This weekend the 31-3 LSU Tigers are heading to Plainsman Park to take on the 23-10 Tigers of Auburn.
While the Auburn Tigers sit at just 6-6 compared to LSU’s 10-2 in conference, there is more than meets the eye to this Tiger on Tiger cat fight.
Here are three things to look for this weekend as LSU looks to extend their winning streak from nine to 12:
Chris Stanfield and Sam Dutton face their former teams
Following the Bayou Bengals loss to North Carolina in the Chapel Hill region in 2024, Sam Dutton entered his name in the transfer portal and ended up an Auburn Tiger.
Dutton is 4-2 on the year and boasts a 2.66 ERA with 51 strikeouts and only 10 walks. His evolution as a pitcher has solidified him as the Auburn ace. Last week, Dutton allowed just two hits in a complete game where Alabama was mercy ruled in seven innings.
Enter Chris Stanfield, a rising star during his time at Auburn, and now an every day starter for LSU in center field. He’s batting a career-high .327 and 32 runs scored. Stanfield has been an essential piece of this LSU Tiger offense, providing extra-base hits on a consistent basis.
The two will face off against the other this weekend, presumably on Friday, the opening game of the series.
Can LSU pitching replicate last week’s success?
Last weekend against Oklahoma, the Tigers pitching staff made a huge leap, with Kade Anderson throwing a complete game shutout, the first since 2018 when AJ Labas shut out Lamar.
Anderson’s performance on the mound, allowing no runs, only five hits, and delivering 14 strikeouts earned him SEC Pitcher of the Week. On eight days rest he should be more than ready for the Tigers Friday night face-off in Auburn.
In Game 2, Anthony Eyanson and Casan Evans combined to hold the Sooners to just two runs, striking out 13 in the process.
Saturday brought Chase Shores to the mound, who allowed only one unearned run, while striking out four, and working a career-long five innings. Reliever Zac Cowan logged the final four innings while only allowing one unearned run and striking out four.
The sweep marked the first time since 1997 that the Tigers have swept a top ten team on the road, when the Tigers conquered the Volunteers in Knoxville.
If the Tigers, especially Anderson, Eyanson and Shores, can continue to perform at this level, the bats of Derek Curiel, Jared Jones and Daniel Dickinson will be more than enough to propel the bayou bengals to another SEC series win.
The Derek Curiel Show
Freshman Derek Curiel has been on fire, leading the team in runs scored and walks, while second in batting average and on-base percentage and 2-for-2 on stolen bases.
The 19-year-old leadoff hitter decided to forgo the MLB draft to come to LSU, and so far has been nothing short of showing off.
Facing another top-end SEC pitcher will indicate a lot about the upside of LSU’s bats, particularly for a newer face like Curiel.
Curiel’s incredibly patient approach to each at bat combined with his ability to read the ball has helped run up the pitch counts of opposing pitchers early in games.
His ability to reach base even in the longest of odds has offered the Tigers a fairly consistent means to getting a man on base early in the game.
If Curiel gets stuffed consistently, it will certainly put a damper on things and pressure on the rest of the lineup to make something happen. But the way Curiel adjusts to adversity, that seems like an unlikely conclusion.
LSU leads the all-time series against Auburn 110-80, and won two of three last year at home. But this is a scrappy Auburn team, and with Sam Dutton on the mound, it’ll be looking to make a statement early in the weekend.
The No. 9 ranked Auburn will look to upset No. 3 ranked LSU in a three-game series starting this Friday at 6 p.m. in Plainsman Park.
