No.1 LSU Tigers (7-1)
Butler Bulldogs (2-6)
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (0-0)
DATES/TIMES
• Friday, March 3 – Central Connecticut vs. Butler @ 1 pm CT; Butler at LSU at 6:30 p.m. CT
• Saturday, March 4th – Central Connecticut at LSU at 1:30 p.m. CT; Butler vs. Central Connecticut at 6:30 p.m. CT
• Sunday 5 March – Central Connecticut at LSU at 1:00 p.m. CT
• Monday, March 6 – Butler at LSU at 6:30 p.m. CT
STADION
• Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field (10,326)
RANKINGS
• LSU – #1 in all college baseball polls
• Butler – unranked
• CCSU – Unranked
RADIO
• LSU games on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network; Baton Rouge stations – 98.1 FM on Friday and Sunday; 100.7 FM on Saturday and Monday
• Live audio for LSU games at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live statistics for LSU games at www.LSUstats.com
ON-LINE
• All LSU games are streamed live on SEC Network +
LSU SERIES VS RECORDS BUTLER & CENTRAL STATE CONNECTICUT
• Friday’s game is the first-ever meeting in baseball between LSU and Butler, who is playing in the Big East Conference… LSU is 6-0 all-time against Big East Conference clubs — the Tigers are 3-0 against Villanova, 2nd -0 vs. St. John’s and 1-0 vs. Connecticut.
• The only previous clash between LSU and Central Connecticut came at the NCAA Eugene Regional in 2021, when the Tigers recorded a 6-5, 10-inning win over the Blue Devils in an elimination game. LSU defeated Gonzaga and Oregon (twice) to win the regional tournament…the only other Northeast Conference school LSU has played against is Sacred Heart, and the Tigers are 4-0 all-time against Sacred Heart.
PITCHING MATCHUP FRIDAY – BUTLER at LSU
LSU – Jr. RH Paul Skenes (2-0, 0.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 3 BB, 23 SO)
Butler – LH Cory Bosecker (0-1, 2.70 ERA, 10.0 IP, 4 BB, 14 SO)
QUOTE COACH JAY JOHNSON
“One of the positive aspects of our road trip last week was that we pitched 14 pitchers in four games and nobody had to pitch twice; There are very few pitching staffs in the country that can pull this off and win three of the four games. I thought that shows our depth and that’s something we really have to rely on at this stage where we’re playing five games in six days. It’s going to be a challenging weekend — Central Connecticut was a 2021 NCAA regional team that played an extra inning game against LSU, and Butler has an experienced lineup and a very good pitcher that we’ll face on Friday night.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
• LSU is 7-1 this season after ending a four-game away swing with a 3-0 win over Texas on Tuesday night in Austin … the road trip began last weekend at the Karbach Round Rock Classic at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, as the Tigers racked up victories over Kansas State and Sam Houston while suffering their only loss of the season to Iowa…LSU was declared the champion of the Round Rock Classic due to a run differential advantage over Iowa and Sam Houston, the two also won two of three games in the event.
• Second baseman Gavin Dugas started a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night to lead top-ranked LSU to a 3-0 win over Texas at Disch-Falk Field … leaving the game scoreless atop the Reaching the ninth inning, LSU catcher Brady Neal and shortstop Jordan Thompson got back-to-back walks from Texas reliever Chris Stuart… Stuart hit third baseman Ben Nippolt for the first out of the inning, and reliever Andre Duplantier II got into the game inserted to see Dugas, who smashed a Duplantier place from behind the wall in left midfield and gave LSU a 3-0 advantage with his third homer of the season.
• LSU left-hander Nate Ackenhausen (1-0) was the winning pitcher Tuesday night after entering the contest in the fifth inning and going 3.1 innings scoreless, limiting the Longhorns to one hit with a walk and four strikeouts were… LSU right-hander Thatcher Hurd blinded Texas in the first 4.2 innings, allowing three hits with three walks and four strikeouts… LSU right-hander Christian Little hit a perfect bottom in the ninth to make his first save of the year.
• LSU midfielder Dylan Crews goes into Friday’s game against Butler and hits .519 (14 to 27) with three doubles, a homer, nine RBI and 13 runs scored… Crews was named MVP of the Karbach Round Rock Classic last Sunday after winning .692 (9-for-13) in three games with three doubles, seven RBI and six carries… Crews was 5-for-6 in the Tigers’ 16-4 win over tournament championship-winning Sam Houston on Sunday three doubles, four RBI and four runs on the plate, tying the LSU single-game record for doubles.
• Junior right-hander Paul Skenes improved to 2-0 this season when he defeated Kansas State in the opening game of the Round Rock Classic last Friday…Skenes worked six innings and limited the Wildcats to one run on two hits with two walks and 11 Strikeouts, fired 101 pitches in the outing…he pulled back 17 of the last 18 Kansas State hitters he faced, a run on five hits with three walks and 23 strikeouts…Skenes limits opponents to a .122 batting average.
• Shortstop Jordan Thompson hit .417 (5-on-12) on the Tigers’ road swing in four games in Texas with two RBI and three runs scored… outfielder Brayden Jobert hit .313 (5-on-16) on the road trip with a triple , two homers, five RBI and three runs…second baseman Gavin Dugas and DH/first baseman Jared Jones each collected one homer and four RBI.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• Central Connecticut State will play two games against each other this weekend at Alex Box Stadium, in addition to their games against LSU…Butler meets CCSU Friday at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday at 6:30 p.m.; Admission to both CCSU Butler games is free.
• Central Connecticut State, based in New Britain, Connecticut, will play its first game of the season Friday at 1:00 p.m. when the Blue Devils take on Butler at Alex Box Stadium… making CCSU the favorite to win the Northeast Conference 2023 survey of league coaches
• Butler of Indianapolis, Indiana, is 2-6 this season; the Bulldogs won two of four games at Fairleigh Dickinson; They were swept at Campbell in a three-game series; and Butler dropped a 13-2 decision in Indiana on Tuesday.