Laster has struggled of late, having not recorded more than 6 outs in each of this last 2 starts while allowing 4 runs in each contest. He is a 3 pitch lefty featuring an upper 80’s fastball that was clocked as high as 92 last summer, but you can expect 87-89mph to be the standard. He throws a curveball at any point in the count, often pitching backwards. His slider is the swing-and-miss strikeout pitch, of which he has totaled 43 K’s on the season. LSU will counter with southpaw Jared Poché.


Junior Preston Brown will get the start on senior night in Starkville. Brown has really struggled of late, allowing at least 5 runs in 4 of his last 6 starts after not allowing more than 2 runs in each of the first 5 starts on the season. He leans a lot on the fastball-changeup combination. Right handed batters hit for a .326 average against Brown while lefties hit just .217 off the junior righty.


Saturday will be a battle of Austins with Sexton going for MSU and Bain going for LSU in a matchup at 3pm on ESPN2. Sexton has good command of his fastball, changeup, and slider. The fastball sits 88-91mph and the slider in the upper 70s. He has just 18 walks to 51 strikeouts on the year.


Ross Mitchell is the leader of this bullpen despite really struggling at times this season. He was an All-American in 2013 and All-SEC last year. Mitchell has appeared in 97 games for State over 4 years with a 2.40 ERA in 288.1 career innings. Matchups will be a play when the lefty Mitchell comes in, because right handed batters tag him for a .362 average against. Trevor Fitts is the main right handed arm for Cohen and staff. He is a senior with 60 career appearances and has improved year after year.



Jacob Robson is having a breakout junior season after batting just .186 over his first two years. He leads the team in average, hits, total bases. Big Wes Rea is the only SEC player with an on-base percentage over .500, and he also leads the conference with 39 walks. Rea is hitting .464 over the last 9 games. Luke Reynolds has one fewer hit shy (7) in the last two games as he had in the previous 25 games (8). On the bases, Jacob Robson’s 17 stolen bases ranks 6th in the SEC and no other player has more than 5.


Mississippi State is #2 in the country with 54 double plays turned. Their .978 fielding percentage is 3rd in the SEC and 12th in the nation. Josh Lovelady, who has picked off 12 base runners, is a tremendous defensive catcher, but Lovelady was just filling in for the injured Gavin Collins. Collins has caught just 1 of 8 base stealers on season since returning from a hand injury.




Helpful Links
MSU Season Stats
MSU Roster
MSU Schedule (via Warren Nolan)
Live Stats via LSUsports.net
WatchESPN for Online Viewing (login required)
FAQ: How to watch LSU Baseball games this season

2014 Series Preview


 

LSU's RPI Report and Top 25 Nitty Gritty - thru April 26, 2015

Preview: Texas A&M vs LSU – Thu 6:30 (ESPN2) | Fri 7 (SECN Alt) | Sat 1 (ESPN)

#2  Texas A&M Aggies (36-5, 12-5) at #1  LSU Fighting Tigers (35-6, 12-5) at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, LA.

It’s finally here! Texas A&M makes their first trip to Alex Box Stadium as a member of the SEC after the Tigers were sent out to Blue Bell Park each of the prior two seasons. This time the Tigers get to recall the Aggies down to Baton Rouge, and it was certainly worth the wait for LSU fans to get a matchup of #1 vs #2. In a series that started back in 1907, the Tigers won just 3 of the first 15 meetings between the two programs. That all turned around in the 1989 Regional in College Station where LSU delivered a huge upset of the #1 ranked Aggies, who amassed a still-standing school record 58 wins prior to being shocked in back to back games. LSU is 10-17-1 against A&M in regular season baseball, but undefeated (6-0) against the Aggs in postseason play, including a 13-8 win in Omaha in 1993. All 3 games this weekend between LSU and A&M will be played on national TV for the 2nd season in a row. This series could determine who ends up as the regular season SEC Champion.

