The Tigers have been in this position before this season.They are coming off a weekend victory against a top Southeastern Conference team and are heading into a series against a team at the bottom of the SEC heap.Last time, it was a pair of victories against Alabama before losing a pair to then-last place Tennessee. This time, LSU is riding the high of its weekend victories against Florida heading on the road to face last place Mississippi State (24-27, 8-18).But more is on the line this time for No. 2 LSU (39-14, 18-9) – an SEC crown.”If you come to a place like LSU, you come here to win championships,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri.The Tigers are 11-2 since the losses to the Vols and have won eight of nine SEC series this season.But LSU has only one SEC sweep, something it needs this weekend in order to ensure itself the SEC title for the first time since 2003.The Tigers have a 1/2-game lead over Alabama and a one-game lead over Ole Miss in the SEC West and a one-game lead over Florida in the SEC East. Because the Tigers defeated all three teams, any tie would give LSU the title.”We’re in the same position as Alabama, Ole Miss and Florida except we don’t have to do the scoreboard watching,” Mainieri said. “We control our own destiny.”Mississippi State enters the weekend with an SEC-worst 6.47 ERA and second-to-worst 346 team strikeouts, while the Tigers are third in the SEC in ERA (4.29) and first in strikeouts (513).Offensively, the Bulldogs are eighth in the SEC with a .298 team batting average while the Tigers are third with a .313 average.While the Tigers’ hot bats may be on display once again this weekend, the team’s aces will more than likely carry the load in the first two games of the series on the mound.LSU senior pitcher Louis Coleman and sophomore pitcher Anthony Ranaudo – who are both in the top four in the league in ERA and strikeouts – are coming off a combined 15 innings pitched last weekend, giving up one earned run on 10 hits while striking out 14 Gators.”They are hard because what you are looking for [as a batter] is patterns, and neither of them have a pattern,” said Mississippi State coach John Cohen. “They are experienced guys who…know exactly what they are trying to do.”EXTRA BASES:Starkville, Miss., is a location to which Mainieri is accustomed to traveling.As a player for New Orleans in 1979, Mainieri played the Bulldogs in Starkville in a regional game. Mainieri also faced Mississippi State in 2000 as the head coach of Notre Dame.While Mainieri has fond memories of playing and coaching against the Bulldogs, he admits the MSU faithful may not feel the same way about him.”Ever since I put on an LSU jersey, I don’t think they have been as fond of me, but that is how baseball goes,” Mainieri said. Mainieri also said the use of eight middle relief pitchers Tuesday in the Tigers’ 12-4 victory against Centenary was by design.”The more they pitch, the better they are,” Mainieri said.—–Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]