Tigers face must-win series on the road against streaking Razorbacks

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - No. 15 LSU will have a tall task ahead when the Tigers travel to Fayetteville to face SEC West-leading Arkansas at Baum-Walker Stadium.

The Tigers (30-19, 14-10 SEC) will need to bounce back quickly from a lackluster 12-1 defeat to Louisiana Tech Tuesday night at The Box.

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LSU has lost three games in a row and enter the series three games back of Arkansas, with only six SEC matchups left.

The No. 4 Razorbacks (37-12, 17-7 SEC) have won 12 of their last 14 games and have lost only two SEC series this season, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt (both 2 games to 1).

Arkansas has an explosive offense that averages 8.0 runs per game and is hitting .309 with 110 doubles, 14 triples, and 64 home runs.

Arkansas’ Leading Hitters:

• Matt Goodheart: .383 batting average, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, and 31 RBI
• Trevor Ezell: .330 batting average, 17 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, and 36 RBI
• Heston Kjerstad: .327 batting average, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 13 home runs, and 42 RBI
• Dominic Fletcher: .317 batting average, 19 doubles, 9 home runs, and 45 RBI
• Jack Kenley: .309 batting average, 6 doubles, 4 triples, 9 home runs, and 38 RBI
• Casey Martin: .302 batting average, 19 doubles, 3 triples, 11 home runs, and 47 RBI

LSU is scoring 6.7 runs per game and is batting .273 as a team with 75 doubles, 7 triples, and 47 home runs.

LSU’s Top Hitters:

• Josh Smith: .348 batting average, 11 doubles, 7 home runs, and 28 RBI
• Zach Watson: .331 batting average, 15 doubles, 5 home runs, and 30 RBI
• Antoine Duplantis: .305 batting average, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 8 home runs, and 50 RBI
• Chris Reid: .304 batting average, 10 doubles, 1 home run, and 26 RBI
• Daniel Cabrera: .294 batting average, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 9 home runs, and 40 RBI

Rankings:

• LSU: Collegiate Baseball 18, Perfect Game 15, D1 Baseball 15, Baseball America 16
• Arkansas: Collegiate Baseball 5, Perfect Game 4, D1 Baseball 4, Baseball America 4

Series Record:

• LSU leads the series 73-32

Pitching matchups:

Game 1

• LSU: Ma’Khail Hilliard (0-2, 4.59 ERA) vs Ark: Isaiah Campbell (8-1, 2.54 ERA)

Game 2

• LSU: Eric Walker (4-4, 5.30 ERA) vs Ark: Patrick Wicklander (5-1, 3.91 ERA)

Game 3

• LSU: Landon Marceaux (3-2, 7.04 ERA) vs Ark: TBA

SEC series schedule:

• Thursday: 6:30 p.m., ESPNU
• Friday: 6:30 p.m., SEC+
• Saturday: 1 p.m., ESPN2