GAME NOTES
NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Privateers will be playing the #1 team in the land when they face the LSU Tigers on Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Baton Rouge.
New Orleans has a fielding percentage of .987 entering the weekend which is tops in the Southland and 6th in the country. Since opening weekend against Kennesaw State, the Privateers have only committed two errors in 12 games.
The Privateer offense tore the cover off the ball in five games last week. New Orleans hit .437 as a team and scored 75 runs while collecting 33 extra base hits. The 35 runs scored on Saturday against Mississippi Valley State were the most in a single game in program history surpassing the 32 scored against Northern Illinois in 1994.
LSU is ranked as the #1 team in the country coming into Tuesday's contest. The last time the Privateers played against the #1 team in the country was when they lost 9-1 to LSU in Baton Rouge on May 12, 2015.
Blake Dean became the third coach in program history and the 18th in the Southland to reach 200 wins joining Ron Maestri and Tom Schwaner. The milestone occurred in the series finale against Mississippi Valley State. Dean has achieved his 100th and 200th win on the same date (March 12). His 100th came in 2019 against Louisiana.
Four different Privateer pitchers have accounted for four saves thus far.
Beau Blanchard,
Matthew Maldonado and
Trey Usey all have two saves while
Connor Macip has one.
New Orleans defeated LSU in the last meeting which took place last April. The five-run margin was the largest margin of victory by the Privateers over the Tigers since April 1986. The Privateers are 3-5 against LSU under Coach Dean.
LSU (15-1) has been phenomenal across every category this season. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 179-38 and have a .337 batting average as a team. Opponents meanwhile are hitting just .167 off LSU pitching.
Dylan Crews has led a start-studded lineup with a .510 batting average, five home runs and 23 RBI. Jared Jones leads the team in home runs with six and four of their regular starters are hitting .350 or better coming into Tuesday.
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