5/16/13 5:50 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

The No. 2 LSU baseball team will return to action tonight when they take on a very capable, 14th ranked Ole Miss team at 6:30 p.m. CT in a game that will be televised by ESPNU. As usual, sophomore left-hander Cody Glenn (5-2, 2.78 ERA, 68.0 IP, 16 BB, 33 SO) will get the start for the Tigers in Game 1, but in a bit of a twist junior right-hander Kurt McCune will get the start in Game 2 so that Aaron Nola can be saved for the Tigers first game in the SEC tournament which gets underway Tuesday.

Here’s info on this week’s game times, TV coverage and pitching match-ups.

Game 1- Thursday (Today) 6:30 pm. CT (ESPNU)
LSU – So. LHP Cody Glenn (5-2, 2.78 ERA, 68.0 IP, 16 BB, 33 SO)
UM – Jr. RHP Mike Mayers (4-4, 2.87 ERA, 75.1 IP, 29 BB, 59 SO) 

Game 2 - Friday 7 p.m. CT (Cox Sports Television)
LSU – Jr. RHP Kurt McCune (3-1, 3.38 ERA, 13.1 IP, 4 BB, 8 SO)
UM – So. RHP Sam Smith (3-0, 3.15 ERA, 54.1 IP, 15 BB, 27 SO) 

Game 3 - Saturday 12 p.m. CT (CBS Sports Network)
LSU – Jr. RHP Ryan Eades (8-1, 2.29 ERA, 82.2 IP, 23 BB, 69 SO)
UM – Jr. RHP Bobby Wahl (9-0, 1.43 ERA, 88.0 IP, 40 BB, 73 SO) 

The LSU-Ole Miss series goes all the way back to 1906 and the Tigers lead it 166-142. LSU has won 10 of its last 14 regular-season series with Ole Miss, including a 2-1 series victory last season in Oxford. The Tigers also defeated the Rebels, 11-2, in an elimination game in last year’s SEC Tournament. The Rebels’ last series victory over the Tigers in Alex Box Stadium came in 1982, when Ole Miss won two of three to close the season.

In football news, a couple of days ago I mentioned that Quantavious Leslie had passed his Algebra class and was cleared to enroll at LSU, and yesterday I learned that his enrollment could come very soon. Leslie will graduate from Hinds Community College tomorrow and could be at LSU next week in time for the start of summer school. Last year LSU had a lot of trouble in the red-zone, and I suspect that Leslie will be a key part of the Tigers' improvement in that aspect of the game. At 6'4", Leslie ought to be a great weapon to utilize in a red-zone fade route.

In other news related to LSU football, according to this article by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, TCU has suspended Devonte Fields for the first two games of the 2013 season, meaning he'll miss the season opener against LSU. Fields (DE, 6'4", 240) is the best player on the TCU team and the best defensive player in the Big 12 conference, and his absence will be a big break for a Tiger offense that will be taking the field for the first time under the direction of Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron.

Now turning to football recruiting... Parkway quarterback Brandon Harris has announced via Twitter that he will commit to his school of choice on July 18th. What's particularly interesting about this is that LSU is currently courting three quarterbacks for 2013 in Harris (6'1", 185, No. 15 on my list of Top LA Football Prospects for 2014), Mason Rudolph (6'4", 210, Rock Hill, SC), and DeShone Kizer (6'5", 207, Toledo, Ohio), and the later two are expected to make their decisions in late June or early July (before Harris). Last week Coach Cam Cameron went to Parkway to meet with Harris and called him the best quarterback he has seen (presumably the best he has evaluated this spring), and later that day Coach Miles extended a scholarship offer to Harris. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out and how many QBs LSU takes in this class. My guess would be two. With Anthony Jennings and Hayden Rettig from the 2013 signing class, and two of the three aforementioned signal callers, LSU could be in great shape at QB for the foreseeable future.

