BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 8 LSU (22-11) faces Louisiana-Lafayette (18-13-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the annual Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic at the Shrine on Airline in Metairie, La.
The game will be carried on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge), and the radio broadcast may be heard at www.LSUsports.net/live,
The game will be televised by Cox Sports Television, and it may be viewed online on ESPN3.com, accessible at WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. The online streaming is blacked out in markets served by Cox Sports Television.
LSU is 11-2 in the Wally Pontiff Jr. Foundation Classic, which began in 2004 when the Tigers posted a 9-3 win over Southeastern Louisiana. The Tigers are 1-0 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 1-1 vs. Rice, 1-1 vs. New Orleans, 3-0 vs. UL-Lafayette, 4-0 vs. Southern Miss and 1-0 vs. Southern University in Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic games. Last season, the Tigers posted an 8-5 win over UL-Lafayette in the Pontiff Classic.
Wally Pontiff Jr., an all-SEC third baseman at LSU, died in 2002 at the age of 21 due to a heart abnormality. Proceeds from Tuesday’s game will go to the Wally Pontiff Jr. Foundation, which benefits charitable organizations throughout Louisiana.
LSU leads the all-time series with UL-Lafayette, 54-24, as the squads first met in 1912. LSU has won four in a row and 14 of the 19 meetings with ULL since 2000. This year’s game marks the third straight season LSU and ULL have met in the Pontiff Classic. Last season (March 22), the Tigers posted an 8-5 win over the Cajuns, and LSU defeated UL-Lafayette, 8-6, in the 2015 Pontiff Classic. LSU coach Paul Mainieri has a 10-3 career mark against UL-Lafayette.
“We’re so proud to participate in this game each year because of the tremendous legacy Wally Pontiff Jr. established as an LSU ball player and as an outstanding young man,” Mainieri said. “He showed you could do it all – you could be a great baseball player and a great human being.
“We also embrace the opportunity to face a tremendous program in UL-Lafayette,” Mainieri continued. “I have great respect for (ULL) Coach (Tony) Robichaux and his players, and it’s always great competition between the two teams. I’m sure it’s going to be a great, very intense ball game; the crowd is going to be in it, and it’s always a lot of fun.”
LSU won three of four games last week, including a 2-1 series win at 14th-ranked Arkansas. The series win was the sixth straight for LSU over the Razorbacks and the Tigers’ 12th series win over Arkansas in the past 13 seasons.
The Tigers enter Tuesday’s batting .296 as a team with 30 homers and 34 steals in 50 attempts.
