Preview: Javen Coleman Returns to the Mound as LSU Takes on ULL
DATE/TIME
- Tuesday, April 18 @ 6:30 p.m. CT (SEC Network +)
STADIUM
- Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La. (10,326)
RANKINGS
- LSU – No. 1 in all college baseball polls
- ULL – unranked
STARTING PITCHERS
LSU: LHP Javen Coleman
ULL: RHP Carson Fluno
According to Leah Vann of The Advocate, Coleman is set to return to the lineup after suffering a torn UCL in February of 2022. After a long road to recovery, he'll make his first start in over 14 months.
For the Tigers, a program who's struggling from a depth perspective with their pitching, to get Coleman back is a big victory for this program.
RADIO
· LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 in Baton Rouge
· Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com
ONLINE
- Tuesday’s game will streamed on SEC Network +
LSU SERIES RECORD VS. UL LAFAYETTE
- LSU leads the all-time series with UL Lafayette, 57-27, as the squads first met in 1912 … LSU has won two in a row, seven of the last 10, and 17 of the 25 meetings with ULL since 2000 … the Tigers defeated the Cajuns, 8-4, last season (April 19) in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field … the Tigers posted an 11-2 win in the 2021 season (Feb. 24) in Lafayette, which broke a three-game ULL win streak in the series.
QUOTING LSU COACH JAY JOHNSON
“UL Lafayette is awesome at what they do; they’re the fastest team I’ve ever seen. Every single guy can run. They have a style, and they execute it really well. They have a very good team, and they’re competing for the Sun Belt Conference championship. They’re an awesome opponent.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
· LSU won three of its four games last week, including an SEC series win over Kentucky, which currently has the best NCAA RPI … LSU’s 29-6 record is its best through 35 games since 2015, when the Tigers were 30-5 … the Tigers have been ranked No. 1 in all of the college baseball polls for 10 consecutive weeks.
· LSU enters this week at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories … the Tigers are No. 1 in the nation in on-base percentage (.456), scoring average (10.4 runs per game) and shutouts pitched (7) … the Tigers are No. 2 in runs scored (365) and slugging percentage (.587), and LSU is No. 4 in batting average (.329), hit-by-pitch (82), hits allowed per nine innings (6.91) and strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.7).
· LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 1 in the nation in batting average (.500), on-base percentage (.648) and runs scored (60); he is No. 3 in walks (39) and No. 9 in slugging percentage (.842) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 1 in the nation in RBI per game (1.94) and in total RBI (62) … right-hander Paul Skenes leads the nation in strikeouts (104), strikeouts per nine innings (17.55), hits allowed per nine innings (4.72) and WHIP (0.69) … Skenes is No. 3 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.56) and No. 7 in ERA (1.69).
· Sophomore third baseman Tommy White led LSU to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series victory over NCAA RPI No. 1 Kentucky … White batted .389 (7-for-18) in four games with four doubles, one homer, 11 RBI, four runs and a .429 on-base percentage … he hit .385 (5-for-13) in the Kentucky series with three doubles, one homer, eight RBI and four runs scored … White provided the game-winning RBI in all three of LSU’s wins last week – he delivered a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning at Tulane on Tuesday to break a 3-3 tie, and LSU went on to an 11-5 win; White’s two-run double in the bottom of the first inning on Thursday versus Kentucky gave LSU a lead it never relinquished in a 16-6 victory; White was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning on Saturday, breaking a 6-6 tie and lifting the Tigers to a 7-6 win.
· Junior right-hander Bryce Collins posted two wins in two relief appearances last week over Tulane and NCAA RPI No. 1 Kentucky … he worked a combined 5.0 innings, allowing no runs on one hit with three walks and six strikeouts … he worked the final 2.1 innings of Saturday’s win over Kentucky, blanking the Wildcats on one hit with one walk and four strikeouts … Collins entered Saturday’s game in the seventh inning after Kentucky had scored three runs to take a 6-4 lead, and he recorded a strikeout to end the inning with a runner at first base; he then fired two shutout innings to earn the win after LSU scored two runs in the seventh and the go-ahead run in the eighth … Collins entered the Tulane game on Tuesday in the fourth inning with one out, a runner at first base and the scored tied 3-3; he worked 2.2 scoreless innings as LSU grabbed the lead, allowing no hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
· Freshman first baseman Jared Jones batted .500 (7-for-14) in four games last week with three doubles, two homers, five RBI, six runs and a .611 on-base percentage … in LSU’s SEC series win over NCAA RPI No. 1 Kentucky, Jones hit .400 (4-for-10) with two homers, five RBI and five runs … he blasted two solo homers in the Tigers’ 7-6 win over Kentucky on Saturday, and each dinger – one in the second inning and one in the sixth inning – gave the Tigers a lead … Jones smashed three doubles in LSU’s win at Tulane on Tuesday, tying the school single-game record for doubles … Jones is second on the LSU squad this season in homers (11), and he is third on the club in RBI (36) and doubles (9).
ABOUT THE CAJUNS
- UL Lafayette dropped two of three games last weekend to Troy in a Sun Belt Conference series … the Cajuns are 10-5 in the SBC
- The Cajuns are hitting .282 as a team with 68 doubles, 10 triples, 42 homers and 105 stolen bases in 139 attempts .. UL Lafayette’s pitching staff has a 4.20 cumulative ERA with 293 strikeouts in 326 innings while limiting opponents to a .228 batting average.
- Catcher Julian Brock is hitting .345 with team highs of eight homers and 41 RBI … infielder John Taylor and OF/1B Carson Roccaforte are each hitting .315 and have each provided 26 RBI … outfielder Heath Hood is batting a team-high .378, and he leads the Cajuns in steals with 24 in 27 attempts.