On deck: Tigers travel to face struggling Alabama this weekend

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - No. 9 LSU travels to Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL to face the struggling Crimson Tide this weekend.

The Tigers beat Lamar Tuesday improving to 27-15 overall and 11-7 in conference play.

LSU will once again be down a starting pitcher after freshman sensation Cole Henry experienced elbow soreness and will be held out against Bama to give his arm a chance to rest.

The Crimson Tide (25-17, 4-14) are 3-7 in their last 10 games and have only won one SEC series this season. Alabama took two out of three games against South Carolina (24-17, 5-13) earlier this month.

RELATED STORY: No. 9 LSU baseball survives against Lamar

Alabama averages 6.0 runs per game and is hitting .279 as a team, with 73 doubles, 8 triples and 34 home runs.

Bama’s Leading Hitters:

• Kolby Robinson: .326 batting average, 4 doubles, 1 home run and 20 RBI
• Drew Williamson: .302 batting average, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs and 16 RBI
• Morgan McCullough: .297 batting average, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 24 RBI
• Keith Holcombe: .295 batting average, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs and 29 RBI

LSU is scoring 7.0 runs per game and is batting .274 as a team with 66 doubles, 7 triples and 37 home runs.

LSU’s Top Hitters:

• Zach Watson: .352 batting average, 13 doubles, 4 home runs and 26 RBI
• Josh Smith: .342 batting average, 10 doubles, 6 home runs and 23 RBI
• Daniel Cabrera: .305 batting average, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs and 35 RBI
• Antoine Duplantis: .305 batting average, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs and 44 RBI
• Giovanni DiGiacomo: .302 batting average, 3 doubles, 1 triple and 12 RBI

Rankings:

• LSU: Collegiate Baseball 15, Perfect Game 9, D1 Baseball 13, Baseball America 14
• Alabama: Not ranked

Series Record:

• Alabama leads the series 197-172-3

Pitching matchups:

• Game 1: LSU: Zack Hess (2-2, 4.11 ERA) vs Bama: Sam Finnerty (5-5, 4.12 ERA)
• Game 2: LSU: Eric Walker (3-3, 5.44 ERA) vs Bama: Brock Love (4-3, 4.69 ERA)
• Game 3: LSU: TBA vs Bama: TBA

SEC series schedule:

• Friday: at Alabama 6 p.m. (SEC Network+)
• Saturday: at Alabama 2 p.m. (SEC Network+)
• Sunday: at Alabama 1 p.m. (SEC Network+)

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