LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said it before his club began a three-game showdown against then-No. 2 Texas A&M, and he said it after the No. 1
Tigers clinched the series. 
No matter what LSU (37-7, 14-6 Southeastern Conference) did in a heavyweight fight against the Aggies last weekend, the Tigers still had a long way to go in the SEC race. 
“Whether we had won all three, whether we had won two out of three, whether we had lost two of three or whether we had gotten swept, there are still three weekends to go in this league,” Mainieri said. “That means nine tough games.”
By losing the series finale to Texas A&M, LSU dropped a half game behind No. 6 Vanderbilt (33-12, 15-6 SEC) for first place in the SEC with nine conference games to go. The Tigers haven’t won the SEC regular season title since 2012, a drought junior shortstop Alex Bregman would like to see end. 
“We want to win the league,” Bregman said. “But we’re in a good spot. We know we have our work cut out for us the next couple of weeks.” 
The Tigers’ three remaining SEC opponents — Mississippi State, No. 20 Missouri and South Carolina, respectively, have gone a combined 28-35 in conference play, and two of the three have sub-.500 records (South Carolina and Mississippi State). 
However, all three clubs have won at least one top-25 series this season, meaning LSU can’t afford any slippage if it hopes to bring home its third SEC regular season crown since Mainieri arrived in 2007. 
South Carolina (26-19, 9-12 SEC) 
South Carolina, which spent time as a top-10 club this season, is perhaps the most puzzling team of LSU’s three remaining SEC opponents. 
The Gamecocks swept Kentucky in their SEC-opening series and reached the No. 6 spot in Baseball America’s rankings March 16. But South
Carolina plummeted after that, losing four consecutive series before ultimately falling out of the poll. 
The struggling Gamecocks bounced back from a sweep against No. 10 Florida by stealing two games against then-No. 4 Vanderbilt but quickly returned to their prior form, losing two of three to an 18-21 Tennessee club last weekend. 
South Carolina is the SEC’s worst-hitting team, batting .254 on the season. But the Gamecocks have one of the league’s top offensive threats in senior outfielder Elliott Caldwell, who is among the SEC leaders in batting average (No. 11 at .353) and on-base percentage (No. 6 at .451).  
Mississippi State (23-21, 7-14 SEC) 
Like the Gamecocks, Mississippi State — LSU’s next SEC opponent beginning Thursday — has also been ranked in the top 10, surging to a No. 9 ranking on March 2 after a smoking 13-0 start to the season.
However, the Bulldogs have cooled off since, going 10-21 in their last 31 games and dropping out of Baseball America’s polls on March 23 after a series loss to Kentucky. 
Pitching woes have plagued Mississippi State this season. The Bulldogs rank in the bottom five in the SEC in ERA (4.06), opponents’ batting average (.258), strikeouts (329) and hits allowed (379). 
Mississippi State’s three weekend starters — senior Lucas Laster, junior Preston Brown and sophomore Austin Sexton — are a combined 13-12 in 31 starts this season, and all three rank outside the SEC’s top 14 in ERA. 
The Tigers swept the Bulldogs in Baton Rouge last season, including a 17-4 rout in the series finale. LSU could be in for another high-scoring night against Mississippi State, which has given up at least eight runs in seven SEC games this season, going winless in those outings. 
Missouri (26-18, 12-9 SEC)
Missouri never reached top-10 status like Mississippi State and South Carolina this season, and the SEC East Tigers won’t get there anytime soon after a winless week.
After holding the No. 14 spot for back-to-back weeks, Missouri fell to No. 20 after going 0-4 last week with a loss to No. 14 Missouri State and a three-game sweep against the Commodores. 
Vanderbilt outscored Missouri, 26-6, last weekend and held Missouri to two runs in each of the three games. 
Against the Commodores’ deep pitching staff — which holds opponents to an SEC-low .212 batting average — Missouri went a woeful .222 (22-for-99) at the plate en route to being swept for the second time this season. 
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.