The No. 7 LSU baseball team will look to keep its offense in first gear as the Tigers travel to Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend for a three-game series with the Volunteers.
LSU (29-10, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) put on an offensive clinic Tuesday night, pounding out 18 hits en route to a 21-10 win at Southern.
Tennessee (30-9, 9-6 SEC) is currently sitting atop the SEC East fresh off a 10-1 win over Tennessee Tech this past Wednesday.
With a 22-3 record at home, coach Smoke Laval said Tennessee is not the easiest place to play.
“I’m just trying to solidify the pitching and get some guys confident,” Laval said. “Tennessee is a very difficult place to play, especially when they’re so good this year.”
Laval will send sophomore Jason Determann to the mound for the series-opener. Determann is coming off an impressive performance last Friday against Georgia, putting together 8.1 innings pitched while allowing just five runs on eight hits.
Sophomore Justin Meier said he is confident in Determann helping the team.
“I think [the pitching staff] will do fine,” Meier said. “Determann did a pretty good job last Friday, so I’m pretty confident he’s going to have a good night.”
While the pitching staff will play a big role in this weekend’s series, LSU will have to hit the ball in order to get past Tennessee.
The Volunteers are currently sporting a 2.84 team ERA, ranking first in the SEC and sixth nationally.
Junior Clay Harris said he is looking to see more offensive production out of the team.
“Tennessee’s a good team,” Harris said. “We’ve been hitting the ball okay, but not as good as we’re capable of.”
Harris added the weekend is an important one for the Tigers.
“Hopefully, everyone can come and get hot at once,” Harris said. “We need this weekend. This weekend is real big for us.”
The Tennessee offense, however, is not as glitzy as the pitching.
With just two players hitting over .300 in the lineup, the Volunteers are batting just .239 with runners in scoring position.
Laval said this weekend’s outcome will depend upon how well the team does offensively.
“We’ll try to control what we can control, and hopefully we can continue swinging the bats,” Laval said. “It seems as if we’re getting two more guys hotter in the lineup, which makes it harder for the other team.”
One of LSU’s hitters who has made their presence felt lately is junior Ryan Patterson, who recently earned LSWA Hitter of the Week honors.
In this past week, Patterson has gone 11-for-22, batting .500 with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, 11 RBIs and five runs scored.
Meier said coming off a big offensive night can prove benefical.
“We scored 21 runs against Southern,” Meier said. “That puts a little confidence boost before we go to Tennessee.”
Harris added the pitchers will perform better as long as the offense produces.
“If we score runs, it puts the other team in lull mode,” Harris said. “That makes the pitcher’s job easier.”