11 a.m. -- Pitching, travel squad for Auburn series

Paul Mainieri said his pitching rotation for the Auburn series will be junior left-hander Ryan Verdugo (7-2, 3.44) on Thursday, junior left-hander Blake Martin (4-3, 4.80) on Friday and a starter to be announced for Saturday's game.

Auburn coach Tom Slater gave this probable rotation: freshman left-hander Grant Dayton (7-1, 3.65), sophomore right-hander Taylor Thompson (3-5, 5.71) and junior right-hander Luke Greinke (4-4, 4.47).

LSU's 25-man travel roster for the three-game series at Auburn is the same as its active roster for last weekend's series vs. Mississippi State:

Catchers
 
Micah Gibbs
Sean Ochinko
 
Infielders
 
Matt Clark
Buzzy Haydel
Michael Hollander
D.J. LeMahieu
Ryan Schimpf
 
Outfielders
 
Blake Dean
Johnny Dishon
Derek Helenihi
Leon Landry
Chris McGhee
Jared Mitchell
Nicholas Pontiff
 
Pitchers
 
Paul Bertuccini
Jared Bradford
Daniel Bradshaw
Jordan Brown
Ryan Byrd
Nolan Cain
Louis Coleman
Blake Martin
Anthony Ranaudo
Austin Ross
Ryan Verdugo

Mainieri said all 25 were in their rooms sleeping when he spoke with reporters by conference call shortly after 10 this morning. The team showered after last night's 15-inning game at Zephyr Field, then bused to the Auburn area overnight, arriving at the hotel at 7 a.m.

"I feel like I took a red-eye flight to Auburn," Mainieri said.

He said he canceled a 2 p.m. weight workout but will have the team practice tonight at Plainsman Park.


Game times are 6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Rain is in the forecast Thursday and Friday.

No SEC games this week can be finished or started on Sunday. The regular season ends Saturday, and SEC tournament pairings will be announced Saturday night.

Got a comment or question for Carl? E-mail him at cdubois@theadvocate.com.