After completing the second largest comeback in SEC Tournament history to claim their spot in the SEC Championship, LSU baseball will have to beat the No. 1 seeded Tennessee Volunteers to win the title.
LSU head coach Jay Johnson will be back in the dugout for the Tigers despite being ejected in extra innings against South Carolina on Saturday. His team responded with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the tenth inning after his ejection.
Despite Tennessee being the No. 1 seed and LSU being ten spots lower at the No. 11 seed, LSU is the only undefeated team left in the tournament. Tennessee dropped its opening game at Hoover to Vanderbilt 13-4. The Volunteers then beat Texas A&M and Mississippi State to earn a rematch with Vanderbilt in the semifinals that they won 6-4.
If LSU wins the championship, it’ll be the school’s first win since 2017 and the first of the Jay Johnson era. The win would also make the Tigers the first team to win the SEC Tournament that didn’t have a first-round bye since it switched to the current format in 2013.
When LSU and Tennessee met in the regular season, the Vols came away with a series sweep. The loss sent LSU to 3-12 in SEC play and was the last series they would get swept in all season. The Tigers only dropped one series after that game and went 18-5 in the following games to get to where they are now. LSU now has a 17-17 record against SEC opponents after the terrible start to the season and a win on Sunday would give it a winning record against conference opponents.
The Vols used just two pitchers in the win over Vanderbilt in the semifinals. Zander Sechrist went six innings and Marcus Phillips threw the final three innings. AJ Russell will get the start today for Tennessee.
Russell pitched one inning in the loss to Vanderbilt on Wednesday. It was his first appearance since March. He’s thrown just 13.1 innings this season as he battled injuries.
The Tigers used nine pitchers in the win over South Carolina and are running low on players they can pitch. Nate Ackenhuasen will get the start for LSU on the mound. He 35 pitches on Thursday against South Carolina and allowed two hits and two runs.
The SEC Championship game will start at 2 p.m. on Sunday and will be televised on ESPN2.
Win or lose, LSU will be in an NCAA Regional afterwards. Regionals will start on May 31 and wrap up June 3. The NCAA selection show will be Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m.
Be the first to comment