No. 4 Tennessee Baseball vs. LSU: How To Watch, Pitching Matchups, Prediction

On LSU and its season to date

“Yeah, I haven’t studied everybody’s record in the league. It’s a little too early to assess that because a lot of people around here might have counted us out about halfway through the year [in 2023]. So, when you start building up repetitions, the 30 games will kind of let you know where you stand. If you can just stay afloat and stay around .500, you’re one of the better teams in the county. The teams that I’ve seen in our league and any games that I’ve watched, about everybody belongs in that category for right now. With them, yeah. You’ve got one of the biggest traditions and one of the biggest names in our sport. A lot of those guys that contributed to that national championship are still around. It’s a tall task whether you’re at home or on the road or playing whatever team, but this one certainly comes with a lot of boxes that are checked by what I’m talking about or about what you [reporter] referred to.”

On if LSU is similar to what they were last season

“I think so. We’ve had some coaching staff changes in our league. So, by the end of the weekend you can kind of see some differences. It’s not that there are pros and cons, it’s that there’s more than one way to skin a cat so to speak. The same coaching staff and again a storied, traditional program. Or a program with tradition, I should say. I’m kind of going over some of the names in my head. It’s nice when you can run [Paul] Skenes out there, and of course [Dylan] Crews. All the teams in our league seem to reload, whether it be transfer portal, junior college or high school recruiting. Fortunately, we are getting to a point – and it started with the elimination of some of the minor league teams – the rich kind of get richer in the SEC. A lot of these high school kids are saying no to the draft because they see how good life is and maybe there’s fewer jobs in minor league baseball. So, everyone kind of seems to reload. We will spend a couple of days familiarizing ourselves with any new faces. But again, a lot of returners.”

On LSU RHP Luke Holman

“I think it’s a deal where the stuff in our league, not just with him, in our league, kind of shrinks your availability. Whether it’s how good the stuff is coming at ya, how much movement it is. It’s not like me flipping it to you in the cage. So you have to have a specific plan about what you want to do. There’s not as much room for error if it’s not just flipping it to ya, but a BP guy throwing it to ya over hand. Like a lot of the guys in our league, it’s not only good stuff, it’s not only good stuff with good movement, but it’s a multitude of pitches that he’s able to throw in multiple situations.”

Projected Pitching Matchups