The matchups had to look intriguing for fans when they looked at No. 13 LSU’s baseball schedule early this season.
Two of the more iconic northern athletic institutions — Michigan (6-6) and Notre Dame (5-4) — will be in Southeastern Conference country for a sort of mini tournament with LSU (11-2) this weekend.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri hopes name recognition alone brings the fans out in droves.
“I hope it’s going to be a good, electric atmosphere like an SEC weekend,” Mainieri said. “We’ve got two schools whose names … carry as much weight in college athletics as any schools in the country.”
Unfortunately for the teams, the atmosphere may literally be electric.
According to AccuWeather’s hourly forecast, the Baton Rouge area has a 40-percent chance of getting hit with a thunderstorm Friday night, a 20-percent chance Saturday night and a 24-percent chance Sunday night.
“It’s a shame,” Mainieri said. “It’s an outdoor sport and you have to constantly watch the weather.”
It’s not the first time the Tigers have dealt with adverse weather this spring. A rain delay pushed back the start time of their second game this season against Alcorn State, and they played through light rain against Dartmouth last weekend.
“Our kids are prepared mentally to deal with those things,” Mainieri said. “Whether there’s a delay before the game or during the game, or whether you have to play during a drizzle, it’s just the nature of it.”
LSU is currently scheduled to play Michigan at 7 p.m. today and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, and Notre Dame at 3 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Notre Dame and Michigan are scheduled to play each other at noon Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday in games that are free to the public, though the schedule is likely to change.
If they play the full four-game slate, the Tigers could push their win streak into double digits this weekend, as they enter tonight’s game against Michigan riding a six-game streak.
LSU has won in just about every way during the streak. The team pounded out a season-high 19 hits to start the streak in a 17-10 win against Grambling, shut out Tulane, 5-0, behind freshman pitcher Aaron Nola’s eight shutout innings and won, 5-4, on a bizarre walk-off in the Dartmouth series finale.
But the key has been the hitting — particularly in clutch situations.
The Tigers have compiled an astronomical .381 team batting average in the six-game run, while averaging 11.7 runs per game.
Junior first baseman Mason Katz hit all three of LSU’s home runs in the streak, meaning the Tigers had to get creative to score runs.
Mainieri had his players aggressive on the base paths, calling a hit and run or a steal on several occasions.
The aggressiveness led to several at-bats with runners in scoring position, and junior outfielder Raph Rhymes made the most out of these opportunities.
The Monroe native knocked in 14 runs while batting a blistering .593 in his last six games.
The Tigers plan to use their same group of sophomore pitchers to start the weekend, with Kevin Gausman on Friday, Ryan Eades on Saturday and Kurt McCune on Sunday.
Monday’s starter is yet to be determined.
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]