Preview: Sacramento State at No. -- LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — The Sacramento State Hornets, seeking to halt a five-game skid, face a steep challenge Friday when they visit the No. -- LSU Tigers at Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CDT under cloudy skies with a temperature near 73 degrees.

The Hornets (3-9) arrive after a 2-0 loss at Fresno State on Tuesday, their fourth defeat in five games during a tough California road swing. Their offense has mustered just nine runs over the losing streak.

LSU (11-3), coming off a 7-2 midweek loss at Louisiana-Lafayette, looks to rebound at home where it is 7-2 this season. The Tigers’ potent lineup is anchored by third baseman Trent Caraway, who homered in the loss to ULL.

A key matchup will feature Sacramento State reliever Chase Sorlie against LSU’s power bats. Sorlie has been a bright spot, not allowing a hit over his last 6.0 innings across three appearances, striking out seven. He pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts in his last outing.

For LSU, right-hander Ethan Plog has been effective out of the bullpen, most recently tossing 1.2 hitless innings with two strikeouts against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-2 LSU victory, with its ELO rating system giving the Tigers an 87.9% probability to win.

The game opens a three-game weekend series between the programs.