Coming off of a series sweep over Mississippi State, LSU is back on the bus this weekend for a trip to play No. 6 Arkansas in a hotly contested series in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks are 25-7 on the season and an SEC West best 8-4 in conference play. LSU trails closely behind at 23-9 and 7-5 in conference.
For LSU, this is not only a huge opportunity to close the gap on an Arkansas program that is firing on all cylinders, but also a chance to prove to the college baseball world that the Jay Johnson era in Baton Rouge will be one that rivals that of longtime Razorback Manager Dave Van Horn.
“It’s a good program,” Johnson said. “Coach Van Horn is one of the best in the business at this thing and has good assistants and a great fan base. I keep coming back to this, but we’re trying to catch a lot of these places right now. This is another one. The only place we can catch up with them is on a field and that’s about how we play, and that’s exciting.”
With a series win in Fayetteville, LSU can make a statement to the conference and fans about their ambitions for this season and beyond. A series win like this could put them firmly back into the conversation for hosting a regional and possibly a super regional if the momentum continues to build.
Let’s go over what we’ll be watching for this weekend:
Thursday: LSU at Arkansas, 6:30 p.m. CT, SECN+; LSU: RHP Hilliard, Arkansas: RHP Noland
Friday: LSU at Arkansas, 6:00 p.m. CT, SECN; LSU: RHP Money, Arkansas: LHP Smith
Saturday: LSU at Arkansas, 2:00 p.m. CT, SECN+; LSU: TBA, Arkansas: RHP Wiggins
1. Will the Thursday night showdown on the mound deliver?
This is an extremely intriguing pitching matchup for the series opener. Building on his success last Friday in Starkville, Johnson has once again tapped Ma’Khail Hilliard to start the series opener. The veteran pitcher will get to face another seasoned collegiate player in Connor Noland for Arkansas.
Noland is sporting a 2.61 ERA in 48.1 IP this season, having returned to the starting rotation after two years in the bullpen, and has already surpassed his career high in strikeouts with 60 so far this season. How Hilliard will be able to respond and go punch for punch with one of the better series opening pitchers in the SEC will set the tone for the weekend for LSU.
2. Will the Tigers have everyone available in the field?
Nagging injuries have made the road bumpy for the Tigers as of late. Last weekend, Gavin Dugas (hand) and Tre’ Morgan (knee) each suffered some injuries they will try to play through. These are two key bats for LSU’s potent offense, not to mention Morgan’s tremendous defensive additions at first base and Dugas’ veteran presence in the outfield. Alex Milazzo has also been missing for the Tigers for some time behind the plate with a lower body injury. Johnson said he expects his guys to toughen up as best as they can and try to play through their ailments.
During this time, some other hitters for LSU have stepped up, most notably freshman outfielder Josh Pearson. He was named Co-Freshman of the Week for his play against Mississippi State, where he went 5-11 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs.
Pearson wasn’t guaranteed regular playing time when he got to Baton Rouge this fall, but he has made the most of his recent increase in at-bats and may be a staple in the already powerful LSU offense going forward. Pearson said playing in front of big crowds, like LSU’s trip to play in the Shriners Classic in Houston, prepared him to handle these bigger situations quickly.
“I’m not going to see 25,000 fans many times in college baseball, so playing in front of them set the bar,” Pearson said. “Everything else is just super, super comfortable. Nothing’s really too much anymore.”
3. Can LSU succeed in their pursuit for defensive consistency?
The clear weakness in this LSU team is their defensive ability. From the beginning of the season, some progress has been made, but the team still committed three errors in their win Friday afternoon in Starkville. Against a team as good as Arkansas, those mistakes can’t be allowed to manifest. The Razorbacks bring in some very talented hitters, like shortstop Jalen Battles, slashing .308/.339/.530 and third baseman Cayden Wallace, who is tied for the team lead in RBIs with first baseman Brady Slavens.
The Razorbacks will put the ball in play a lot this series, and it will be the LSU defense’s job to avoid costly mistakes and help their pitching staff manage this game.
