It's midweek blowout time! After missing out on a sweep against Mississippi State, LSU gets to take out its frustrations against a staggeringly overmatched instate "rival". Hey, they beat Tulane.
Northwestern St. Demons
Record: 9-13
RS/RA: 96/123
RPI: 144
ISR: 158
Ancient Logo:
"Hello, welcome to Hell. May I interest you in our wine list?" The demon's name is Vic, which always cracks me up for some reason.
Notable Alumni:
Joe Delaney (1981 NFL Rookie of the Year, died saving three children from drowning)
Bobby Hebert (radio blowhard)
Jim Hawthorne (Really? You need me to tell you who the Voice of the Tigers is?)
John Fournet (former Chief Justice of Louisiana Supreme Court)
Pretentious Music Video:
Let's stick with the demon theme without going full death metal, which is not very pretentious anyway. I mean, you don't drink a craft brew with your arms folded while listening to Opeth. It simply does not bring out the proper flavor. Anyway, even pretentious music snobs can get behind a popular act every once in a while. Especially one with the pedigree of Gorillaz. From their excellent second album, "Demon Days", and let's face it, pretty cool music video, here is Gorillaz with Feel Good, Inc.
Starter:
LHP Cody Butler (1-1, 9.19 ERA, 15.2 IP, 12/11 K/BB)
Boy, has he drawn the short straw on this one. You allow over an earned run an inning, and now you have to face LSU's lineup? That doesn't seem right. If he makes it through five without getting shelled, NSU should call the outing a success. He actually had pretty nice outings against Texas A&M and Tulane, allowing one run to each, but took a step backwards when TCU teed off for seven runs in his last start.
Sluggers:
OF Will Watson 362/463/478
1B Todd Wallace 286/368/390
OF Cort Brinson 262/333/400
And these are their BEST hitters. When only two of your regulars are slugging over 400, you know you have some serious offensive issues. Toby Cornejo is doing a JaCoby Jones impression by getting on base a lot without hitting, and then stealing bases a lot, so he's also a bit of a threat. But there is nothing in this lineup that should scare you at all. We're talking about an offense so punchless that opposing pitchers have a 2.90 ERA. They turn everybody into Greg Maddux.
Tiger Bait?
LSU has beaten NSU 13 of the last 14 times, including a 13-0 pasting last year. The biggest mystery in tonight's game will likely be which crawfish has the corncob. I'm betting on #3!
LSU will be starting Freshman RHP Russell Reynolds (0-0, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO), who was last seen in a good but brief start against Nicholls last week. Coach Mainieri hopes he can go about 5 innings. He talked about that and his reasons for moving JaCoby Jones into the leadoff spot with reporters yesterday (via BayouBengalsInsider.com)