Eight new teams descended on Omaha this June. The road map to winning didn’t.
That’s 23 programs in three years, North Carolina being the only repeat appearance. While the teams rotate and the weather changes, you’ve got to pitch.
Through four games in two days, aces have been the story. West Virginia and Troy slugged a little bit. Those are the two least talented teams in the field. By the time the heavyweights with the big budgets got involved, the arms took over.
Jason DeCaro from North Carolina worked 6.2 innings of two-run baseball marred by a pop up lost in the sun early on. He was matched pitch for pitch by rapid draft riser Taylor Rabe from Ole Miss who allowed just an earned run in 5.1 innings. Tar Heel freshman phenom Caden Glauber dominated the last 2.1 innings to slam the door. 6-2 Tar Heels.
Saturday, Cord Rager pitched the game of his life for Oklahoma. He went seven shutout with no walk and eight punchouts. LJ Mercurius did the rest as the Sooners blanked Alabama.
In the second stanza of the SEC doubleheader, Joey Volchko suffocated the strike zone and Texas for his best outing of the year. He struck out 15 and walked one in a complete game victory.
In the last three games, the winning teams allowed a total of three runs.
Forty of the last 44 champs have won game one, so we know who the odds favor. It’s the teams whose aces delivered.
As LSU piles up the transfer portal bats, the outlook of the 2027 Tigers still falls with the development of the arms that will return from 2026. Yes, Landon Hood from Gonzaga will be a big help. Sure, the freshman class features talented hurlers, and the MLB Draft will allow a few to slip through the cracks. Still, LSU’s portal focus to this point has been on bats.
That shows a confidence in Casan Evans, William Schmidt, Cooper Moore, Marcos Paz and Reagan Ricken. That group pitched to a 5.35 ERA in 2026. Though Evans did silence UCLA in a long relief outing necessitated by rain last season in Omaha, only once did he pitch to that standard in 2026, the dominant effort against Oklahoma in Baton Rouge. LSU is counting on more of that next season.
Unquestionably, pitching in Charles Schwab Field has its advantages. Fly balls in the middle of the ballpark tend to throw up a parachute. Mistakes can be bashed into the Midwest breeze and result in outs. That said, dominant pitching with big strikeout numbers will always be the preferred method to win a title. Paul Skenes and Ty Floyd struck out 48 in 28.2 innings in 2023. Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson fanned 27 in 27.1 innings. Eyanson lost half a start due to rain.
Offense is crucial game in and game out through a regular season. The SEC is littered with bandbox stadiums and mediocre bullpens come late Saturday and Sunday. The additions LSU has made offensively look to be very, very strong when blended with the returning production. Still, it won’t look any stronger than Georgia’s from this season, and the Bulldogs managed two earned runs on one homer Saturday night. Pitching won the day and put them in the driver’s seat of the bracket.
If LSU is going to make it to Omaha next summer and make a run, it won’t be because of the offense. It’ll be the development of the pitching staff, specifically an ace.
That doesn’t change.
