LSU will be out for revenge against Stetson this weekend. “I know the competition is going to be ratcheted up from what we’ve played these past few games,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “Last year, we went to Deland, Fla., and took two pretty big whippings from them, so we owe them.” The Tigers (9-1) are on a seven-game win streak, including series sweeps of Duquesne and Michigan State. The Hatters (5-4) are fresh off back-to-back series sweeps of Holy Cross and Central Michigan. In the Central Michigan series, Stetson outscored Central Michigan 24-8 in a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader. The Tigers lost two of three games against Stetson this past season. The lone win was an 8-4 victory against the Hatters in the series finale. The defeats were one-sided affairs in which the Tigers lost 8-1 and 14-1. Through the first 10 games of the season, LSU fiddled with its lineup on an almost nightly basis. Not including pitchers,15 different players have started games this season, while five more have seen playing time. But Mainieri said he is close to figuring out the lineup for the remainder of the season. “We’re going to put [junior] Rene Escobar in right field, and [junior] Derek Helenihi in as the designated hitter,” Mainieri said. Escobar, who recently returned from a broken hand, has seen action in one game for the Tigers and is 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Helenihi has played in five contests and boasts a .462 batting average with three RBIs. One player who has seen playing time will not be used this series. Freshman outfielder Chad Jones, who also plays safety on the football team, has opted to concentrate on football during the next few weeks. “Chad comes with us when there is no football practice,” Mainieri said. “If he has football practice, then he will be with football. That’s the way it’s going to be until April 5 when they play the spring game. When spring practice concludes, he will be back as a full-time member of the baseball team.” Jared Mitchell, who is a wide receiver on the football team and an outfielder, will remain with the baseball team through most of spring practice. Mitchell, who was at football practice Thursday, will miss six football practices for baseball. “Jared is our everyday center fielder, so it made sense that he would be made available to us as often as possible,” Mainieri said after Wednesday’s game. “Chad is not our everyday guy. I would hate for Chad to waste him time sitting on the baseball bench when he could be at football practice.” At the plate, sophomore outfielder Blake Dean leads the team with a .455 batting average with four home runs and 15 RBIs. Junior infielder Matt Clark and sophomore outfielder Ryan Schimpf are tied for second on the team with .382 batting averages. Clark has hit six home runs and 16 RBIs runs while Schimpf has hit one home run and knocked in three runs. Senior Jared Bradford and junior Ryan Verdugo are scheduled to start for LSU this weekend. Bradford (2-0) will start Friday. He has pitched 12 2/3 innings with a 0.71 ERA and holds a four-to-one strikeout to walk ratio with 16 strikeouts and four walks. In 10 innings of work, Verdugo (2-0) has amassed a 0.90 ERA while striking out 13 and walking six. He will start Saturday. Sunday’s starter has not been determined.
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]