In softball news, the No. 9 national seed Tigers softball team will begin NCAA tournament play tomorrow when they take on Central Connecticut State at 6 p.m. The game will not be televised but can be heard on 104.9 FM. Below is the schedule for the Baton Rouge Regional.

NCAA Baton Rouge Regional

Friday, May 17
Game 1: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Northwestern State – 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 9 LSU vs. Central Connecticut State – 6 p.m. 

Saturday, May 18
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner – 12 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser – 3 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner – 6 p.m. 

Sunday, May 17
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner – 1 p.m.
Game 7: Game 6 rematch if necessary – 4 p.m. 

Ticket Information [www.LSUtix.net]
All-Session Prices [On Sale Now]
Adult Berm/Standing Room Only, $20
Youth Berm/Standing Room Only, $15 

Single Game Tickets [On Sale: Thursday 8 a.m.]
Adult Berm/Standing Room Only, $7
Youth Berm/Standing Room Only, $5
Students Berm/Standing Room Only, $5
Groups (10 or more) Berm/Standing Room Only, $5 

Reader comments: hi Scott - a link to a blog by an Alabama writer. LSU/Alabama NFL team

5/15/13 5:55 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

The LSU baseball team broke the school's record for regular season victories with an 11-2 win over UNO last night. With the win, LSU's record improved to a historic 46-7 mark, and the Tigers have now won 27 consecutive games against Louisiana schools and 34 straight non-conference mid-week games.

Freshman right-hander Hunter Newman (2-0) got the start for the Tigers and earned the victory with an impressive outing. Newman allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out three in a season-high five innings of work. Six bullpen pitchers combined for four innings of work in preparation for this weekend's regular season finale and postseason play.

The Tigers came out swinging and collected five runs in the first inning. DH Sean McMullen led off with a triple and was driven home on a groundout by Mark Laird. RBIs by Raph Rhymes, JaCoby Jones, and Ty Ross gave the Tigers an early 5-0 lead. LSU added four runs in the fifth on a beautiful squeeze bunt by Andrew Stevenson, a 2-RBI double by McMullen, and Michael Barash’s long home run into the left-field bleachers. The homer was Barash's first as a Tiger. UNO answered with two runs in the sixth off of Brent Bonvillain who struggled in his one inning of work before working out a jam with a couple of strikeouts. LSU added single runs in the sixth and seventh to make the final score 11-2.

LSU will now turn its attention to the last regular season series of the season which begins tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. against a very capable Ole Miss team (38-15). The game will be televised by ESPNU. Friday’s game will start at 7 p.m. (Cox Sports Television) and Saturday’s finale will begin at noon (CBS). Kurt McCune is expected to start in tomorrow's game, as Coach Mainiei will save Aaron Nola for the start of the SEC tournament on Tuesday.

In basketball news, there have been a lot of rumblings of LSU picking up a commitment from Ilker Er, but as of now this has not been confirmed. Er (6'7", 195, SG/SF) is a native of Turkey who played at Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, FL) last season and averaged 14 points per game and shot 44% from 3-point range. Er would be a great get for Coach Jones and his staff.

Speaking of Coach Jones' staff, Randy Rosetta of Nola.com has reported that assistant coach Robert Kirby has been offered a job by Memphis. Kirby, a native of Memphis, is widely regarded a one of the best recruiters in the nation and I sure would hate to see him leave. I have a feeling LSU will do all they can within reason to keep him, as he and Jones seem to have a great chemistry on the recruiting trail.

Now for a few football recruiting tid-bits: 1) Clifton Garrett, the big-time linebacker from Illinois whose highlight video I posted yesterday, had a good visit with Coach John Chavis yesterday and things are looking good for LSU. 2) In a bit of a surprise to me, Speedy Noil (WR, 5'10", 175, Edna Karr, No. 5 on my list of Top LA Football Prospects for 2104) has named Texas A&M and USC as his leaders, according to multiple reports. 3) Cameron Robinson (OL, 6'6", 315, West Monroe, No. 3 on my list) has recently confirmed that LSU and Alabama still lead for his signature and that there is no front-runner.

