JOURNAL SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. – By sweeping Ole Miss over the weekend, LSU has raised its stock to a point where most college baseball analysts believe the Tigers have secured an at-large berth in next week’s NCAA Tournament.
Winning a first-round Southeastern Conference Tournament game this morning would remove all but the slightest doubt.
The Tigers, 36-20, square off at 9:30 a.m. against the 39-14 Georgia Bulldogs in the opening game, televised on the SEC Network from the 10,800-seat Hoover Met.
After sweeping the Rebels, LSU’s NCAA RPI (ratings percentage index) rose five spots to 30th. A win today would really spike it as Georgia comes in with a No. 6 RPI.
The teams did not meet this season. Wes Johnson, who was LSU’s pitching coach last year as the Tigers won the College World Series, has breathed life into the Bulldogs as Georgia’s first-year head coach.
LSU has won 10 of its last 15 SEC games and four of its last five SEC series. The Tigers are 14-5 overall in their last 19 outings.
“We’re playing as well as we have all year, as well as anybody in the country,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “It was tough at the midway point of our league schedule. We were not in a good place. I don’t think there are five teams in the country that could accomplish what we just did on the back half of our schedule.
“I’m really excited, I want to keep playing baseball with this team. I’m really proud of our team based on their response to where we were earlier in the season. We’re playing a brand of baseball right now that is sustainable at the highest level.”
LSU third baseman Tommy White was named SEC Hitter of the Week Monday after batting .615 (8-for-15) in three games with two doubles, one triple, three homers and seven RBI against Ole Miss. He produced a slugging percentage of 1.615 and an on-base percentage of .643 and culminated the weekend in Saturday’s win with two home runs – including a grand slam – and five RBI.
Georgia is No. 2 in the SEC with a .307 team batting average, and the Bulldogs are second in the league with 140 home runs. Bulldogs star Charlie Condon leads the league in batting average (.451), home runs (35), hits (93), total bases (219), slugging percentage (1.063) and run scored (78).