LSU baseball is firing on cylinders at exactly the right time, but will that be enough when the Southeastern Conference meets in Hoover, Alabama this week to crown a champion?
Bouncing back from a series sweep at the hands of Ole Miss, the Tigers have won four straight including a sweep of their own against perennial SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt, outscoring the Commodores 42-15 in the three-game set. The series was capped off by an epic rally from an 8-4 deficit in Game 3 as the Tigers rolled up 17 runs in innings 7-8-9 to end the season on a positive note and the enter the SEC Tournament as the 4-seed.
The Tigers finished the regular season at third in the SEC West with a record of 38-16 overall (17-13 SEC), but that was clearly the stronger half of the conference from top-to-bottom. Tennessee finished the regular season with a stunning 25-5 record in SEC play (49-7 overall), but no other team in the SEC East finished the regular season with an above .500 record in-conference.
The top-four seed means the Tigers get an extra day of rest when the tournament begins in Hoover, Alabama on Tuesday.
Here's what to know heading into tournament play:
- WHERE: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Hoover, Alabama
- WHEN: Tuesday May 24-Sunday May 29
- FORMAT: Single elimination on Day 1; then double elimination
The Tigers have historically fared well in the conference tourney when landing a top four seed, including titles in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2017. LSU also enters with several players standing out in the conference in multiple statistics, some of which are listed below:
- Jacob Berry, 3B/OF: .381 batting average (3rd in SEC)
- Dylan Crews, OF: .345 batting average (15th in SEC); 21 home runs (T1st in SEC) 76 total hits (3rd in SEC); 63 runs scored (1st in SEC); 67 RBIs (2nd in SEC); 155 total bases (2nd in SEC)
- Cade Doughty: 19 doubles (1st in SEC)
Related
THE GAMES
May 24
- Game 1: 6. Georgia vs 11. Alabama (9:30 a.m./SECN)
- Game 2: 7. Florida vs 10. South Carolina (TBD/SECN)
- Game 3: 8. Vanderbilt vs 9. Ole Miss (4:30 p.m./SECN)
- Game 4: 5. Auburn vs 12 Kentucky (TBD/SECN)
May 25
- Game 5: 3. Arkansas vs UGA/ALA winner (9:30 a.m./SECN)
- Game 6: 2. Texas A&M vs FLA/SC winner (TBD/SECN)
- Game 7: 1. Tennessee vs VANDY/OLE MISS winner (TBD/SECN)
- Game 8: 4. LSU vs AUB/UK winner (TBD/SECN)
MAY 26
- Game 9: Game 5 loser vs Game 6 loser (9:30 a.m./SECN)
- Game 10: Game 7 loser vs Game 8 loser (TBD/SECN)
- Game 11: Game 5 winner vs Game 6 winner (4:30 p.m./SECN)
- Game 12: Game 7 winner vs Game 8 winner (TBD/SECN)
MAY 27
- Game 13: Game 9 winner vs Game 11 loser (3 p.m./SECN)
- Game 14: Game 10 winner vs Game 12 loser (TBD/SECN)
MAY 28
- Game 15: Game 13 winner vs Game 11 winner (noon/SECN)
- Game 16: Game 14 winner vs Game 12 winner (TBD/SECN)
MAY 29
- Game 17: Game 15 winner vs Game 16 winner (ESPN2)