The Southeastern Conference baseball standings alone tell the story of the skirmishes that occur every weekend.
When LSU battles Arkansas this weekend in Alex Box Stadium, it may have its first opportunity to begin to break away from the horde of squads hovering around the .500 mark.
Of the 14 teams in the SEC, only five have a winning conference record — LSU, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama and Ole Miss. Florida and South Carolina lead the East with 7-5 conference records, while Alabama holds the top spot in the West at 8-4 SEC, 22-10 overall.
That being said, the “bottom-feeders” in each conference are only three games behind in each division.
The weekends have been merciless for the conference that sent two representatives to Omaha, Neb., for the 2013 College World Series.
“You can never get down [in the SEC] because the team that beats you this weekend is going to turn around and go out and get beat by someone next weekend,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “If you think your great victories in a particular weekend are going to carry into next week, you’re sadly mistaken.”
Last season, two squads pulled away from the pack in time for the SEC Tournament in May. Both Vanderbilt and LSU entered the tournament with a .700 win percentage or better — no other squad eclipsed the                         .650 mark.
Mainieri said the reasoning behind the close conference standings in 2014 is a combination of two things: equal personnel and an over-abundance of quality pitching.
He said the records don’t reflect an average conference.
“I don’t think it’s mediocrity,” Mainieri said. “I think it’s just outstanding pitching everywhere. You take South Carolina, who is supposed to be one of the best teams in the country, and they scored one run in                                 18 innings against Arkansas the last two games.”
Now that the calendar has turned to April, Mainieri said he wants his team to begin the process of separating from the remaining squads in the division.
LSU will get its first taste of the Razorbacks’ staff over the weekend, which contributed to handing South Carolina two of its five total losses in 2014.
Arkansas held the Gamecocks to three total runs in the series, including a shutout in the series finale.
Two juniors, southpaw Jalen Beeks and right-hander Chris Oliver, have sub-2.00 ERAs and a combined 8-5 record. Beeks has amassed eight starts this season, tossing two complete games in 51 2/3 innings pitched.
“They’re all really accurate and have great control of the zone,” said LSU senior outfielder Sean McMullen. “They’ve got good offspeeds, and I know some of them throw 95 [mph]. I don’t think it’s anything that we can’t handle, and I really look forward to the challenge.”
Offensively, juniors Brian Anderson and Joe Serrano lead the team with a .336 batting average, and Anderson plus redshirt sophomore Tyler Spoon combined for six total RBIs in the squad’s two victories against the Gamecocks last weekend.
Mainieri said he hopes his third starter, junior left-hander Kyle Bouman, will be able to take the mound Sunday, which would be the second straight week that LSU would have its full rotation healthy for an SEC series.
Bouman said he understands how important it is for a squad to have its Sunday starter back.
“I definitely appreciate it more. It’s nice to finish a series off by throwing on a Sunday,” Bouman said. “I think [my stamina] is there. It’s up to coach and [LSU pitching coach Alan Dunn] to decide how long they take me for. It’s out of my control, but me being a competitor, I want to go as long as I can.”

“You can never get down [in the SEC] because the team that beats you this weekend is going to turn around and go out and get beat by someone next weekend. If you think your great victories in a particular weekend are going to carry into next week, you’re sadly mistaken.”