The No. 2 LSU baseball team is rolling.
The Tigers (31-6, 10-5 Southeastern Conference) are 8-1 since their series loss to Kentucky during the final weekend of March in Baton Rouge and hope to keep moving when they take on Lamar tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Alex Box Stadium.
“We’ve played some very good teams from the Southland Conference this season, and Lamar certainly is another very capable ball club,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said in a news release. “[Lamar coach] Jim Gilligan is one of the winningest coaches in college baseball history, and he will have his team prepared to play us.
“This weekend’s series at Georgia marks the beginning of the second half of league play, so it’s important we continue to improve and play at a high level beginning with the game Wednesday against Lamar.”
Since the two extra-inning debacles against Kentucky, LSU has outscored its opponents by 22 runs and has continued to keep its bats rolling despite struggles against Auburn during the past weekend.
The Tigers remain at the top of the SEC with a .318 batting average, which is good enough for fourth in the nation, with 437 total hits this season. Their 437 hits are the most in the nation and 19 more than second place Wake Forest.
At the head of the Tigers’ hit parade are senior catcher Kade Scivicque and junior right fielder Mark Laird. Scivicque remains the Tigers’ leader with a .386 batting average and is third on the team with a .567 slugging percentage.
The Maurepas, Louisiana, native is currently holding on to a 20-game hitting streak, the longest of any LSU player since 2013 when junior shortstop Alex Bregman had a 23-game hit streak. Scivicque is batting .382 during the hitting streak with seven doubles, one home run and 16 RBIs.
Scivicque, along with Bregman and freshman pitcher Alex Lange, were recently named to the 60-player Midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Watch List, awarded to the best amateur baseball player in the country.
“I feel really good up [at the plate],” Scivicque said. “I’m seeing the ball well. I’m hitting the pitches I get decently.”
Laird has made noise of his own in the shadow of Scivicque’s success. Laird is second on the team with a .356 batting average and has the most hits on the team with 52. The 6-foot-2-inch, 173-pound junior’s .423 on-base percentage is first on the team.
The Monroe, Louisiana, native hit .455 during the Tigers’ series against Auburn with two doubles, two RBIs, three runs and two stolen bases. Laird leads the team in runs scored with 37.
“That guy can hit,” Scivicque said. “He’s a really great athlete, and he works hard every day for it. He goes up there and gets good pitches to hit, and just like everybody else, tries to drive the ball.”
The Cardinals (17-18) come to Baton Rouge holding the all-time series advantage against LSU, 5-4. But the Tigers have won four straight meetings against Lamar, most recently shutting out the Cardinals, 5-0, on April 9, 2014.
LSU will start senior pitcher Kyle Bouman, but it won’t be an easy task for the Ferguson, Missouri, native, who worked four and one-third innings as a starter last Tuesday against New Orleans, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
While Lamar has struggled in recent seasons at the Box, the Cardinals are batting .298 as a team, which is second in the Southland Conference. Junior infielder Stijn van der Meer, who is batting .320 with nine doubles, two triples and 15 RBIs, leads the Cardinals’ attack.
Bregman said he remembers facing Lamar in his freshman season and said it isn’t a team to take lightly.
“They’re real good,” Bregman said. “They’re a very well-coached team. I know [Gilligan] has won a lot of games. They have good players there, and we’re going to have to come out ready to play.”
You can reach Jack Chascin on Twitter @Chascin_TDR.