LSU baseball has drawn a team with a 19-40 record at the Baton Rouge regional. The only problem, it's Tulane and they've got something going for them right now after a forgettable season.
They're peaking at the right time, and anything can happen in that one game when LSU and Tulane face off on Friday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, explains college baseball analyst and former LSU star Todd Walker.
“It’s not the best team, it’s who’s playing the best, especially in baseball, at the end. You play so many games, can’t really go off of record," Walker told WWL's Bobby Hebert and Steve Geller on SportsTalk this week.
Listen to the full conversation with Todd Walker in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"Now that’s a bad record, [19-40] that’s pretty rough," Walker continues. "But it is baseball, so if LSU takes them lightly and they go out there and they strike out a few times, like taking big hacks with two strikes when they should be fighting for it, a few line drives at people, and Tulane throws their ace on opening night and happens to have the game of his life, then Tulane is going to be in that game. You can throw the record and all the stats out the window at this point.”
All that said, Walker doesn't foresee a massive challenge at the Baton Rouge regional. The combination of Tulane, Oregon State and Sam Houston simply doesn't possess the type of pitching to slow down LSU's potent offense the way it was in the SEC Tournament. Walker expects LSU to start Thatcher Hurd on Friday against Tulane, with ace Paul Skenes taking the mound Saturday against the winner of Oregon State and Sam Houston.
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“Make no mistake," Walker says, "this entire tournament is going to revolve around pitching."
At this point Walker is also willing to look past the regional to the supers, where he sees some real stress coming for the Tigers. The Lexington regional is filled with quality pitching, particularly Kentucky.
“Whoever comes out of that regional … will come down to Baton Rouge with some heat,” he said.
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