Preview: LSU To Face Northwestern State In Midweek Matchup At Alex Box

Northwestern State Demons (24-17) at No. 4 LSU Tigers (34-7)

DATE/TIME
Tuesday, April 22 @ 6:30 p.m. CT

STADIUM
Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, La. (10,718)

RANKINGS
LSU – No. 4 Baseball America, No. 5 USA Today, No. 7 D1 Baseball
Northwestern State – unranked

RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates
Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live; Live stats at www.LSUstats.com

ONLINE
Tuesday’s game will be streamed on SEC Network +

LSU SERIES RECORD VS. NORTHWESTERN STATE

LSU leads the series with Northwestern State, 62-13, and the Tigers have won 24 of the past 27 matchups, including a 6-5 victory last season (May 7) in Baton Rouge … prior to the Tigers’ 19-7 win over Northwestern State in 2022, the Demons had won two in a row over LSU – a 7-3 victory on May 18, 2021, in Baton Rouge, and a 3-1 win on March 12, 2019, in Natchitoches … the Demons' other win in their past 27 games versus LSU was a 5-2 victory on April 12, 2011, in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

QUOTING JAY JOHNSON

“We worked really hard last week, outside of just playing the games, we worked really hard, so the team needed the day off (Sunday). The work was very intentional and placed a little more volume on the players. So, the day off gave us some time to re-set and get back to work. You can’t get through the schedule that we play without a few bumps in the road offensively; the pitching talent is too good. I thought we had a good week last week, three good wins, including one in comeback fashion and another in close-game fashion. Those are important with what’s ahead of us, that the team can know it can succeed in close games.”

ABOUT THE TIGERS

-LSU won three of four games last week, including a 2-1 series victory over No. 15 Alabama … the Tigers are 12-6 in the SEC and are tied for the third place in the league standings with Tennessee … Texas (16-2) leads the league race and Arkansas (13-5) is in second place in the conference standings.

-Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson defeated No. 15 Alabama on Friday, limiting the Crimson Tide to just one run on four hits in 6.0 innings with five walks and 12 strikeouts … Eyanson allowed two hits and one run in the first inning, but permitted no runs on two hits over the final 5.0 innings of his outing … he retired the six straight Alabama hitters in the fifth and sixth innings to complete the outing … Eyanson improved to 6-1 this season and lowered his ERA to 3.52; he is No. 4 in the SEC this season with 83 strikeouts on the year.

-Freshman outfielder Derek Curiel helped lead LSU to three wins in four games last week, including an SEC series victory over No. 15 Alabama … he hit .385 (5-for-13) in the Alabama series with three RBI, one run scored, one stolen base and a .429 on-base percentage … his two-RBI single in the fourth inning on Friday extended LSU’s lead to 4-1 and proved to be the difference in the Tigers’ 4-3 win … Curiel extended his reached-base safely streak to 41 straight games, and he is only LSU player to reach base in all 41 games this season … his 41-game streak is the sixth-longest on record in the annals of LSU baseball … for the entire four-game week, Curiel hit .375 (6-for-16) with four RBI and two runs scored.

-Junior right-hander Zac Cowan earned saves in back-to-back games against Alabama on Thursday and Friday … he entered Thursday’s game in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded, and he retired the first Crimson Tide hitter he faced to preserve the LSU victory … Cowan worked 3.0 innings in Friday’s game to pick up the save in the Tigers’ 4-3 win, limiting Alabama to two runs on four hits with no walks and four strikeouts … Cowan has six saves this season, and he is 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA in 37.1 innings (14 appearances) … Cowan has recorded six walks and 46 strikeouts while limiting opponents to a .170 cumulative batting average … he is tied for No. 4 in the SEC in saves, along with LSU freshman right-hander Casan Evans.

-LSU junior first baseman Jared Jones is No. 3 in the SEC in RBI (55), No. 4 in hits (59), No. 4 in total bases (110) and No. 9 in runs scored (47) … freshman leftfielder Derek Curiel is No. 5 in the SEC in walks (34), No. 6 in doubles (13), No. 7 in hits (56), No. 8 in batting average (.364) and No. 9 in on-base percentage (.490).

-LSU sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson is No. 2 in the SEC in strikeouts (91) and No. 3 in the league in innings pitched (57.1) … junior second baseman Daniel Dickinson is No. 4 in the SEC in on-base percentage (.500).

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN STATE

-Northwestern State is 24-17 overall, 15-9 in the Southland Conference … the Demons won two of three games over Lamar last weekend in an SLC series in Natchitoches, La.
The Demons are led offensively by infielder Rocco Gump, who is hitting .341 with eight doubles, four triples, five homers and 37 RBI … infielder Daniel Burroway leads NSU with 11 home runs, and he is second on the club with 35 RBI.

-Northwestern State is hitting .268 as a team with 59 doubles, nine triples, 42 homers and 69 steals in 83 attempts … the Demons pitching staff has a 4.77 cumulative ERA with 308 strikeouts in 350.2 innings while allowing a .258 opponent batting average.

(Release via LSU Athletics)