By Hunt Palmer
LSU managed to make it interesting last weekend.
The sweep of South Carolina created a postseason path, but it’s a rough one that starts with a visit to Athens beginning on Friday. Georgia is 38-11 and leads the SEC at 18-6. The Bulldogs have only dropped one SEC series on the year. It’s LSU’s task to invade Foley Field and double that total.
The Tigers have won five straight games for the first time since the first week of the season and are playing loose and confidently.
However, the training room is busy.
INJURY UPDATES
Casan Evans is officially listed as “Questionable” on the SEC’s availability report. That’s an improvement from the last couple of weeks when he has not been on the roster. He threw multiple times this week including a bullpen on Wednesday. He’s not listed as a starter. Anything he gives the team this weekend will be helpful, but it’s still very possible that’s zero.
Omar Serna is not listed on the availability report which would suggest his back is healthy enough to play. Serna is among LSU’s bets hitters at this point. Facing a Georgia offense that has excelled across the board, LSU needs him in the lineup. It’s hard to imagine him playing catcher. Hopefully three games behind the dish doesn’t sap too much out of Cade Arrambide who has been on a tear.
Chris Stanfield is also questionable. He’s dealing with a hamstring injury that really limits his ability to affect the game with his legs. Add in this hand injury that has plagued him since the second day of the season, and Stanfield is not really able to help at the plate, either. Expect a lot of Tanner Reaves and Eddie Yamin in left field.
Zach Yorke is also an injury to keep an eye on. He injured hit foot a couple of weeks ago. Yorke hasn’t helped much this year, but he draws a lot of walks and is very capable of running the ball out of the comically small dimensions at Foley Field. Georgia’s staff leans heavily on right handers, so it would be nice to have Yorke as an option.
RED ROTATION
Georgia features a pair of right-handed starters to eat innings for Wes Johnson’s staff.
It starts with lanky fireballer Joey Volchko, the Stanford transfer. He’s got huge stuff with a 97 mph fastball, a cutter at 95, an 88 mph slider and a 79 mph curveball. He’s got a big leg kick and will be a high draft choice.
Texas A&M, Arkansas and Ole Miss have had success against Volchko. A&M chased him in the second, and in total he’s allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 9 hits and 13 walks in 12.1 innings versus those three. Obviously, the command can get away from him. But the strikeouts can come in bunches. He’s got 52 in 41 SEC innings.
Georgia’s second starter is Dylan Vigue. He’s a heavy sinker, slider arm that tops out at 95 with a lot of run. His slider sweeps hard, too. Vigue’s SEC ERA is just 2.63, and he’s only allowed one homer in 27.1 league innings. The Bulldogs have won every start he’s made since an outing against Wright State in week one. Of note, he did come out of his Arkansas start three weeks ago after two innings. He missed a week and then only threw three innings in his return last week against Missouri. We’ll see how long he can go on Saturday.
These two are big talents, and LSU will need to try to get them out of the game as quickly as possible.
LOADED LINEUP
Georgia hits a ton.
The Bulldogs currently lead the SEC in batting average, home runs (by more than 30), slugging percentage, on base percentage and OPS. They’re also third in steals in league games.
Ryan Lujo is hitting .393 with five homers against SEC pitching. Daniel Jackson is hitting .350 with seven longballs in 21 league games. Five starters are hitting over .300 in SEC play. For the season, six Bulldogs have at least 13 homers.
Florida did hold this team without a home run for an entire weekend in Athens. That’s an insanely talented Gators pitching staff. LSU needs to pitch unafraid of the home run ball. The issue comes when you allow Georgia free bases that they turn into crooked number homers. Solo shots 450 feet still only count for one, and LSU should hit its fair share, too. The Bulldogs are second in the SEC in hit by pitches. Stay away from those.
PLAY ONE AT A TIME
Because LSU took care of its business offensively on Tuesday, the pitching staff is set up as well as possible. Expect Jay Johnson to manage one game at a time this weekend. If LSU has a lead at any point, Deven Sheerin and Zac Cowan have to be ready. No point in holding Cowan for Sunday if you lose the first two games.
On the flip side, you can’t burn Sheerin or Cowan on Friday if Georgia takes an early lead. That could lead to things getting out of hand if William Schmidt has to come out, but it’s about winning two games. How badly you lose the other game doesn’t matter. Without Evans and Cooper Moore to eat some innings, the top relievers have to be held for a lead on Friday or Saturday. That means LSU desperately needs to play from ahead. It’s hard to play from behind without your best pitching options in the game.
First pitch Friday is a little bit earlier than Tiger fans are used to. Game one begins at 5:00 p.m. central time. Sunday’s game two is set for 6:00 p.m. central. Sunday’s finale will begin at 2:00 p.m. central.
More LSU Stories
