2009 LSU Baseball

# 7 (41‐23) vs. # 1 LSU Fighting Tigers (53‐16)

DATE/TIME Friday, June 19 ‐‐ 1 p.m. CT STADIUM Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb. RANKINGS • LSU ‐ No. 1 by Baseball America; No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball; No. 1 by NCBWA • Arkansas – No. 7 by Collegiate Baseball; No. 7 by NCBWA; No. 8 by Baseball America RADIO/INTERNET/TV • LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates; the Baton Rouge affiliate is WDGL 98.1 FM • www.LSUsports.net – live audio and stats • Friday’s game will be televised by ESPN2

SERIES RECORD • LSU leads the series with Arkansas, 48‐22, including a 9‐1 win over the Razorbacks on Monday. LSU also won two of three games over Arkansas earlier this season in Fayetteville. Arkansas won Game 1 of the series, 11‐4, before the Tigers posted consecutive victories over the Razorbacks by scores of 5‐0 and 4‐3. LSU is 7‐3 against Arkansas during LSU coach ’s three seasons in Baton Rouge.

PITCHING MATCHUP LSU – So. RHP (10‐3, 3.03 ERA, 113.0 IP, 45 BB, 150 SO) UA – Jr. LHP Stephen Richards (6‐1, 1.80 ERA, 35.0 IP, 18 BB, 50 SO)

COACHES • LSU coach Paul Mainieri is in his third season at LSU, and he has a 131‐61‐2 record at the helm of the Tiger program. Mainieri has a career mark of 995‐553‐6 in 27 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Mainieri is in the College World Series for the third time in his career – he directed Notre Dame to the CWS in 2002 and he guided LSU to Omaha last season. Mainieri has a 4‐4 career mark in College World Series games (1‐2 at Notre Dame; 2‐2 at LSU). He has a 33‐22 career record in NCAA Tournament games (20‐19 at Notre Dame; 13‐3 at LSU).

• Arkansas coach is in his seventh season at Arkansas, where he has a 276‐ 157 mark. He has an 861‐397 career record in 21 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He is making his fourth head coaching appearance in Omaha – he led Nebraska to the CWS in 2001 and 2002; and he directed Arkansas to the CWS in 2004. Van Horn has a 2‐7 career mark in CWS contests.

NOTEWORTHY • Top‐ranked LSU competes for a berth in the CWS Championship Series at 1 p.m. Friday when the Tigers face seventh‐ranked Arkansas at Rosenblatt Stadium. If LSU wins Friday's game, the Tigers advance to the championship series at 6 p.m. Monday. If Arkansas wins Friday's game, the teams meet again at either 1 p.m. or 6 p.m. Saturday to earn a berth in the final series.

• LSU, the NCAA Tournament No. 3 national seed, enters Friday’s game riding a 12‐game win streak. The Tigers opened the CWS with a 9‐5 victory over Virginia Saturday and defeated Arkansas 9‐1 on Monday. LSU has a 119‐44 (.730) all‐time record in the NCAA Tournament and owns the highest winning percentage in tournament history.

• The Tigers are making their 15th College World Series appearance and their second in a row – LSU is 32‐19 (.627) at the CWS with five national titles (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000).

• LSU is 7‐2 against SEC teams in the College World Series ‐‐ the Tigers are 4‐0 versus Florida, 1‐0 against Alabama, 1‐0 against Mississippi State, 0‐2 versus South Carolina and 1‐0 against Arkansas. The Tigers also defeated the Razorbacks, 5‐2, in the 1987 CWS when Arkansas was a member of the .

• Sophomore right‐hander Anthony Ranaudo (10‐3, 3.03 ERA) will start for the Tigers on Friday versus Arkansas. Ranaudo struggled in his first College World Series start Saturday versus Virginia, allowing two runs on five hits in 3.1 innings with four walks and three strikeouts. Ranaudo, a second‐team all‐American from Jackson, N.J., lost an 11‐4 decision at Arkansas on May 2 in Fayetteville. He worked six innings and was charged with five runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Ranaudo has since won his last five decisions.

• Junior outfielder Jared Mitchell is No. 2 on the all‐time LSU career steals list with 70. He trails only Rob Hartwig, who had 73 steals from 1986‐87. Mitchell’s 36 steals this season marks the second‐highest single season total in LSU history – Hartwig has the single‐season mark with 42 in 1987.

• LSU DH/OF is No. 8 on the all‐time LSU list with 43 career dingers. He is No. 6 on the LSU career RBI list with 187. TIGERS IN THE DRAFT The following LSU players were selected in the Draft last week: • OF Jared Mitchell 1st Round Chicago White Sox • 2B DJ LeMahieu 2nd Round Chicago Cubs • RHP 5th Round Kansas City Royals • OF 5th Round • OF Blake Dean 10th Round Minnesota Twins • 1B/C Sean Ochinko 11th Round Toronto Blue Jays