After two consecutive SEC series at home, LSU will spend the next two weekends on the road, starting with a trip to Knoxville to take on a desperate Tennessee team, which is 3-6 in the SEC.
The Volunteers were swept by in-state foe Vanderbilt last weekend, with the Commodores winning all three games in walk-off fashion.
LSU has a renewed confidence, having rallied from large deficits this week to beat Kentucky and Southern.
The Tigers are on a three-game winning streak, but opponents struggle to beat Tennessee at home.
The Vols are 16-4 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this season, which has doubled its capacity to more than 8,000. Tennessee has a .838 winning percentage at Lindsey Nelson Stadium since 2020.
LSU has not won in Knoxville since 2016. They’ve lost eight straight at Tennessee, including five games in 2021 when Tennessee ended Paul Mainieri’s career at LSU and advanced to the College World Series.
These two programs are familiar with each other. They’ve played 18 times since 2021, and six of those games have occurred in the postseason. Tennessee is 12-6 versus LSU since 2021, but the Tigers have two wins over the Vols in Omaha in 2023.
Scouting Report on Tennessee
Tennessee started SEC play by losing a series at Georgia. The Volunteers followed that with a series victory over Missouri and then were swept last weekend by Vanderbilt.
Tennessee third baseman Henry Ford is the Vols' best position player. The junior transfer from Virginia is on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List. He’s hitting .328, with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs.
As a team, Tennessee is a below-average offensive team. They’ve scored 195 runs this season. Compare that with LSU, which has scored 263 times.
The Volunteers have hit 44 home runs, one less than LSU.
They don’t steal much. Just 24 on the season. The Vols also don’t walk a lot, just 4.5 times a game.
Can LSU’s pitchers throw strikes? LSU’s pitching staff has issued 141 walks, the third most in the SEC.
Detillier: Casan Evans was the 'fireman' LSU desperately needed to save its season USAT Images
Scheduled Starting Pitchers
Game 1: 4:30 PM CT- LSU – So. RH Casan Evans 2-1, 5.00 ERA
- Tenn – So. RH Landon Mack 3-2, 3.89 ERA
- LSU – So. RH William Schmidt 4-1, 2.55 ERA
- Tenn – So. RH Tegan Kuhns 1-3 4.08 ERA
- LSU – Jr. RH Gavin Guidry 3-3 6.64 ERA
- UT – Sr. LH Evan Blanco 2-2, 4.00 ERA
Mack is a transfer from Rutgers, where he was a Big 10 all-freshman selection. After Mack entered the transfer portal, he chose Tennessee over LSU.
Kuhns is back in the weekend rotation after pitching out of the bullpen last weekend. Kuhns struck out six in 4.1 innings and allowed just one run against Vanderbilt.
It is interesting that LSU’s Jay Johnson has named Gavin Guidry the starter in Game 3. Guidry has been hit around in his two starts this year.
Tennessee also has an excellent arm out of the bullpen. Freshman Cam Appenzeller has allowed just four earned runs in 26.1 innings, and he’s struck out 29.
Weather
The weather could be an issue. Friday looks good. Rain moves in Saturday night and is expected to continue into Sunday.
