West Virginia baseball is making their second Super Regional appearance in as many years, while LSU is looking to get back to the College World Series for the first time since they won their title in 2023.
The Mountaineers travel to Baton Rouge for a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the College World Series.
Game Times/TV
Saturday — 2:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday — 6:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
Monday (if necessary) — TBD
Regional Recap
West Virginia swept through the Clemson Regional this past weekend, beating Kentucky, Clemson, and then Kentucky again in the regional final. The Mountaineers used three comeback wins and proved they can win in different ways.
They started the weekend with a 4-3 win over the Wildcats, before they scored four runs in the ninth inning to upset Clemson. The Mountaineers closed out the weekend with a six-run eighth inning to beat Kentucky and advance to the Supers.
LSU dominated in their first two games of the Baton Rouge Regional, before they ran into trouble in their third game on Sunday. The Tigers beat Little Rock and Dallas Baptist by a combined score of 19-0. They then lost to Little Rock 10-4, before needing a comeback win on Monday to advance.
This is LSU's 17th Super Regional appearance, and their 13th they are hosting at Alex Box Stadium.
Overall Outlook
Overall, LSU has a lot of firepower, while West Virginia has simply found ways to win this year.
In D1Baseball's Top 100 Midseason Prospects, the Tigers had five players listed, all ranking 38th or better. West Virginia had zero players on that list.
LSU is 46-15 on the season, and they hold a 33-6 mark in home games this year. They did not lose a single home series this season, while they went 19-11 in SEC play, finishing third in the league this season.
West Virginia set a program record for wins in a regular season with 41 this year, adding to that total during the Clemson Regional. The Mountaineers hold a 24-5 mark on the road this season, the best road record in college baseball.
Pitching Staffs
LSU's pitching staff is one of, if not the best in the country, led by two elite starters.
Anthony Eyanson and Kade Anderson are two of the best arms in the country. Eyanson has a 2.50 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 93.2 innings pitched this season. Opponents are hitting .209 off him this year, while he's allowed four home runs. Anderson is almost just as dominant, with 156 strikeouts in 96 innings pitched, while he has a 3.28 ERA.
In their two starts this past weekend, they combined for 14.2 innings pitched, allowing no runs on nine hits, surrendering three walks, and striking out 28.
Outside of those two pitchers, LSU used nine other pitchers in their regional. Casan Evans is a guy who has 17 appearances on the season and has a 1.90 ERA. He also has 65 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched. This past weekend, he went 6.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits, and he struck out 12.
LSU's staff ranks fifth in the country in runs allowed per game with 4.0 on the season. In their last 19 games, LSU has allowed more than five runs only five times. Compare that to WVU, who has allowed five runs or more 11 times in their last 19 games.
LSU's staff has the second-most strikeouts among all schools this season, as Anderson and Eyanson are second and third in the country in strikeouts, respectively.
West Virginia's staff is also carried by their two starters, Griffin Kirn and Jack Kartsonas.
Kirn has a 3.13 ERA in 95.0 innings pitched this season, with 100 strikeouts and 29 walks. Opponents are batting .237 against Kirn this season. Kartsonas has tossed 64.1 innings this season, striking out 76, while he has a 2.94 ERA.
In WVU's regional, the pair tossed 12.2 innings pitched, allowing eight hits and only three earned runs in their two starts. They also struck out 14, walking only three batters as well.
WVU's bullpen has had its share of struggles throughout the end of the regular season, but the three main pitchers of Reese Bassinger, Carson Estridge, and Chase Meyer have carried the way.
Bassinger pitched in all three games of WVU's regional, while Meyer had an extended outing against Clemson, going 2.1 innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out three.
Lineups
Offensively, LSU hits a lot of home runs, as they are 22nd in the nation in home runs hit with 97 this season. However, they are also prone to striking out, as they are in the bottom 100 in strikeouts as an offense this year.
Ethan Frey leads LSU in batting with a .359 average, while he has 13 home runs and 49 RBIs on the season. Jared Jones is LSU's big power threat with 20 home runs, 61 runs scored, but he has 73 strikeouts on the season. In the Tigers' average lineup over their last 10 games, six of their nine starters are batting at least .300 on the season.
Out of those nine, five have at least nine home runs, while six have at least 40 runs batted in.
West Virginia is led by Sam White and Kyle West, two left-handed batters. White is hitting .352 on the season with 44 RBIs. West leads WVU in home runs with 10, while he's batting .347 with 36 RBIs. WVU has 122 doubles on the season, which is in the top 40 of all teams in the country. Their 107 stolen bases are the 46th best in the country this year.
In their regional, WVU added Armani Guzman and Ben Lumsden to the starting lineup. Guzman is hitting .337 on the season with 22 RBIs on the season. Lumsden is batting .156 on the season, but he had three hits this past weekend, after he headed into the regional with four.
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