LSU Craves A Road Trip, But Tennessee Has Been Rocky On The Tigers, As In 0-For-8

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The LSU baseball team has played 13 of its last 16 games at home, including the last nine in a row. And they have won three straight and four of the last five.

But the Tigers (20-10, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) are itching to get out of town, and they will play in one of the better venues in the SEC on Friday against Tennessee (19-10, 3-6 SEC) at newly renovated 8,012-seat Lindsey Nelson Stadium at 4:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. Nelson, the former voice of Notre Dame football who died in 1995, is a 1941 Tennessee graduate and founded the Vol Radio Network and was its first play-by-play man.

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“I love it. I love going on the road,” LSU junior right fielder Jake Brown said. “You get more time just to hang out with your guys. When you’re in a hotel room, you’re literally all locked in together, especially after curfew. And playing in new environments is really fun. I grew up a huge college baseball fan (in Sulphur) and playing in these places I used to watch on TV all the time is great. Just going to these cool places is really fun for me.”

Coach Jay Johnson sees it similarly.

“I actually think we need to play some more road games to be honest with you,” he said. “On the road, we have a good routine.”

Never mind that LSU is 1-3 in true road games this season with a 7-2 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette on March 4 and 13-12 and 11-3 setbacks at Vanderbilt to open SEC play last month before a 16-9 win over the Commodores.

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LSU won three games at the JAX Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Florida, in February, though those were neutral site games.

“This is a good one because it’s the first real hostile environment,” Johnson said.

He would know. The Tigers got swept at Tennessee in 2024, 6-3, 3-1 and 8-4.

“I think the guys are excited about the weekend and looking forward to it,” he said.

Even though LSU is 0-for-its-last-8 in Knoxville. The Tigers got swept there in 2021, 3-1, 9-8 in 11 innings and 3-2 before going 0-for-2 in a Super Regional that season, 4-2 and 15-6, under coach Paul Mainieri.

“It was a pretty hostile environment,” Brown said of the 2024 series. “But I don’t think that’s nothing that this team can’t handle. I know everyone is really excited about going there.”

LSU is feeling more confidence going in. It did just come back from a 7-0 deficit on Sunday to beat No. 19 Kentucky, 17-10, to win its first SEC series of the season, and it trailed Southern, 6-1, on Tuesday before winning that one 16-6.

“I like where we’re headed. I do,” Johnson said. “I’m very optimistic about improvement that we have made, and things are getting better.”

Tennessee, meanwhile, lost three at Vanderbilt last weekend all on walk-off home runs under first-year coach Josh Elander, who replaced 2024 national champion coach Tony Vitello last fall. Vitello is now the manager of the San Francisco Giants.

PITCHING MATCH-UPS

FRIDAY – Sophomore right-hander Casan Evans (2-1, 5.00 ERA), LSU, vs. sophomore right-hander Landon Mack (3-2, 3.89 ERA), 4:30 p.m., SEC Network.

SATURDAY – Sophomore right-hander William Schmidt (4-1, 2.55 ERA), LSU, vs. sophomore right-hander Tegan Kuhns (1-3, 4.08 ERA), 5 p.m., ESPN2.

SUNDAY – Junior right-hander Gavin Guidry (3-3, 6.64 ERA), LSU, vs. senior left-hander Evan Bianco (2-2, 4.00 ERA).