The tenth-ranked LSU Tigers are back in action on Friday night, when they play host to the 19th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the opening game of a three-game, weekend, SEC baseball series at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge.

The conference series will mark the ninth of the season for LSU, who trails Ole Miss by  one-and-one-half games in the SEC West with two weekends remaining.

The Tigers, who dropped two of three games to Texas A&M in a three-game SEC series last week, will come in at 35-13-1, overall, and 13-10-1 in SEC play.

Alabama, who defeated Jacksonville St., 6-1, in non-conference action on Tuesday night, is currently 31-18, overall, and 13-11 in league play.

The Crimson Tide is currently in fourth place in the SEC West, two games behind first-place Ole Miss.

LSU is currently hitting a .274 as a team, along with 22 home runs, 252 runs batted in, and 37 stolen bases. The Tigers are led, offensively, by Andrew Stevenson, who is hitting a .351, and Conner Hale, who is hitting a .312.

Alabama, is currently hitting a .282 as a team, along with 36 home runs, 235 runs batted in, and 31 stolen bases. The Crimson Tide is paced by Austen Smith and Ben Moore, who are hitting a .347 and a .313, respectively.

Pitching-wise, the Tigers bring in a 2.63 team earned run average into the series, with right-hander Aaron Nola, who will start on Friday night, leading the way, with a 7-1 record, and an ERA. of 1.58. Jared Poche (6-3, 2.58) will get the start on Saturday, with Alden Cartwright (1-0, 1.69) the likely starter on Sunday.

The Crimson Tide, who currently have an overall 3.11 ERA., are paced by junior right-hander Spencer Turnbull, the Friday night starter, who is 5-4 with a 2.38 ERA. Junior left-hander Justin Kamplain (4-3, 3.59) and junior left-hander Jon Keller (5-1, 1.86) are the other two likely starters in the series.

LSU ranks tied for ninth in the SEC in hitting, and fourth in pitching, while Alabama ranks fourth in hitting and and eighth in pitching.

Game times are 7 pm on Friday night, noon on Saturday afternoon, and 1 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.

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