By Hunt Palmer
This weekend’s series features two teams hovering around the bottom of the SEC’s standings.
It also features the last three national titles.
Both LSU and Tennessee are looking to surge forward after a slow start to league play. LSU dropped its first two series before grabbing a rubber match win over Kentucky last week. Tennessee suffered heartbreak in Athens when Georgia robbed a go-ahead home run to win the series in Athens. That was multiplied last week when Vanderbilt walked the Vols off not once, not twice but all three games.
These two programs met in a 2022 Super Regional that ended Paul Mainieri’s career and in Omaha in 2023. LSU toppled the Power T twice that time. Things will feel different without Tony Vitello in the home dugout at the newly renovated Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Still, this series carries some weight. The winner will feel some momentum headed for the midway point of league play. The loser will not have math on its side hitting the road in Mississippi next week. LSU is headed to Oxford. Tennessee will play in Starkville.
ROTATION REVIEW
Both of these rotations are in flux.
Tennessee will go with its third game one starter in four conference weeks with Landon Mack taking the ball. LSU wanted Mack in the portal last summer. The Rutgers transfer has a live arm but bad SEC numbers after three weeks. League foes have hit .371 off Mack in 14.1 innings. That’s meant 23 hits and four homers.
Then there’s Casan Evans who has had some issues, but they don’t look like that. In 36 innings this year, he’s struck out 53 and allowed a batting average of just .194. He’s allowed one homer. Still, his ERA is 5.00 because he’s walked 19, hit four and thrown six wild pitches.
Saturday will feature two of the most talented sophomore arms in America.
Tegan Kuhns and William Schmidt look like SEC aces, but they haven’t quite unlocked that yet.
Kuhns got his shot to begin the year, but he lost his rotation spot altogether last week when he came out of the bullpen at Vanderbilt. Now he’s working in game two. He’s slim and wiry with a fastball in the mid 90s. The slider is vicious, and the changeup fades nicely away from lefties. In 12 SEC innings, he’s struck out 17 and walked two.
Ace stuff, right? Sure, but his opponent batting average is .327. Mizzou tagged him for six hits, including a homer and two doubles in three innings.
Schmidt has been better than that. He has allowed a team-high four homers which can be a problem at Lindsey Nelson. His SEC ERA is only 2.70, and three of the four runs he’s allowed have come via the long ball. He’s struck out 16 and walked seven. Don’t be surprised if one of these two finds a groove on Saturday and starts mowing the opponent down.
Sunday features a matchup between Evan Blanco and Gavin Guidry. Blanco was Virginia’s Friday night starter a year ago. Guidry is filling in for Cooper Moore. Last week went poorly. Guidry gave up six earned runs in 1.1 innings against Kentucky. His start in Lafayette was not great, either. The right hander has walked eight in his last 4.2 innings after that number was four in his first 15.2.
Blanco was blasted last week in Nashville. He’s a shorter left-handed arm with an average fastball and a big, sweeping slider. He gave up eight hits and nine runs to Vanderbilt last week. The Commodores homered twice in the first with some help from a generous jet stream.
These programs have prided themselves on elite pitching over the years. Paul Skenes, Chase Dollander, Kade Anderson, Chase Burns, Anthony Eyanson, Liam Doyle, Gage Jump and Drew Beam are not walking through that door this weekend. There’s some arm talent, but it hasn’t lived up to the billing yet.
BIG NAME BATS
Tennessee’s potential stars haven’t hit. Henry Ford is probably the Vols’ most talented bat. He’s 9-for-40 (.225) in league play. Same story for Rice transfer Blaine Brown who was among the hottest portal names of the cycle. He’s hitting .211 against SEC arms.
Overall, their stats are good. Ford is hitting .328 with 10 homers, and Brown has eight long balls and an OPS of almost .900. But it’s been a poor three weeks.
Tennessee is 14th in the SEC in runs scored and batting average. The Vols are 15th in walks drawn and stolen bases. Their calling card has been the homer over the years, and they’re ninth there. It just hasn’t been a good offensive go thus far.
MOUNTAIN MONSTER
Is Steven Milam on a heater? He’s 8-for-20 (.400) over the last five games with two homers and two doubles. We know how hot he can get. Jake Brown has cooled from a sizzling start, so his teammates are going to have to step up a bit. Milam is a prime candidate.
He shouldered the offense in June of last year but was hitting .237 after the Oklahoma series. Time for Monster to show up.
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