Here comes the gauntlet for LSU baseball. It begins Thursday as No. 1 Vanderbilt invades Baton Rouge at Alex Box stadium. The Tigers are 1-5 in SEC play, the Commodores are 5-1. This is a make or brake series for LSU. If the Tigers get swept by Vandy, the Bayou Bengals would assuredly be out of contention to make some noise in the conference and in the NCAA baseball tournament.
Welcome to college baseball in the SEC. The best baseball and football conference in the country! Period. Nobody is going to feel sorry for LSU. The Tigers have their work cut out for them. Here’s a look at Vanderbilt.
Pitching: The Commodores feature the top two pitchers in the country in their Friday and Saturday night starters. Junior right hander Jack Leiter and fellow righty Kumar Rocker aren't just good, they are dominant and could go No. 1 and No. 2 this summer in the MLB draft. Leiter tossed 16 straight innings of no hit baseball in conference play. Rocker has devastating stuff on the mound. That's not a good recipe for a Tigers offense that’s scuffling at the plate right now. If LSU is going to have any success, they have to jump on the fast ball early in the count against both Leiter and Rocker. Good luck and God bless the LSU Tigers hitting lineup. Vanderbilt has the best team ERA at 2.19
Hitting: Vandy is not just a fine pitching team, the Commodores are 9th in the country in team batting average. Vanderbilt can hurt you with the long ball; this team melted 33 home runs this season. This lineup might be the most balance in the country. They also score a ton of runs (178 total), good for 13th best run output. Again, you will be challenged to find a more balanced offensive club...something LSU hasn't captured this season.
Defense: Both LSU and Vanderbilt field the ball pretty well, so I would expect a clean series. The Commodores, however, are slightly better defensively behind the plate at catcher.
Confidence: Clearly this an advantage for Vanderbilt as the top team in the country with a 5 and 1 record in the SEC. The Tigers aren't that far off from us having an entirely different discussion LSU. The Tigers lost three 1 run games and two SEC games by a combine 3. If they flip that, LSU would be 4 and 2 in the SEC. If somehow LSU can win game one of the series against Vandy, it would go a long way in boosting their confidence. The young Tigers might not even care that Vanderbilt is the best team in America. They might recognize the magnitude of their opponent, but may not care. No one expects LSU to beat Vanderbilt, so why not take the approach that the Tigers are playing with house money?
Vanderbilt might be the laughing stock of the SEC in football, but the Commodores baseball program is simply the best and has been for a while.
They've been to the College World Series seven of the last ten seasons. In that span Vandy won two national titles.
Lagniappe: Junior Cade Beloso has to step up as the designated hitter for LSU. If he returns to his freshman form at the plate, it will make a world of difference for the Tigers on offense. Beloso is the only every day player with experience. He's battled through adversity; he knows what it takes to win in the SEC. Cade Beloso is the leader his young teammates look up to. Beloso has to come through. He has to lead.
