BATON ROUGE - The first game in the SEC opening series between LSU Baseball and Alabama has been delayed due to lightning.

LSU Baseball in an indefinite delay due to lightning in the area, must start game before 10pm tonight. Decision to be made by 9:15 @WBRZ

— Michael Cauble (@MichaelCauble) March 18, 2016

LSU Baseball announced earlier Friday that they were optimistic for a 7 p.m. start time against the University of Alabama. SEC rules say that the game must be started by 10 p.m. local time, LSU said. A decision to play would have to be made by as late at 9:15 p.m. 

Game 2 of the series of games will start 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and then 1 p.m. on Sunday for Game 3.

LSU is the reigning SEC regular-season champion and has won nine nine of its last 10 games including a 9-4 win over University of New Orleans on Wednesday.

Friday will be the first time LSU will open SEC play with Alabama since 1977.

Tigers Coach Paul Mainieri said that sophomore Alex Lange will pitch on Friday, then junior Jared Poche will follow on Saturday, and the senior John Valek II will finish out the series on Sunday.

The games can be heard on affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, including 98.1 FM. The games can also be viewed live online via SEC Network +, WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.