BATON ROUGE - Just days after losing their first opening-week series in almost twenty years, the LSU Tiger baseball team was dealt a second blow when starting shortstop Josh Smith developed a stress reaction in his back and will not play for at least the first month of the season.

Smith was a returning bright spot for the Tigers and one of the few proven commodities on a team that is re-inventing itself in some areas of the infield.

Hal Hughes, a 5-11, 165 lbs. freshman from Oklahoma will be the one filling in at short while Smith is out of action.

LSU hosts UNO on Wednesday night and then will take on the Texas Longhorns for a three game series starting Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.