LSU and Arkansas Series Preview
LSU and Arkansas never fails to be a huge series and this weekend will be no different. Both are in the hunt for a top 4 seed in Hoover which would earn them a double-bye in the SEC tournament, as well as in the hunt for a top 8 national seed for the NCAA Tournament. LSU currently sits at 38-11 overall (15-9 in the SEC) while Arkansas is 40-9 overall (17-7 in the SEC).
If you enjoy pitching Game 1 will be must-see TV. LSU ace Kade Anderson is currently 6-1 with a 3.57 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. Arkansas ace Zach Root is 6-3 with a 3.95 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 66 innings. Root is coming off the best outing of his career where he threw 8 shutout innings over #1 Texas with a career-high 11 strikeouts, while only allowing two hits and walking only two batters. LSU will have the pitching advantage in Game 2 as Arkansas’s starter Gage Wood, while he is a great arm, is still building back up from an injury. He only threw 4 innings (57 pitches) last week against Texas, giving up 1 run on 2 hits with 9 strikeouts. Anthony Eyanson for LSU is coming off his best start of the year throwing a complete game at A&M, giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 14 strikeouts. Both teams are TBD on their Sunday starters heading into the weekend. Casan Evans is likely to get the start in Game 3 if he is not used in the first two games, like he has the past two weekends. Landon Beidelschies got the start in Game 3 last weekend for Arkansas, throwing 4 innings and giving up 4 runs on 4 hits.
The Arkansas line up is just as good if not better than their pitching staff. They lead the SEC with an overall team batting average of .316 and SEC-play team batting average of .307. Leading the way is Wehiwa Aloy who is hitting .376 with 17 homers and 52 RBIs. The only two other hitters that have played in all 49 games for the Hogs are both hitting over .300, as Charles Davalan is hitting .351 with 13 homers and Brent Iredale is hitting .305 and 12 homers. This lineup will be a big test for the LSU pitching staff. The Tigers will have to continue to build on last weekend's bullpen progress with guys like Chase Shores, Jaden Noot, and Mavrick Rizy.
But more importantly the LSU lineup needs to help the pitching staff out. They ranked 2nd in the SEC right behind Arkansas in overall team batting average at .306, but they rank 7th in SEC-play team average at .267. Their struggles to produce runs cost them in College Station last weekend and they can’t afford to put that much pressure on the pitching staff again this weekend against a good Arkansas lineup. Jay Johnson moved the lineup around a bit the second two games at A&M so we’ll see what he ends up rolling with against Arkansas. Regardless of the order, the Tigers need to use the home-field advantage to put pressure on Arkansas. Get runners on base, execute with runners in scoring position, and keep the Alex Box crowd alive. Whether they get hot hitting the ball in gaps or homers or they just execute small ball to manufacture runs, they just need to find a way. We think this is the weekend they could find that rhythm again offensively in a big series in front of their home crowd, and they will need it.
The weather will likely play a factor again this weekend because it just seems like it follows LSU this season, so don’t be surprised by any time changes or delays for the games this weekend.