LSUsports.net #1 vs #2 Hype Video







Texas A&M Aggies
Record: 36-5
Conference: 12-5, t1st SEC west
Non-Conf: 24-0
Home: 28-4
Away: 5-1
Neutral: 3-0


Team Overview:
Texas A&M is under Rob Childress for the 10th season and has made 8 straight NCAA regional appearances. The Aggies have had some adjustments to make since joining the SEC after finishing 6th in the SEC West in their first two seasons in the league. Childress is of a similar mindset to Mainieri in that he likes to work younger guys in early in their careers and build on the experience. Their prior SEC struggles have paid off now with a veteran lineup and a deep pitching staff that has them ranked in the top 3 with the most wins in the nation. A&M started the season 24-0, also sweeping the Houston College Classic as LSU did. This is all after losing their ace Tyler Stubblefield to a knee injury in the preseason, followed by losing their next up ace AJ Minter the weekend before conference play started. The Tigers and Aggies respectively rank 1st and 2nd in the SEC in team batting average and 2nd and 1st in team ERA. These two teams show a lot of similarities with the biggest differences being team speed and defensive ability, both of which favor LSU.


Thursday night’s ESPNU game will get to see Jared Poché against Grayson Long. Poché will be going in game 1 for LSU to give Alex Lange an extra day of rest to prevent any reoccurring shoulder soreness. A&M’s Grayson Long has become the staff ace after losing 2 other rotation starters to injury. Long is a 6’5 right hander making his 34th career start for A&M. Despite his big frame, he won’t overpower you with his 90-91 mph fastball but presents a big downward motion and throwing angle. He ranks 4th in the SEC in strikeouts and has already surpassed his strikeout total from last season in 40 fewer innings pitched. He struck out a career high 14 batters last month against Alabama.


Ryan Hendrix will be making just his 2nd start of the season. Hendrix had allowed just 1 earned run in over 21 innings prior to making his first start last weekend against Arkansas. He went a season high 4.1 innings and allowed 8 hits and 3 earned runs. Hendrix is a power righty with a 92-94mph fastball and has a pretty good curve around 80mph. You may see his velocity a tad lower in the starter roll. LSU will counter with freshman sensation Alex Lange in a game that has been added to the national TV roster on the SEC Network’s Alternate Channel.


Saturday’s starter has not officially been announced from Childress after Matt Kent allowed 6 runs and recorded only 6 out against Arkansas last weekend. In each the previous two outings, Kent went 3.1 innings and allowed 3 runs in those contests. Kent is a workman-like pitcher. Throws his fastball from the right side in the mid-80’s and makes his move on big sweeping curves and a change. It’s all about location with Kent, and he does that well, allowing just 15 walks in 134.1 career IP. The other option for A&M is freshman RHP Turner Larkins, who started on Tuesday, but only threw 41 pitches. Larkins is a 89-93 fastball guy, who comes at you with 4 pitches. Austin Bain will start on Saturday for LSU after getting a warm-up on Tuesday night against Tulane in 2 shutout innings and 29 pitches.



Relief Pitching:
Texas A&M’s bullpen has been a real advantage for them this season. Six relievers have logged at least 19 innings and have an ERA under 2. Mark Ecker has recorded 8 saves on the season. He is a 6’2 RHP who throws in the 91-93mph range. Andrew Vinson leads the team with a 0.60 ERA and an 0.67 WHIP. He has struck out a bullpen best 29 batters in 30 innings. Ty Schlottmann’s 24 appearances are the most in the SEC. He is the main left handed stopper for the Aggies and features a typical lefty arsenal.




Texas A&M Offense:
Texas A&M’s offense is very deep and very experienced. The starting 9 guys above have combined to play in 902 games totaling 24 seasons for the Aggies. That veteran presence has paid dividends for them so far this season with their .316 team average ranking 5th in the nation. Blake Allemand, the switch-hitting leadoff man, is the only Aggie to have played in all 41 games. Allemand hits .311 overall and is tied for the team lead in runs scored. Allemand hits .455 against lefties and .287 against right handed pitchers and has accumulated 204 hits over his 4 year career. Nick Banks, a 2014 Freshman All-American, leads the SEC in batting average at .407, landing 13th in the nation. Logan Taylor is the big power threat in the lineup with 10 bombs on the season and also leads the SEC with a .426 average in conference games.

