| As LSU baseball's opening series this weekend ticks closer, the details Tiger fans have been craving about their team continue to trickle out. Wednesday, LSU coach Jay Johnson revealed the starting rotation for this weekend's planned three-game set (weather permitting) with Purdue Fort Wayne. By the way, the nickname of the Purdue Fort Wayne (or IPFW as it's known to its college friends) baseball team is the Mastodons. I'm told they're the only Mastodons in all of college sports. Makes you wonder if the real mastodons were still alive if they would be demanding their own NIL deal. We could have led off today's LSU sports newsletter with the story of the LSU men's basketball game Wednesday night at Arkansas. But that story is getting quite repetitive: Tigers play, Tigers lose, rinse repeat. This loss was by a 70-58 count at Arkansas. The Tigers will next be fodder for Oklahoma on the road on Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network). At the pot of gold end of the LSU basketball rainbow, the LSU women's team draws closer to its top-five showdown Sunday at Texas (2 p.m., ABC). We've got the latest look at LSU's NCAA Tournament projections (the NCAA will reveal its current top 16 seeds at 11 a.m. Sunday on ABC) and news of Kim Mulkey hosting a "fireside chat" with CBS News on campus in the near future. Finally, we're drawing near another big women's sports showdown at 8 p.m. Friday in the PMAC when the No. 2 LSU gymnastics team hosts No. 1 Oklahoma on ESPN2. We've got a feature on Tigers' vaulter KJ Johnson and what her "ferocious" brand of gymnastics means to her team, as well as news of Olivia Dunne and her seriously cool Mardi Gras plans. You know, that's a pretty well-balanced newsletter for you. Lots of LSU info to feed your Tiger brain. Thanks for reading and subscribing, and we'll catch you next time. Scott Rabalais | 
