LSU will take on Tulane tonight

No. 14 LSU (16-7) hosts Tulane (17-7) at 6:30 p.m. today in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
Today’s contest is billed as Prostate Cancer Awareness Night at the stadium, as the LSU players will wear light blue batting helmets to promote screening to detect and combat the disease.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri said freshman right-hander Cole McKay will start today’s game on the mound for the Tigers. The outing will mark McKay’s second career start — his first came last Tuesday against UL-Lafayette when he pitched two innings and recorded five of the six outs via strikeouts.
Second-year Tulane Coach David Pierce will counter with sophomore right-hander J.P. France (1-0, 4.71 ERA).
“It’s no surprise that the Tulane program is thriving under David Pierce,” Mainieri said in a news release. “He’s an outstanding coach, and he has his team playing with a lot of confidence. I know they beat Texas a couple times earlier this season, and they have a lot of talented ball players. We’re looking forward to a great game. Any time you have an LSU-Tulane match up, it’s going to be very competitive.”
The Tigers are hitting .297 on the year with 14 homers and 42 steals in 57 attempts. Sophomore Greg Deichmann led LSU at the plate in its four games last week, batting .357 (5-for-14) with one homer, two RBIs and three runs. Deichmann hit .400 (4-for-10) in the Texas A&M series last weekend with one homer, one RBI and two runs. His homer in Game 3 of the Texas A&M series was his third of the season and his first career home run in an SEC game.
Freshman right fielder Antoine Duplantis’ 19-game hitting streak ended last Tuesday in LSU’s win against Louisiana-Lafayette at Zephyr Field in Metairie. Duplantis’ streak was the third-longest by an LSU freshman during the past 20 seasons — he hit .397 during the streak with six doubles, two triples, 10 RBIs, 14 runs and seven steals in seven attempts. Duplantis is hitting a team-high .356 (32-for-90) this season with six doubles, two triples, 11 RBIs, 14 runs and seven stolen bases.
Junior second baseman Cole Freeman batted .333 (4-for-12) in the Tigers’ four games last week with one double, two RBIs, three runs and four steals in five attempts.
Junior center fielder Jake Fraley batted .313 (5-for-16) last week with two doubles, one triple, two RBIs, two runs and one stolen base.
Tulane is hitting .290 as a team with 23 home runs and 24 steals in 30 attempts. Junior infielder Stephen Alamais leads the Green Wave, batting .415 with five doubles, one triple, eight runs and 14 RBIs. Senior outfielder Richard Carthon is hitting .345 with three doubles, four triples, 15 runs and 17 RBIs and junior infielder Hunter Hope is batting .337 with five doubles, seven homers, 24 runs and 18 RBIs.
LSU leads the all-time series with Tulane, 180-126-3, in a series that began with the first intercollegiate athletic event in LSU history, a 10-8 victory for the Fighting Tiger baseball squad against Tulane in 1893. LSU has won 13 of its 16 meetings with Tulane during the past eight seasons, including two wins last season — 6-0 in Baton Rouge and 13-7 in New Orleans.
Mainieri has a 13-5 mark against Tulane in his 10-season coaching tenure at LSU.
Today’s game will be carried on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge. Live audio of the game may be accessed at www.LSUsports.net/live with live stats at www.LSUstats.com.
The game may be viewed on SEC Network +, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.