On the bases, A&M has the fewest stolen bases and fewest attempts in the SEC and ranks 247th in the country in SB/game. The top contenders to swipe a base are Nick Banks (7 for 8), J.B. Moss (6 for 6), and Blake Allemand (5 for 5). A&M averages less 1 stolen base attempt per game.




Defense:
Defense is probably the biggest dissimilarity between these two clubs; although the gap is not huge, it may make be the difference in what presumes to be 3 close games. A&M’s .968 fielding% ranks 11th in the SEC. They have committed 23 errors in 17 conference games resulting in 15 unearned runs. By comparison, LSU has only committed 11 errors in their 17 games, best in the league, allowing 3 unearned. Behind the dish, LSU transfer Michael Barash has been very solid for the Aggies. He has thrown out 44% of attempting stealers. No SEC team has allowed fewer stolen bases in conference games than A&M has.

  

Helpful Links 
Texas A&M Season Stats 
Texas A&M Roster 
Texas A&M Schedule (via Warren Nolan) 
Live Stats via LSUsports.net 
WatchESPN for Online Viewing (login required) 
FAQ: How to watch LSU Baseball games this season 
2014 Series Preview

LSU's RPI Breakdown & Top 30 Nitty Gritty Report - thru April 19, 2015

LSU Baseball Stat Splits - Updated thru 4/19/2015

Baseball Stats -- Full Splits for Hitters and Pitchers

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Full Hitting Stats



Advanced Hitting Metrics



Hitting Splits - LHP vs RHP



Hitting Splits - Avg wRISP and Avg w RISP & 2 outs





Full Pitching Stats



Pitching Splits - RH Batters vs LH Batters



Pitching Splits - Bases Empty (Windup) vs Runners on (Stretch)



Pitching Splits - Batting Avg Against w/RISP and BAA w/RISP & 2 outs

Baseball Preview: LSU vs Georgia – Fri 6 | Sat 1 | Sun 12 (All: Online Only)

#2  LSU Fighting Tigers (32-6, 10-5) vs.  Georgia Bulldogs (20-18, 6-9) at Foley Field in Athens, GA.



The Fighting Tigers head east for a series with the Georgia Bulldogs at Foley Field. LSU (32-6, 10-5) is coming off a weekend series win over Auburn and a clean midweek victory over Lamar on Wednesday. The Tigers have won 9 of their last 10 and 5 of 6 SEC games following the series loss to Kentucky. The Dawgs on the other hand have won just 2 of their last 10 including a loss to Kennesaw State on Wednesday night, the final of a scheduled 6 game road trip. LSU leads the all-time series 62-22-3 (.730) over Georgia. The Tigers took 2 games last year in Alex Box Stadium, and the Sunday game played to a 2-2 tie.








Georgia Bulldogs
Record: 20-18
Conference: 6-9, t4th SEC East
Non-Conf: 14-9
Home: 13-10
Away: 7-8


Team Overview:
Scott Strickland is in his 2nd year of rebuilding this Georgia program that hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2011. UGA had a great start to their season by beating Florida State 2 of 3, but has experienced many ebbs and flows throughout this year by sweeping and getting swept a few times. Overall, they are a below average SEC team ranking 10th in the league in batting average and 12th in team ERA.

 

Friday night the Tigers will face off against Sean McLaughlin. Back in 2013, McLaughlin was named to the Freshman All-SEC team. The 5’11 junior is a two-way player, but was limited on the mound as a sophomore due to an arm injury after just 3 starts, moving primarily to the DH role. Following shoulder surgery last summer, he is back in the rotation and will be making his 24th start with a career 4.33 era as a Bulldog. His best outing of the season was at Tennessee where he got the win allowing 2 runs over 7.2 innings of work, the most of any UGA pitcher this season. McLaughlin is a power righty sitting in the mid-90’s with his heater. Alex Lange will be making his debut in the Friday night role for LSU after missing the start last weekend with arm soreness.



