No. 1 LSU made folks nervous with a loss at lowly South Carolina to open its last Southeastern Conference regular season series on Thursday night. But it won its second straight game on Saturday, 7-3, over the Gamecocks at Founders Park in Columbia to stay within range of a critical top eight national seed for the NCAA postseason.
The Tigers (42-13 overall) finish the regular season at 19-11 and in a third-place tie with Vanderbilt (39-16, 19-11 SEC) in the SEC. LSU received the No. 3 seed, a double bye along with the other three top four finishers, and another day off for the SEC Tournament that starts Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama, by winning a tiebreaker. The Tigers’ 10-8 record against common SEC opponents beat Vanderbilt’s 9-9 mark.
SEC TOURNAMENT BRACKET EXPLAINED
So, LSU will not play until the Friday night late game at approximately 6:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. The Tigers will play No. 6 seed Auburn (38-17, 17-13) or either No. 11 seed Mississippi State (34-20, 15-15) or No. 14 seed Texas A&M (28-25, 11-19). Mississippi State and Texas A&M play at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Auburn and the State-A&M winner play at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“Everybody will be happy,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said of his team’s five days off from games. “The coaches are happy. The players are happy. The players’ girlfriends are happy. And the other thing is the coach is happy because it allows us to get some good work in this week.”
By virtue of Saturday’s win, LSU moved up from No. 9 in the critical NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) to No. 8, which on paper will give it a top eight national seed. That guarantees home field advantage through the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds next month that lead to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. LSU may have to win a game in Hoover, though, just to feel safer.
All SEC Tournament games will be on the SEC Network except for the championship game on ESPN2 (2 p.m., Sunday).
LSU’s bracket is paired with that of No. 2 seed Arkansas (43-12, 20-10), which opens play on Friday at 3 p.m. against an undetermined opponent.
This is the first season of a 16-team bracket and single elimination throughout the entire SEC Tournament. No. 16 seed Missouri (16-38, 3-27) starts the tournament bright and early on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. against No. 9 seed Alabama (40-15, 16-14) in the first of four games. No. 15 seed South Carolina (28-28, 6-24) plays No. 10 seed Florida (37-19, 15-15) at 4:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt plays at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against an opponent to be determined.
Texas (42-11, 22-8) won the SEC regular season title in its first season in the league as did the Longhorns’ football team. So, how tough is the SEC? Texas opens play Thursday at 3 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. The first games of the top four seeds are split over Thursday and Friday.
LSU beat South Carolina (28-28, 6-24 SEC), 8-1, on Friday.
Tigers’ starter Anthony Eyanson, aka Greg Maddux, struggled early Saturday as he fell behind 1-0 in the second inning on an RBI double by KJ Scobey after a single and a walk. But he held the Gamecocks to just five hits and three walks in all and one more run in seven innings for the win to improve to 9-2. He struck out five.
LSU tied it 1-1 in the fourth on a solo home run by Jared Jones for his 19th of the season after he hit two on Friday. Beau Hollis hit a solo homer off Eyanson in the bottom of the fourth to put South Carolina back in the lead at 2-1.
The Tigers took the lead for good with the three runs in the fifth for a 4-2 advantage on a two-run home run by Daniel Dickinson with another run scoring when Jones hit into a double play.
Jake Brown hit a solo home run in the seventh to push the Tigers’ lead out to 5-2, and a Derek Curiel RBI single made it 6-2. Brown finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Curiel also finished 3-for-5 with a run scored.
Henry Kaczmar’s solo home run off LSU reliever Cooper Williams cut the Tigers’ lead to 6-3 in the eighth. Steven Milam’s RBI single in the ninth gave LSU a 7-3 lead.
Dylan Eskew (0-4) took the loss for South Carolina after allowing six hits and four runs in four and two-thirds innings.
LSU outscored South Carolina, 3-1, over the final three innings by scoring once in each frame.
“We actually had a meeting at the beginning of the seventh inning,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘From this point forward, we’re going to dominate the seventh, eighth and ninth inning on offense and defense.'”
And take about a week off.
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