How to watch as No. 1 LSU baseball welcomes No. 9 Tennessee to The Box for a weekend series
It’s been a solid start to SEC play for the LSU baseball team, which remains the unanimous No. 1 squad in the nation after scoring ranked series wins over Texas A&M and Arkansas, though coach Jay Johnson’s team dropped a game to each.
LSU (22-3, 4-2 SEC) will be back at home at Alex Box Stadium this weekend to host No. 9 Tennessee (20-6, 3-3 SEC). After beginning the season in the preseason top five, the Volunteers dropped after getting swept in their SEC opener against Missouri. However, they bounced back with a sweep over the Aggies this past weekend.
The Volunteers boast two of the top pitchers in the nation in Chase Dollander and Chase Burns, the Game 1 and Game 2 starters who rank fourth and second in the SEC in strikeouts, respectively.
“I think our guys have done a great job respecting the schedule and have shown up ready to play, ready to compete,” Johnson said in a release. “We’re facing an incredibly talented opponent with a great pitching staff, one of the best staffs in the country. They have an explosive position player group, and they know how to win, so it’s going to be a fun weekend, and I know our players are looking forward to it. We’ve got seven more SEC weekends just like this one coming up, so we’ll focus on this one, attack it, and move on to the next one.”
Here’s what you need to know to follow LSU in action this weekend at The Box against the Vols. The slate begins with Game 1 on Thursday night.
Game 1
Date: Thursday, March 30
Location: Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge
Time: 7 p.m. CT
TV: ESPNU
Radio: LSU Radio Network
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Game 2
Date: Friday, March 31
Location: Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge
Time: 6 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network
Radio: LSU Radio Network
Live Stream: Watch ESPN
Game 3
Date: Saturday, April 1
Location: Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge
Time: 1 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network+
Radio: LSU Radio Network
Live Stream: Watch ESPN (ESPN+ subscription required)
Pitching Matchups
Game 1: LSU RH [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] (5-0, 0.72 ERA, 37.1 IP, 7 BB, 71 SO) vs. UT RH Chase Dollander (4-2, 3.93 ERA, 34.1 IP, 8 BB, 53 SO)
Game 2: LSU RH [autotag]Ty Floyd[/autotag] (4-0, 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 9 BB, 31 SO) vs UT RH Chase Burns (2-1, 4.15 ERA, 34.2 IP, 9 BB, 59 SO)
Game 3: LSU RH [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] (2-0, 3.91 ERA, 23.0 IP, 15 BB, 32 SO) vs. UT RH Drew Beam (3-1, 2.54 ERA, 28.1 IP, 8 BB, 27 SO)
Rankings
LSU: No. 1 in all polls
Tennessee: No. 9 USA TODAY Sports Coaches, No. 10 D1Baseball, No. 11 Baseball America
Series History
LSU leads the all-time series by a wide margin at 58-28, and the Tigers have won 14 of the last 21 contests against the Volunteers. However, UT has won six in a row, including regular season and Super Regional sweeps in 2021 and a loss at the SEC tournament last season.
Injury Report
LSU doesn’t have any new injuries coming into the weekend.
Batting Leader(s)
LSU: [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] (.542)
UT: Christian Moore (.360)
Doubles Leader(s)
LSU: Dylan Crews (10)
UT: Kavares Tears (5)
Home Runs Leader(s)
LSU: Dylan Crews (9)
UT: Blake Burke (10)
RBI Leader(s)
LSU: [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] (42)
UT: Blake Burke (28)
Stolen Base Leader(s)
LSU: [autotag]Jordan Thompson[/autotag] (4)
UT: Christian Scott (6)
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