Southeastern (9-4) rolled past Alcorn State (0-10) last night at Alumni Field 12-2 behind a pair of three-hit performances from catcher Bailyn Sorenson and shortstop TJ Salvaggio. 

The pair of juniors combined for over half of the Lions’ hits (six of 11 total) in seven innings of play, while Salvaggio collected a team-high three RBIs. 

After a scoreless first inning, the visitors pounced first in the top of the second to take a surprise 2-0 lead. 

However, the Braves’ advantage was short-lived, as SLU responded with four runs of its own in the bottom of the frame. 

From there, Southeastern never looked back. The Lions scored two more in the third before tallying another deuce in the sixth, and ultimately a game-clinching four runs in the seventh to complete the ten-run rule over their hapless opponents. 

SLU’s rout of Alcorn State comes on the heels of an impressive weekend in Greenville, North Carolina, in which the Lions knocked off Cal State Fullerton 5-1 and No. 11 East Carolina 11-9.

The Green and Gold are winners of seven of their last eight games following a 2-3 start to the season and carry momentum into their in-state showdown against the No. 2 LSU Tigers. 

While the team is riding high right now, Coach Bobby Barbier said he wants them to remain even-keeled and take things one game at a time. 

“I want to see focus. Just continuing with the idea that we need to be a better team a week from now, a month, two months, by the end of the season than we are right now. It’s nice to win some games and get a couple of big wins but we need to focus on improvement,” Barbier said.

LSU (11-1) will undoubtedly provide a stiff test for the first-year coach’s squad; the defending national champions have only dropped one game through 12 and are fresh off a 3-0 sweep of their competition at the Astros Foundation Classic at the weekend. 

The Tigers roared in Houston, defeating No. 14 Texas 6-3 on Friday (March 1) before outlasting a pesky UL-Lafayette squad 6-5 on Saturday (March 2). 

LSU closed its stay in H-Town with a 10-5 victory over Texas State on Sunday (March 3). 

The Bayou Bengals offense has remained lethal despite losing Golden Spikes Award recipient Dylan Crews to the MLB. 

LSU is averaging a healthy 9.67 runs per game and has outscored its opponents 116-51 for the year. 

While Paul Skeenes thankfully won’t be on the mound for the Purple and Gold, the Tigers possess a stable of arms to throw at the Lions. 

Freshman lefty Kade Anderson will get the start on the bump for LSU; the Tigers’ staff ranks third in the nation with 154 total strikeouts.

Anderson is 2-0 in two starts this season, surrendering just four runs (three unearned) through 9.0 innings of action to pair with 13 Ks. 

The first pitch between the Lions and Tigers is set for 6 p.m. tonight at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field. 

If you were unable to snag a ticket, the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. 

As always, for all things Southeastern baseball, stay tuned to The Lion’s Roar.