The No. 17 LSU baseball team may be playing a mirror image of itself when it travels to Arkansas this weekend.
The similarities between the Tigers (21-8, 3-6 SEC) and Razorbacks (20-8, 3-6) go further than their conference records, as both teams stay active on the base paths and boast legitimate home run threats.
“Their coach, strategically, is a lot like I am, the way he tries to put pressure on the other team, and some of his offensive decisions,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It’s kind of a nice little chess match with he and I whenever we hook up.”
LSU and Arkansas both have at least 55 steals this season and three players with at least three home runs.
“His players also play a lot like our players play,” Mainieri said. “They’re very scrappy and hard-nosed. They play the game the right way, and they’re very competitive.”
Each team is breaking through early-season road blocks. Arkansas was on a four-game losing streak before winning its last two games.
LSU also endured a four-game losing streak before winning the first of three games in its first SEC road series two weekends ago.
“Everybody goes through little ups and downs,” said LSU sophomore left fielder Alex Edward. “We went through a little bit of a slump, but we came out of it, and we’ve been playing good baseball lately.”
Arkansas and LSU both rely heavily on starting pitching. Both teams have one weekend starter with an ERA less than 2.00 and another with an ERA less than 3.00.
The one glaring difference in the starting rotation comes with the third weekend starter.
The Razorbacks’ third starter has an ERA less than 4.00, while LSU freshman Kevin Gausman’s ERA skyrocketed to 5.59 after giving up six runs in 2 1/3 innings against Ole Miss and seven runs in two innings pitched against Georgia the week before.
Gausman had pitched at least 5 2/3 innings in each of his first five starts, including an eight-inning performance against Florida, where he surrendered just one run.
Still, Mainieri is sticking with his young hurler and said the weekend rotation will remain the same this weekend.
“The biggest concern I have with Gausman really is to make sure he doesn’t lose confidence in himself,” Mainieri said. “You just keep reminding him how well he pitched against Florida.”
Gausman said he was extending too much on his pitches against Georgia, while against Ole Miss it wasn’t his mechanics but the talented Rebel hitters causing most of the damage.
“I’m pretty tough on myself, so of course I didn’t expect me to have two back-to-back bad outings,” he said. “I’m just hoping that this weekend I change all that and get back to what I was doing early on in the season.”
While the pitching will remain the same, LSU’s fielders may not.
Mainieri said junior left fielder Trey Watkins could see some time back in the outfield, while Edward may get more time at first base.
“We’re going to keep mixing and matching those guys,” Mainieri said.
History is on LSU’s side this weekend. The Tigers took two of three games from the Razorbacks last season, continuing a growing trend during Mainieri’s tenure the last four years.
“We’ve won all four series, two there and two here, plus we beat them twice at the College World Series in ‘09,” Mainieri said. “I think Arkansas brings out the best in LSU.”