Tigers, Sooners cap day one at SECT

By Hunt Palmer

Hoover has been good to LSU over the years.

This time, the Tigers arrive in northern Alabama with their season on the line. It’ll take five straight wins in six days for LSU to keep playing, and that starts with a late-night battle with Oklahoma under the lights of Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Oklahoma is safely in the NCAA Tournament next week. The Sooners won 14 SEC games, have an RPI of 20 and don’t have a single quadrant 3 or 4 loss. They cannot host. So, there is nothing of consequence on the line for Skip Johnson’s club this week.

PITCHING PREVIEW

LSU saved William Schmidt for this spot. The sophomore right-hander was held off the active roster against Florida so that he’d be rested to pitch Tuesday night. Schmidt faced these Sooners back in March at Alex Box Stadium. He lasted four innings and allowed a run on six hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

Oklahoma is turning to junior lefty Gavyn Jones who has been a reliever this year. He’s only made one start, and his longest outing of the year is 2.2 innings and 36 pitches.

The matchup is indicative of the mindset of the two teams entering the game. Oklahoma has nothing to play for. LSU is all in.

OU OFFENSE

Oklahoma’s offense is good. It’s not great. In SEC action, the Sooners rank 12th in runs, sixth in batting average, 10th in on base, 11th in home runs and 10th in doubles.

They are second in stolen bases, so LSU has to be aware of that. But it’s not the most potent bunch of offensive players.

Deiten Lachance hit 11 home runs in 30 SEC games. He’s a power threat. Camden Johnson hit .350 with six longball against the league. Dasan Harris hit .380 and was a perfect 11-for-11 on stolen bases versus SEC teams.

Again, it’s a fine group of position players, but this is not Texas A&M or Georgia we’re talking about. Of course, Florida’s offensive output had been middle of the road in SEC play, and the Gators absolutely wore LSU pitching out over the weekend. Most teams have.

Zac Cowan might not be available for LSU after throwing 60 pitches on Sunday, but he’s LSU’s best bounce back pitcher. So, if LSU has a lead late, he may be asked for three outs. Everyone else should be ready to go for the Tigers. That was by design.

TWO FOR THE TIGERS

LSU’s immediate roadmap involves getting to Friday. That path means beating Oklahoma on Tuesday and Auburn on Wednesday. That would give LSU a day off on Thursday.

As I’ve written, Oklahoma likely won’t throw a weekend rotation arm on Tuesday night. Auburn has options on Wednesday. The Tigers feel like a top eight seed with 17 SEC wins, 17 quad 1 wins and an RPI of No. 3. If they want to bring ace Jake Marciano back on a day short rest, they can. They don’t have to. Marciano threw 102 pitches against Georgia on Thursday. It’s possible he could start on a pitch count like Paul Skenes did for LSU in 2023.

But if Marciano doesn’t pitch, it could be Casan Evans (in a limited capacity) against the Auburn bullpen.

LSU hasn’t played to a level this season to expect the Tigers to beat a pair of NCAA Tournament teams over the next two days, but weird things happen with this program in Hoover. It starts Tuesday night.

Let’s hope for dry weather.