By Chris Marler
No. 6 LSU vs West Virginia
There was a time during the regular season that some thought West Virginia was going to be a lock for a top 16 seed nationally. The Mountaineers won 40 games and the Big 12 regular season title. They’ve also won an average of 41 wins per season over the last three seasons.
Perhaps their best quality is the opposite of LSU’s best quality – star power and talent. West Virginia doesn’t have nine top 150 prospects like LSU does. They don’t have a trophy case full of national titles either. In fact, they’ve never made it to the College World Series despite their run of recent success as a program. They do however, do one thing very similarly to LSU, and that’s win.
West Virginia finished the season with 108 stolen bases and a 4.35 ERA, both of which ranked in the top three of the Big 12.
There’s a lot to like about this West Virginia team and storyline. But, the Cinderella story ends Sunday in Baton Rouge. There is no team better suited to win a Super Regional this season than the LSU Tigers. That’s not just because of how supremely talented their roster is, or that they’re playing at home in the best environment in college baseball. It’s because of their 1-2 punch of Anthony Eyanson and Kade Anderson on the Mound.
Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson have become one of the most formidable rotation duos in the country, capping off the regular season with 14 K’s and 3 runs combined.https://t.co/ie2fJGlE9P pic.twitter.com/SeTXH9lYm4
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) May 19, 2025
Anderson has been a lock to be a top half of the first round picks in this year’s MLB Draft for a while. However, Eyanson may be the actual ace of this staff with how he’s performed this season. Eyanson has allowed more than two runs just once in his last 11 outings. He’s also allowed one run or less in eight of those 11 appearances including zero runs in four of his last five.
Offensively the Tigers can mash, and despite their sporadic struggles, a hero has emerged to keep them in the win column and their season going whenever they’ve needed it most. West Virginia is a good team, but there’s a good reason why LSU has the highest odds of any team in the country to advance to Omaha this weekend at -430.
Ethan Frey’s last 4 SEC starts:#lsubaseball
🤯8-14, 571 BA, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI pic.twitter.com/yFYm8xYoT3
— Inside LSU Baseball (@Insidelsubsbl) May 11, 2025
No. 13 Coastal Carolina at No. 4 Auburn
There may not be two more overlooked teams in the country than Coastal and Auburn. That sounds odd considering they’re both national seeds, and some thought both should have been top eight national seeds.
Don’t let the overzealous teal decor fool you. Coastal Carolina is one of the best teams in the country. The Chanticleers haven’t lost since April 22nd and have won 21 straight games. They cruised through their Regional, outscoring their opponents by 20 combined runs in three games.
How good is Coastal Carolina headed into supers?
-51-11 (Only team in the country with 50 wins)
– RPI 5
– 21 game win streak
– SBC champs & SBCT champs
– Swept Conway Regional
– 3.22 ERA (2nd in the nation)
– 1.18 WHIP (2nd in the nation)Elite team.
pic.twitter.com/7mzRbLkgF5— Garrett Armbrust (@4thandsaturday) June 4, 2025
Auburn has managed to fly under the radar for seemingly most of the SEC season as well. It’s nothing that was their own fault or doing. However, teams like Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and LSU stole the headlines and attention for most of the season. Regardless, the Tigers have been exceptional all season. The Tigers won seven of their ten SEC series on the year including a sweep over LSU and non-con wins against Oregon State and Georgia Tech.
The biggest concern for Auburn this season has been playing away from home. The Tigers were just 7-11 in road games this season, and all three of their series losses came away from Plainsman Park. At home they’ve been a juggernaut, finishing the season 28-6 at Auburn.
This should be a phenomenal series, and expect a low scoring Super Regional that should go all three games.
No. 3 Arkansas vs No. 14 Tennessee
There isn’t a Super Regional with more juice than this one in Fayetteville. These two teams do not like each other. Period. To be fair, very few teams or fan bases outside of Knoxville like Tennessee, but this rivalry runs deep.
Tennessee hasn’t won a series against Arkansas in 20 years. In fact dating back to 2006, the Hogs are 27-7 against Tennessee in baseball, and five of those seven wins for the Vols have come by just one run. To say the series has been one sided is putting it mildly.
Tennessee to the house.
Ark is the hardest place to play on the road.
We called it fayettenam🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/XsamB1OfM6
— Tanner Allen (@Tanner_Allen10) June 4, 2025
Tennessee’s strength comes in the form of their offense and ace Liam Doyle. Doyle has been tremendous this season finishing with a 10-3 record and 2.84 ERA. He’s one of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award for best player in America too. The Hogs didn’t struggle with him at all though. Arkansas handed Doyle a season high eight runs, including six earned, in their May 16th meeting. The Hogs offense hasn’t seemed to struggle with Vols pitching at all in their recent meetings, scoring five or more runs in nine of their past ten games.
This should be a great series that goes all three games. Don’t be surprised if the Vols start 1-0 either behind the left arm of Doyle. However, the Vols are just 9-6 on the road this year and lost five of their last six SEC series this season. The Hogs on the other hand are 35-4 at home this season including a series sweep in early May against then No. 1 Texas.