A solid lefty-lefty matchup presents itself on Saturday afternoon in Athens. Ryan Lawlor will get the start against Jared Poché. Lawlor is a typical crafty lefty that won’t overpower you at the plate but keeps hitters off balance. He features a fastball in the mid-to-upper 80’s as well as a solid curve and an average changeup. Lawlor is 2nd in the SEC in strikeouts per 9 innings; he has sat down 62 batters in just 48 and 2/3rds IP. The key to getting to Lawlor is to put pressure on him by getting guys on base. Opponents are hitting just .149 when Lawlor goes from the windup, but that number more than doubles to a .304 average when there are runners on.



Jared Walsh will likely get the start for UGA on Sunday facing off against LSU’s Austin Bain. Walsh will be playing in his 140th (maybe 141st and 142nd) game this weekend as a Georgia Bulldog. He is a two-way senior making the 15th pitching start of his college career. Walsh is another soft throwing lefty occasionally getting up to 89mph with his fastball. He is mostly a fastball pitcher but has different speeds and movements with the pitch. He does have offspeed pitches, mostly using a changeup. Walsh has appeared in 31 games on the mound and sports a career 3.35 ERA.



Relief Pitching:
Jared Cheek is the main man out of the Bulldog pen. He leads the team for the 2nd year in a row with 19 appearances already and has recorded 5 saves so far. Taylor Hicks leads the team with a 0.98 ERA in 18.1 innings and a 1.09 WHIP. Bo Tucker is a key southpaw out of the pen and he has struck out 27 hitters in 24.2 ip. David Sosebee threw 3.2 scoreless last season against LSU in the game that went 13 innings and resulted in a tie. Sosebee has held right handed hitters to just a .111 batting average this season.




Georgia Offense:
Stephen Wrenn is the guy that makes this offense tick at the plate and on the bases. The starting centerfielder has reached safely in all 38 games this season and has 16 multi-hit games. He leads the team with a .327 average and 20 stolen bases. Daniel Nichols enters the weekend as the hottest hitter on the team hitting safely in 6 straight games. Nichols is batting .478 with a 1.354 OPS over that span. Zack Bowers is the biggest power threat, leading the team with 6 home runs and a .529 slg%. UGA has hit 29 HRs as a team, ranking 6th in the SEC. I threw Trey Logan in there with the start at 2nd base. He has only started a couple games there, but I think they will give him the go-ahead this weekend. Mike Bell has started 36 games at 2nd this season, so it is likely you’ll see him start this weekend too.

On the bases, Georgia ranks 5th in the league with 52 stolen bases on the season. Wrenn is 2nd in the SEC with 20 stolen bases, behind only Bregman’s 23. He has the most in SEC games with 9 swipes. Nick King is the other guy to watch out for. He has stolen 14 out of 15 bases this year.




Defense:
Georgia is fielding .970 as a team, which ranks in the top 75 nationally but in the bottom half of the SEC. The three main middle infielders have combined for just 15 errors on the year, and the team’s 28 double plays ties for 10th in the league. Georgia has allowed the 3rd fewest stolen bases in the SEC this year. Two catchers have split time with Brandon Stephens being the main man. Runners have been caught in 6 of the 18 attempts this year against Stephens. Zack Bowers has caught 3 of 12 runners attempting to seal. The catchers, however, have allowed the most passed balls in the SEC.





Helpful Links
Georgia Stats
Georgia Roster
Georgia Schedule (via Warren Nolan)
Live Stats via LSUsports.net
WatchESPN for Online Viewing (login required)
FAQ: How to watch LSU Baseball games this season
2014 Series Preview