This is the season within a season. Thirty games will decide who will win the Southeastern Conference championship, and No. 7 LSU (14-2) will start its race for a second-consecutive conference title Friday night in Alex Box Stadium when No. 13 Arkansas (12-3) comes to town for a three-game series. “Everybody’s excited,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “You come to LSU to play in the SEC, and I think everybody’s chomping at the bit and anxious to get out there and play a team in our league.”The Tigers took four of five games from Arkansas last season — two in conference play and two at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Arkansas returns six position starters from last season’s team.LSU players say they enjoy playing teams with a high level of competition in conference play. “It’s the start of the SEC, so everybody is pumped up for that,” said junior catcher Micah Gibbs. “The reason why you come here is to play in the SEC and have this competition.”LSU dropped two of three games last weekend against Kansas for their first losses of the season, but picked up a midweek win Wednesday night against in-state opponent Nicholls State. Seven LSU pitchers combined to allow three runs on five hits against the Colonels, and LSU batters combined for nine hits, including two home runs, in the win. “It definitely got us back on the right track,” Gibbs said. “For us to come out firing like that definitely got us back on the right track for this weekend.”Gibbs said a similar situation occurred last season, and it gave the team enough momentum to win two games in LSU’s first SEC series against Kentucky. Last season, LSU lost on Friday night and Sunday against Illinois, but won one of its midweek games before conference play started. Junior pitcher Austin Ross will get the start for LSU on Friday night. Ross (2-0) has pitched 21 2/3 innings and earned a 4.57 ERA for the Tigers.  He leads the team with 25 strikeouts, and opponents are batting .232 against him. Of the innings he has pitched, 18 have been shutout frames. “Austin Ross has been really good in 18 of the 22 innings he has pitched,” Mainieri said. “He’s had a couple of bad innings, and I’d really like to see him ‘stop the bleeding’ when things start to unravel a little bit. That’s when I’ll know he’ll be a great SEC pitcher.”Ross was the Sunday starter for much of last season and said he won’t treat tonight’s start any differently than any he’s had. “It is the open of SEC play, but it’s still a baseball game,” he said. “I’ve got to go out there and do the things that I have to do to make good pitches and give our team a chance to win.”For the Razorbacks, senior Mike Bolsinger will start on the mound. Bolsinger (2-0) has pitched 21 1/3 innings and has amassed 19 strikeouts and only five walks. LSU sophomore Joey Bourgeois will start for the Tigers Saturday. In his last outing, Bourgeois (2-1) was shelled in an 11-9 loss to Kansas.  He pitched 1 2/3 innings, gave up six runs on five hits with no strikeouts and three walks. “Last outing, I just didn’t have command for anything,” Bourgeois said. “You’re not going to have your best stuff every game, and last game was my time to not have anything.”Combating Bourgeois will be Arkansas sophomore Drew Smyly.Smyly (2-0) leads his team in strikeouts with 31. LSU’s Sunday pitcher is yet to be announced, but the Razorbacks will start junior Brett Eibner. Eibner (2-1) has the lowest ERA among Arkansas starters with a 1.23 average. ____Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]