Cincinnati Bearcats (0-0) at LSU Fighting Tigers (0-0)
LSU Baseball is finally back and they will welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats to Alex Box Stadium for this weekend. Cincinnati went 15-41 last season and was 4-22 on the road, so fifth ranked LSU may ease into the 2016 season. Pitchers, Alex Lange, Golden Spikes Award finalist, and Jared Poche will face off against a vulnerable Cincinnati squad.
LSU and Cincinnati will play the first of their three game series tonight at 7 p.m. CT.
Game 2 will begin at 2 p.m. CT Saturday, and 12 p.m. on Sunday.
2016 LSU Baseball Lineup:
C Papierski
1B Deichmann
2B Robertson
SS Dawson
3B Freeman
LF Be. Jordan
CF Fraley
RF Duplantis
LSU has to replace eight of the nine starters from last season’s order. Coach Maineri still thinks his offense will be very potent dispite the losses.
“So much publicity has been given to the fact that we lost eight of our nine starting players from out lineup going into this year,” said Paul Maineri.
Maineri said junior Jared Poche will start Friday night’s game vs Cincinnati.
Poche posted a 9-2 record and a 3.05 ERA in 2015.
“Jared’s velocity has jumped up a bit; he’s been 89 to 90, touching 91 once in a while,” said Maineri.
Pitching Matchups:
Game 1: LHP Jared Poche vs RHP Andrew Zellner.
Game 2: RHP Alex Lange (12-0 in 2015) vs TBD
Game 3: LHP John Valek II vs TBD
Rankings
LSU – No. 5 in USA Today Pol; No. 7 in Collegiate Baseball; No. 11 by Baseball America.
Univ of Cincinnati: Not Ranked.
Sophomore right-hander Alex Lange (12-0, 1.97 ERA in 2015) was last seasons “National Freshman Pitcher of the Year” and will start on Saturday for the Fighting Tigers.
Lange, a 2015 first-team All-American, was named this week to the 2016 Golden Spikes Award Watch List, awarded to the most valuable player in College Baseball.
The Road to Omaha starts … NOW!
For LSU Baseball in-game updates, follow us on Twitter @InsideLSU.
