Tigers and Gamecocks round out SEC slate
Source: TigerRag by tigerrag
Last three national champs jockey for SEC, NCAA Tournament seeding
By RICHARD FISCHER
Tiger Rag Assistant Editor
Setting the stage for this weekend’s regular-season ending series is easy.
In fact, it couldn’t be any easier.
It doesn’t take much of a sales pitch to get college baseball fans geared up for a matchup between the last three national champions - LSU and South Carolina in Columbia this weekend.
“You’ve got two teams that have three national championships between them in the past three years, so you definitely have a lot of history between the teams out there,” said shortstop Austin Nola. ”Our programs are at the top of the country, so it’s going to be a blast out there.”
Sprinkle in the fact that both teams are within a game of first in the overall SEC standings, both teams are ranked in the top-10 and, oh yeah, they’re both playing for a national seed, and needless to say anyone who’s ever worn purple and gold at the Box will have an eye on this weekend’s series.
The set begins tonight (Thursday night) as the entire league plays Thursday-Friday-Saturday in order to allow squads to get situated for the start of the SEC Tournament Tuesday in Hoover. LSU head coach Paul Mainieri has no problem with the early start.
“I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to sit around and wait for this to happen,” he said. “As soon as that last out was made [versus Nicholls Tuesday night], the only thing I had on my mind was how much fun this is going to be.”
In yet another crown jewel pitching matchup that you can only see in the SEC, Kevin Gausman (8-1, 2.95 ERA) will take the hill versus Michael Roth (5-0, 2.60 ERA) Thursday night. Both pitchers have had tremendous seasons even though they go about getting outs in different ways. Gausman is a power righty, while Roth is a crafty lefty.
“If you love college baseball, you love to see the best players going after each other,” Mainieri said. “They’re kind of a contradiction in styles. Gausman is a prototypical professional prospect, and Roth is the consummate college pitcher that has maximized his ability.”
LSU will round out the weekend with Aaron Nola (6-3, 3.86 ERA) and Ryan Eades (5-2, 3.75 ERA), while South Carolina will likely go with Jordan Montgomery (4-1, 4.42 ERA) on Friday. The Gamecocks have started three different pitchers in their last three series finales. In fact, they’ve started a whopping 10 pitchers this season, but they have the luxury of doing that because they boast the best opposing batting average in the SEC at .223. The staff is also bolstered by the best gloves in the league with a .980 fielding percentage.
Pitching and defense has greater importance for LSU this weekend as well, because the Tigers will need to limit the number of Carolina baserunners due to the loss of starting catcher Ty Ross. He will be out at least another week with appendicitis, and in his absence, backup catcher Jordy Snikeris allowed nine runners to steal bases in two games on his watch versus Vanderbilt.
Ross has made the trip to Columbia, despite the fact that he can’t play.
“He’s been such a vital part of the team. If we have the good fortune of winning something this weekend, obviously we need help because Kentucky is a game ahead of us, but if we somehow are able to pull it off, I would like him to be there with his teammates to be able to bask in it,” said the skipper.
Carolina’s arms will be taxed with pitching to Austin Nola, who’s been red hot since being moved into the leadoff spot. He’s reached on nine-consecutive plate appearances, and although that’s a far cry from when Katz tied an NCAA record by reaching on 17 straight earlier this season, Austin Nola is already more than halfway there.
“He sees a lot of pitches, doesn’t swing at bad pitches,” Katz said. “He’s got the doubles-potential to get him on second to potentially get him in scoring position for the next guys coming up. He’s a great leadoff hitter. He doesn’t have the speed a normal leadoff hitter has, but he’s got the wits for it.”
As briefly referenced above, the Gamecocks are a half game and LSU is a full game behind first-place Kentucky. The ‘Cats have three games at Mississippi State this weekend. If Kentucky wins two over the Bulldogs, LSU will be out of contention for the SEC regular season championship, and Mainieri admitted he’ll be scoreboard watching from Columbia.
“I’ll be playing attention. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But nothing that happens with Kentucky and Mississippi State matters if we don’t do the job that we have to do… South Carolina will be in the same boat as us. If they announce the Kentucky loss, you’ll have the South Carolina fans and the LSU fans cheering.”
Mainieri went on to compare this weekend’s series to a Super Regional on the road. Funny because if LSU loses the series, the Tigers could be faced with a Super Regional on the road in three weeks. The same could be said for South Carolina if the Tigers get the series W, so there’s a lot on the line for both teams.
All three games this weekend are televised. Tonight’s game is on FSN (6 p.m.), Friday’s game is on CST (6 p.m.) and Saturday’s game is on ESPNU (noon).
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