South Alabama Jaguars 
(30-18)
vs.
No. 10 LSU Tigers
(32-16)

Tue., May 9 • Alex Box Stadium • Baton Rouge, La.

Media Information
On the Radio:  Jaguar baseball games are broadcast live in Mobile on 99.5 FM The Jag, and also available via the iHeartRadio app. 

Live Streaming:  Tuesday's game will be broadcast live by ESPN+ and available through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

Live Stats:  Live stats for every South Alabama baseball game are available through the multimedia section of USAJaguars.com.

Twitter:  Follow the official Twitter account of South Alabama baseball — 
@SouthALBaseball — for news and updates.

Probable Starting Pitchers
Tue., May 9
USA - RHP  Sean Trimble (2-1)
LSU - RHP  Caleb Gilbert (2-1)

All-Time Series
South Alabama holds a 24-15 all-time lead over LSU in a series that began in 1971. The Tigers shut out the Jaguars 9-0 in the last meeting between the schools, which came on March 19, 2014, in Baton Rouge. USA last defeated LSU in the 1997 NCAA South I Regional in Baton Rouge with an 11-5 win. The Tigers defeated the Jags in consecutive games in that regional to advance to the College World Series en route to their second consecutive national championship.

Last Time Out
USA took two of three games from Little Rock in a Sun Belt Conference series at Stanky Field last weekend. The Jaguars earned an 8-3 series-opening win on Friday behind right-hander Randy Bell, who turned in a quality start after allowing three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts against two walks in 6 1/3 innings pitched to earn his fifth win of the season. Little Rock evened the series with an 11-5 win in game two before USA clinched the series with a 5-3 win in game three on Sunday. South Alabama enters Tuesday's contest having won five of its last six contests.

On No. 10 LSU
The Tigers, ranked 10th in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll and 11th by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com, took two of three games at South Carolina last weekend in Columbia, S.C., winning the final two games of the series after dropping the series opener on Friday, and enter Tuesday's game also having won five of their last six contests. LSU enters the contest ranked third nationally in fielding percentage (.983) and 11th in hit by pitch (74). The Tigers rank second in the SEC in batting average (.291), and are led by Greg Deichmann who is batting .335 with 10 doubles, 15 home runs, 55 RBI and 37 runs scored in 48 games played. 

JAGS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
South Alabama enters Tuesday's game as the nation's leader in walks (293), ranks seventh nationally in on-base percentage (.411), eighth in runs scored (382), 11th in runs per game (8.0), 16th in sacrifice flies (27) and 28th in home runs (53) and home runs per game (1.10).

LABOUNTY, SWAGGERTY IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Shortstop Drew LaBounty ranks second nationally in walks per game (1.05) and ninth in walks (42), while center fielder Travis Swaggerty ranks 13th in on-base percentage (.491).

JAGS ON THE ROAD 
USA enters the game 11-11 in 22 road contests this season, and is hitting .297 with 40 doubles, four triples, 37 home runs, 161 RBI, 172 runs scored and 20 stolen bases with a .390 team OBP. Left fielder Dylan Hardy leads the team with a .371 batting average in road games this season. The Jaguar pitching staff has posted a 5.11 ERA and recorded 152 strikeouts against 76 walks in 22 road games this season, which spans 185 innings pitched.

TWO OR FEWER TO WIN
USA is 11-1 when allowing two or fewer runs, but is 19-17 when surrendering three or more. The Jags have allowed three or more runs in their last 11 contests, but are 8-3 during that span.

LEADING AFTER SEVEN
USA is 25-1 when leading after seven innings this season, but is 1-13 when trailing and 3-4 when tied after seven frames. 

TWO-OUT RBI
Of USA's 343 team RBI, 132 have come with two outs which accounts for 39 percent of the Jaguars' team RBI total. Travis Swaggerty leads the squad with 18 two-out RBI this season, while Jared Barnes ranks second with 16.

JAG OFFENSE LEADS THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE 
South Alabama enters the series as the Sun Belt Conference leader in batting average (.298), slugging percentage (.458), on-base percentage (.414), runs scored (364), RBI (328), total bases (698), walks (281) and sacrifice flies (27), and ranks second in the league in hits (454) and home runs (49). 

JAGS WITH BASES LOADED
South Alabama is hitting .481 (39-for-81) with the bases loaded this season, led by Travis Swaggerty who has seven hits and is hitting .636 with the bags full of Jags. USA has hit six grand slams this season, led by Eddie Paparella with two, following Jared Barnes' game-winning grand slam on April 11 at New Orleans.

RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION
The Jags are batting .317 (173-for-545) with runners in scoring position.Travis Swaggerty leads the team with 21 hits with RISP. The Jags hit just .258 (8-for-31) in last weekend's three-game series with Little Rock.

TEN OR MORE RUNS
USA is 11-1 when scoring 10 or more runs this season and 23-7 when scoring six or more, but is 7-11 when scoring five or less. 

EARLY/LATE-INNING RUN PRODUCTION
South Alabama has outscored the opposition 45-16 in the first inning and 28-5 in the ninth inning this season. USA has allowed more runs (50) in the third inning than any other inning this season.

JAG BATS LAST WEEK
South Alabama hit .288 with four doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, 18 runs scored and two stolen bases in three games last week. Will Luft led the squad with a .455 (5-for-11) batting average. Travis Swaggerty, Wells Davis, Jared Barnes and Colton Thomas each homered during the three-game series.

ON-BASE, HITTING STREAKS
Shortstop Drew LaBounty carries a nine-game hitting streak and 15-game on-base streak into Tuesday's contest. Will Luft has hit safely in three straight games, and Travis Swaggerty has reached base safely in eight consecutive contests. 

SWAGGERTY LEADING THE SUN BELT
Outfielder Travis Swaggerty enters the week as the Sun Belt Conference leader in batting average (.373) and on-base percentage (.491), ranks second in RBI (45), tied for second in stolen bases (18), third in slugging percentage (.576), fourth in hits (63), tied for fourth in total bases (98) and walks (35), fifth in runs scored (43) and tied for sixth in home runs (8). 

TRIMBLE AS STARTING PITCHER
Right-hander Sean Trimble is 1-1 in three starts this season, and has recorded a 4.97 ERA with seven walks and seven strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings. He struck out a career-high five batters with two walks and allowed only two hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-2 win over No. 11 Mississippi State on April 18. Trimble allowed six runs on six hits with two walks in two innings pitched in a 13-7 loss to No. 25 Southern Mississippi on April 25 in his last start. As a reliever, Trimble is 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA, and has recorded 14 strikeouts against seven walks in 10 1/3 innings.

PEACOCK'S LAST NINE APPEARANCES
After allowing a season-high three runs at Southeastern Louisiana on April 4, right-hander Matt Peacock has gone 2-1 with five saves in nine appearances, and has allowed just three earned runs on 15 hits in 23 2/3 innings pitched with a 1.14 ERA and 25 strikeouts against seven walks in that span. Peacock has not allowed a run in 13 of his 19 appearances this season, including his last three which spans 8 2/3 innings.


Game Notes