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GAMETHREAD: LSU vs. Tulane, 6:30pm, Cox Sports\ESPN3\GeauxZone

By PodKATT
via @LSUBaseballEQ

It's time to get revenge against the hated, evil, stinking, cheating, lying, good for nothing Greenies and prevent the foul stink of a season series sweep by Tulane, something that hasn't happened since 2007. LSU got better over the weekend, with the surprising help of a long Sunday start from Alden Cartwright. I wouldn't say he locked up the Sunday role just yet, but pitching most of Ole Miss's first shutout loss of the year will go a long way. Because of that, former Sunday starter Jr. LHP Kyle Bouman (3-2, 3.24 ERA, 33.1 IP, 5 BB, 19 SO) gets the nod tonight in an outing with no planned end. Bouman unceremoniously gave up a first inning Grand Slam to Arkansas in his last Sunday start, so hopefully he'll be looking for a little redemption tonight. In college baseball, you need all the arms you can get, and just getting some consistency from Bouman will be a big help down the road. At the plate, Mainieri mixed it up a bit on Sunday to get Jake Fraley and would-be SEC player of the week Connor Hale into the lineup and slid still struggling Alex Bregman a few slots down the lineup. Even with the slight improvements over the weekend, LSU still needs it's star to get back to knocking the cover off the ball, so hopefully Bregman can find his swing again tonight.

As for the Greenies (15-22, 6-13 in CUSA), their unexpected win in the previous matchup may end up being the highlight of their season. In the last month, head coach Rick Jones'  absence for heath reasons has gone from temporary to the remainder of the season. They have lost all four CUSA weekend series along with games against SLU and UL-L. Their team BA has dropped about twenty points to .223 while their team ERA has risen slightly to 3.74. Tulane is still led at the plate by leadoff LF Richard Carthon (down to 296/401/348 from 317/431/378) and 1B Garrett Deschamp (down to 256/359/403 from 301/381/458). On the mound for the Greenies tonight is Sr. RHP Tyler Mapes (4-2, 1.97 ERA, 50.1 IP, 8 BB, 40 SO) the Greenies best regular arm, though he doesn't regularly start their Friday games. Due to a weather cancelation, Mapes didn't pitch this past weekend, so the Greenies are pulling out the stops to get this rivalry win.

Game is at 6:30 on Cox Sports. It's also streaming on ESPN3 outside the Cox blackout zone and worldwide on GeauxZone. LSU is also wearing some camo caps for Military Appreciation Night. They're not great, but honestly I've seen a lot worse.