LSU rolls, SEC stumbles on Opening Weekend

By Chris Marler

College Baseball back in a big way 

In the last five years the growth and following of college baseball has exploded. That’s nothing new to SEC fans, but watching the growth and excitement spread around the country has been incredible. It continues to demand media coverage and viewership continues to skyrocket. 

There were opening day attendance records set across the country. Mississippi State and Tennessee were in that number as the Bulldogs hosted 12,824 fans at Dudy Noble Field and Tennessee saw 6,977 people come through their gates. 

Perhaps nothing was more impressive than what Arkansas fans were a part of at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Hogs and TCU played in a top ten showdown in front of an incredible crowd of 22,384. 

HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN ARLINGTON TONIGHT🎉

A NEW single-day attendance record for college baseball at Globe Life Field has been set. Thank you to all 2️⃣2️⃣3️⃣8️⃣4️⃣ fans for showing up and showing out for their favorite teams! pic.twitter.com/puq0g5OKNg

— Globe Life Field (@GlobeLifeField) February 15, 2026

Defending champs start 3-0 

It was a bit of a slow start on day one for the defending national champion LSU Tigers. It was a gorgeous day for baseball on Friday, but it took a while for the bats to match the hot temperatures in Baton Rouge. LSU trailed Milwaukee 5-2 in the sixth inning, but ended up run-ruling the Panthers, 15-5. 

The Tigers swept Milwaukee, scoring 41 runs on the weekend. There were some struggles on the mound from opening day pitcher Casan Evans, but Kansas transfer Cooper Moore was fantastic in game two and sophomore phenom William Schmidt pitched well on Sunday in his season debut. LSU’s lineup looks as lethal as ever with enough pop to go deep in any part of the order and enough depth to rotate guys in and out of the lineup without missing a beat. 

Cooper Moore with 11 K’s so far in his LSU debut pic.twitter.com/tfD4eE6gu7

— College Baseball Insiders (@Theinsiders) February 14, 2026

For a team that got off to a puzzlingly slow start two years ago and was inconsistent at times early on last year, it was a great sign. 

Colin Barczi is awesome 

Who won the weekend? Colin Barczi of Vanderbilt. It’s hard to hit the ground running sometimes at the start of the season. That was not the case for Colin Barczi who had arguably the best weekend of any player in the SEC. On opening day, he hit three home runs with all three traveling over 420 feet with exit velocity over 111 mph. 

Colin Barczi had 3 upper deck tanks all over 420+ feet 🔥🔥

Decent start to the season pic.twitter.com/3tu3RB8agZ

— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) February 14, 2026

Not the best opening weekend for the SEC as a whole

Last year roughly 75 percent of the league got through the opening weekend unscathed. This year seven teams exited the first weekend with at least one loss. While some teams did play some challenging opponents, there were a lot of head scratching losses from teams around the league. 

Alabama lost their opening day game against Washington State who was picked to finish eighth in their conference. Georgia lost to Wright State and South Carolina lost to Northern Kentucky. 

Paul Mainieri said what? 

The aforementioned South Carolina loss to Northern Kentucky could’ve easily been brushed aside. It was a 3-2 loss where South Carolina simply struggled at the plate going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The issue wasn’t the bats going cold though. It was what Paul Mainieri said the reason was for them going cold. 

“I thought we would come out and explode today. I knew the guys were tired from yesterday. It was a long day, 18 innings. We had a lot to guys whose legs were cramping, and we decided to not take batting practice on the field and just do it exclusively in the batting cages a little bit, to let their bodies heal a little bit,” Mainieri said. “Obviously, I didn’t have them ready to play today. They just needed to be a little more disciplined and ready to go. I just felt like they played like they were very tired from yesterday. No matter what you try to do to inspire them, it just doesn’t work.”

Bodies needed to heal? Legs were cramping up? Couldn’t inspire your team to play? 

It’s day two of the season, coach. I don’t know if that’s an indictment on the team or the coach or both, but it’s pathetic whichever way you choose to look at it. 

Best thing you’ll see all day

Just watch. 

It’s Heroes Weekend at Clemson, and we are super proud of our guys for greeting veterans at today’s game between innings! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dRcAymQUZV

— Army Baseball (@ArmyWP_Baseball) February 13, 2026