By Hunt Palmer
LSU learns its SEC Tournament-opening opponent on Thursday.
The Tigers will take on the Texas A&M-Auburn winner on Friday night sometime around 6:00. Prior to Friday’s first pitch, we’ll have a resume’ review posted to update the happenings around the country. This is more about what LSU has to accomplish while on the field in Hoover.
To this point, the Tigers have been about as consistent a winning baseball team as there has been in college baseball this year, especially at the sport’s highest level.
Only Texas won more weekends than LSU in the SEC.
This weekend in Hoover might come down to winning a game. It might not. That’s for the committee to decide. Beyond that, here are three things I’d like to see (Blackjack style) from LSU during their 1-to-3 game stay at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
ACES SHOWING
I think Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson need mound time this week but not too much. I would try to get both guys out there. Anderson will be on full rest on Friday. He should start. I would hold him to 70 pitches or so. Work up a sweat, but don’t overdo it.
I would follow with Eyanson in the same game, but I have a hard time believing Jay Johnson will deviate from the plan he’s used all year. That likely means he’ll need the bullpen and the bats to step up to get Eyanson to the mound on Saturday.
I just don’t think it’s optimal to have one of your aces go from May 17 to May 31 without throwing a competitive pitch. I’d argue that’s as much out of routine as Eyanson coming out of the bullpen for 40 or 50 pitches on a day short rest Friday night.
It’s impossible to assure every key arm on the staff some mound time Friday without chopping it up inning by inning Friday in your only guaranteed game. And it’s impossible to guarantee a game Saturday. I would prioritize Anderson and Eyanson on Friday night.
TAKE A HIT
I wrote this in Around the Horn on Sunday, but I still believe there to be some merit in it. Derek Curiel and Steven Milam were fighting their swings over the last three weeks. Both guys saw the ball great on Saturday. They had five hits between them.
Curiel’s spot is so crucial because he hits in front of Jared Jones, and Milam is one of the key bats in the bottom of the lineup that has the ability to keep things moving.
Confidence is a hell of a thing, and those two carrying some from Hoover back to Baton Rouge would be ideal for LSU. Remember, Milam was 10-for-21 in the SEC Tournament last year with a pair of homers. He homered twice including the walk off of the regional opener against Wofford a week later and finished the Chapel Hill Regional with seven hits.
If he gets going, LSU is a much better team.
The Tigers were 35-8 during Curiel’s 43-game on base streak. They’re 7-6 since, and he hasn’t been as good over that time.
SPLIT ‘EM
Honestly, I think the best-case scenario for LSU in Hoover is a win and a loss. Split the two games. Let Anderson, Eyanson, Casan Evans, Zac Cowan, Jaden Noot and Chase Shores handle the 18 innings without anyone taking on a huge workload.
Grab the bus back to Baton Rouge and settle in for two weeks of baseball in front of 11,000-plus en route to Omaha.
LSU’s regular season resume should be strong enough to merit one of the top eight seeds. A win in Hoover should put that on ice.
In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and LSU proved play in Hoover isn’t a relaible indicator of success in the coming weeks. Those teams went 1-5 with a pair of run-rule loss and combined to win three national titles.
You’d like to play some good baseball in Hoover, but it’s not a requirement.
LSU gets its shot Friday night.
