BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball is far from a polished product.

The offense is currently in a bit of a collective dip — highlighted by going 3-for-16 with runners on base in its 7-0 win over North Dakota State to complete the two-game, midweek sweep Wednesday night at Alex Box Stadium. In contrast, the pitching staff for the No. 2 Tigers (16-2) has caught fire and been dominant through the first 18 games.

Jay Johnson and company will hit the road to head to Starkville, Mississippi, to open Southeastern Conference play against Mississippi State. Game 1 at Dudy Noble Field is Friday (6 p.m., SEC Network+), Game 2 is Saturday (4 p.m., SEC Network) and the series finale is Sunday (1 p.m., SEC Network+).

Here's what to expect from LSU's first SEC series at Mississippi State this weekend.

LSU baseball pitching staff going to work ahead in counts at Mississippi State

When asked what's something through the team's first 18 games that he can expect to see as it jumpstarts SEC play at State, Johnson didn't hesitate.

"We're going to throw strikes with all of our guys," Johnson said Wednesday night after LSU's win over NDSU. "I don't think there's going to be a dropoff.

"As we continue to work, develop and improve on offense and find different ways to score, we're giving the opportunity for the hitters to do that."

The Tigers staff has recorded more strikeouts than any other staff in college baseball, now with 234, good enough for 13 Ks per nine innings.

Where the matchup between Mississippi State and LSU's staff will be interesting is State has the third-fewest strikeouts in the league to this point in the season. So the Bulldogs have exorcised some of their offensive woes from 2023. Will LSU will be able to get their lineup out of sync?

LSU baseball could score runs early in games at Mississippi State

While the Tigers have had some ups and downs at the plate through the first 18 games this season, one trend that looks to have some staying power is scoring runs in the first or second inning of games.

LSU has scored in the first two innings in 12 of its 18 games, including both midweek games versus North Dakota State. It is worth mentioning that against the best team it has played, No. 14 Texas, that it didn't push any across that early.

But adding to why scoring early could be something the Tigers carry over into Starkville is Mississippi State is susceptible to giving up early runs. The Bulldogs staff has done so in six games so far and some of the better competition they've played, like Southern Miss, Georgia Southern and Air Force, has found early-game offense.

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Mississippi State's Dakota Jordan, SEC's top hitter

Johnson said it best: "Dakota Jordan is on fire right now."

As good as the Tigers have been on the mound, the group is going to contend with Jordan this weekend.

The sophomore outfielder is batting .419 with an insane nine home runs through 17 games. He's batted in 28 runs, has walked 17 times and has an astronomical onbase-plus-slugging at 1.518.

Another name to look out for it Connor Hujsak. The MSU centerfield is hitting .340 and has scored 15 runs.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU baseball's early offense could travel well vs Mississippi State