Lastly, I'd like to remind all of you football season ticket holders that the deadline for renewing your tickets is May 31.

5/14/13 5:55 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

First of all, it was great hearing from so many of you about the interview with Mike Detillier I posted yesterday. The thing I got the most comments on was Mike's 9-3 prediction for the Tigers this season. Most of you I heard from feel a little more optimistic than that, and I do too. I'm going to wait and see how the Jeremy Hill thing plays out before making a prediction, but with Hill’s status being uncertain and with the question marks in the defensive line and at middle linebacker, I can understand why Mike would be cautious with his prediction.

LSU received a bit of good news for the upcoming season yesterday when JUCO wide receiver Quantavious Leslie tweeted that he is cleared to go and LSU bound. His exact words were, “Happy is an understatement for how I'm feeling right now. Found out I passed my college algebra class. #lsubound#thankgod.” As I stated earlier, with Leslie on board and with Travin Dural fully recovered from his knee injury, the Tiger receiving corps should be much improved this year. And that's not even mentioning LSU's leading receivers in Odell Beckham, Jr. and Jarvis Landry who are both set to have big junior years, and Kadron Boone and James Wright who look to make a significant contribution in their senior seasons.

Speaking of Landry, yesterday someone shared with me this College Football Hype Video that really got me pumped and reminded me of what incredible hands Landry has. At about the 1:06 mark of the video, they show his spectacular one-handed catch against Arkansas. Man, that catch was incredible! Do yourself a favor and check out the video if you have a few moments to spare this morning. Although there are still 114 days until the start of the season, it's never too early to get fired up.

In football recruiting news, Coach John Chavis is reportedly visiting one of LSU's top targets for 2014 today - Clifton Garrett. Hailing from Plainfield, Illinois, Garrett (6'2", 215) is a hard-hitting consensus five-star linebacker who has LSU at the top of his list ever since attending the Spring Game. If you haven't seen Garrett's highlights yet, check them out. There aren’t very many defensive highlight reels as exciting as his.

Turning to baseball news, after winning two out of three against Texas A&M last week, the Tigers have moved up to No. 2 in Baseball America's rankings and stayed put at No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. LSU's weekend opponent, Ole Miss, came in at numbers 20 and 13 in the two polls, respectively.

Before turning their attention to Ole Miss, the Tigers (45-7, 21-6) will play their last non-conference game of the regular season tonight when they host New Orleans. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by Cox Sports Television. Freshman right-hander Hunter Newman (1-0, 2.63 ERA) is expected to get the start for LSU, while UNO will counter with sophomore right-hander Alex Smith (3-8, 4.10 ERA). Look for lots of Tiger bullpen pitchers to see action in tonight's game in preparation for the regular season finale and postseason play. Coach Mainieri also announced that he will not pitch Aaron Nola this weekend against Ole Miss but instead will save him for Game 1 of the SEC tournament, which begins a week from today.

A win tonight would give the Tigers their most regular-season wins ever in a single season. LSU’s 21 league wins is already the most by a Fighting Tiger club since the 1998 team posted a 21-9 SEC record and is one shy of the school's all-time record of 22, set in 1986 and 1997. The Tigers have a very good chance of breaking that record this weekend against Ole Miss. Of course, Coach Mainieri and his Tigers know that the success of this season won't be measured by regular season wins, but rather how the team performs in postseason play.

Here is this week's baseball schedule:

May 14 (Today) – NEW ORLEANS, 6:30 p.m. (Cox Sports Television)
May 16 (Thu.) – OLE MISS, 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
May 17 (Fri.) – OLE MISS, 7 p.m. (Cox Sports Television)
May 18 (Sat.) – OLE MISS, 12 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) 

Reader comments: Scott, a few days ago you mentioned Coach Miles' son, Manny, and the no-hitter he pitched. Here's a great article on him, and here's another that also talks about Coach Moffitt's son who is also a prospect.