No. 11 LSU (16-5) heads to Athens, Ga. to face No. 8 Georgia (18-2) in an important SEC weekend. It won’t be an easy road trip as Georgia is coming off of a three-game sweep against South Carolina (15-6) .
LSU has faced many questions this season with injuries, trying to figure out the rotation and staying consistent throughout the entire order. The Tigers showed signs of improvement during the weekend sweep over Kentucky (14-7) .
The starting rotation – junior Zack Hess, freshman Cole Henry and sophomore Eric Walker - pitched well for the Tigers allowing five runs in 16.1 innings pitched . Hess threw five innings allowing one run , and Henry went five innings giving up three runs .
The bullpen brought back freshman Chase Costello Wednesday night, who pitched for the first time since March 1 . Costello threw two innings allowing a solo homerun on two hits . LSU coach Paul Mainieri said the hitter “ambushed the first pitch,” so he wasn’t extremely worried about the homerun.
With Costello’s return, freshman Jaden Hill is the only key pitcher needed to return where the staff was at the beginning of the season. The addition of Costello for the weekend series could be a big lift for the Tigers as Georgia’s offense poses a serious threat.
The offense for Georgia is riddled with tough outs throughout the lineup. One through six in the Bulldog lineup is hitting .300 or better and all have a .530 slugging percentage or higher . The LSU rotation looks to keep improving and succeeding against a strong lineup like Georgia could give the Tigers pitchers an improvement in their confidence.
Georgia’s rotation features two strong pitchers – freshman Emerson Hancock and sophomore Tony Locey - who each have ERA’s below 2.50 . Hancock has a miniscule 0.58 ERA through 31 innings . Hitters only have a .152 average against Hancock . The Bulldogs have an overall team ERA of 2.46 , the eleventh lowest in the country.
Locey isn’t far behind Hancock with a 2.17 ERA through 29 innings . Locey also leads the team in strikeouts with 43 . LSU’s lineup struggled when facing Kentucky’s ace, junior left-hander Zack Thompson . He is a strikeout pitcher , and it showed with LSU striking out nine times against Thompson .
The Tigers amassed only four hits against Thompson through his six innings . With Georgia’s strong pitching, it could be a difficult weekend for struggling hitters like senior outfielder Antoine Duplantis .
Duplantis is still hitting .314 but has scuffled in LSU’s last four games . Duplantis is 2-17 in the three-game series against Kentucky and midweek game against Nicholls State (11-11) . He looks to bounce back after a tough week and get back on track to chase the SEC hits record.
The top of the lineup, along with Duplantis, also looks to return to form after struggling in the midweek game against Nicholls State . The first five in the lineup went 3 for 21. One of those hits was ultimately a walkoff double from sophomore outfielder Daniel Cabrera .
Cabrera said he wants to hit in big moments, like extra innings against Nicholls State , and he has a chance to do that this weekend. Earning a series win against a strong SEC and national contender like Georgia would put a strong mark on LSU’s resume for the end of the season.
LSU opens the series at 7 p.m. on Friday at Foley Field in Athens, Ga.
