The No. 1 LSU baseball team looks to continue its winning ways when it takes on Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi State in a weekend series starting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Tigers (38-7, 14-6 SEC) have won 15 of their last 17 games, with their only two losses coming to then-No. 2 Texas A&M and Auburn. The Tigers have won their last eight series meetings with the Bulldogs (23-22, 7-14 SEC), including two sweeps, with their last series loss dating back to 2006.
“The last thing I would do as a college baseball coach is take Mississippi State lightly,” Mainieri said. “This is a school that was in the College World Series two years ago. You don’t all of a sudden just get bad. They have talented players, and they have talented pitchers. This is going to be a very tough series.”
Sophomore southpaw Jared Poche’ will maintain the No. 1 spot in the Tigers rotation, taking the mound as the ace for the second consecutive week after his dominant performance in his last outing.
The Tigers continue to hold the SEC lead in several categories with a .320 batting average, .437 slugging percentage, 529 hits, 99 doubles, 20 triples and 782 total bases. Only one starter is batting lower than .300 on the season.
However, senior second baseman Jared Foster, who has a .290 batting average, is tied for the team lead in home runs with eight to go along with an impressive .545 slugging percentage. The production comes from top to bottom with senior catcher Kade Scivicque leading the way with a .380 batting average.
Scivicque’s average ranks third in the SEC, and he ranks in the top 15 in a plethora of categories, including slugging percentage and doubles. Scivicque has 13 doubles on the season, which is behind only junior shortstop Alex Bregman for most on the team.
While the Tigers’ hitting has been the story line throughout the season, LSU’s pitching staff has been holding up its end of the bargain this season as well.
Heading into the weekend, the Tigers possess a 2.83 team ERA, which is good enough for second in the SEC. LSU leads the SEC with 128 batters struck out looking and is No. 2 in opposing batting average (.232) and runs allowed (158).
But the Tigers will have to fight the raucous crowd in Starkville, and the two rivals have plenty of experience with bad blood in the past.
“I got my ex-girlfriend’s name chanted, my mom’s name chanted,” Bregman said. “[Their fans] do their homework, and they do a good job with it. It’s funny and fun. It’s a nice environment to play in.”
With all the statistical and in-game success LSU has had, it’s a different story for its SEC West foe Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs have struggled for much of the season after making it all the way to the Lafayette Regional a season ago.
Mississippi State is currently ninth in the SEC in offense with a .272 batting average and has an SEC-worst .364 slugging percentage. Besides sophomore outfielder Jacob Robson, who leads the team with a .344 batting average, the Bulldogs have struggled to put big numbers on the board.
While the Bulldogs’ performances at the plate are lacking, the team’s pitching staff has hampered its regular season success.
The Bulldogs are ranked second to last in the SEC with a 4.23 team ERA. They allow opponents to hit .262 against them, which is also second worst in the league. The Bulldogs have allowed 212 runs and 30 home runs this season.
Mainieri said the Tigers have learned from their series loss against Kentucky earlier in the season that anything can happen, and stats are just numbers.
“You throw stats out, and you throw records out,” Mainieri said. “You’ve got two very good baseball-playing schools playing each other. These games are going to be extremely close games.”
While all three of the Bulldogs’ starters have ERAs of more than three, the Tigers will have to be ready for a hotly contested matchup as the Bulldogs hope to play spoiler to LSU’s SEC regular season championship hopes.
“I know the natural inclination for everyone is to look at the records, but you don’t look at the records in the SEC,” Mainieri said. “Mississippi State is one of the programs in our conference that has the richest tradition. They’ve won games against outstanding teams. They’re capable of beating anybody.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.