Staff Reports
The LSU Tigers face Tennessee in their Division I Baseball College World Series opener Saturday at 6 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.
The No. 5 seed Tigers (48-15) and unseeded Vols (43-20) met in a three-game SEC series March 30-April 1 in Baton Rouge.
LSU won the first two games 5-2 and 6-4. Tennessee won the third 14-7.
The Tigers have yet to lose in the postseason. LSU swept three games in the Baton Rouge Regional then defeated Kentucky twice, 14-4 and 8-3, in the Super Regional.
The Vols went undefeated in the Clemson Regional, defeating Charlotte 8-1 and Clemson 6-5 in 14 innings before taking the title with another victory over Charlotte, 9-2.
In the Hattiesburg Super Regional, Tennessee fell to Southern Miss 5-3 then defeated the Golden Eagles twice, 8-4 and 5-0.
LSU is competing in the CWS for the 19th time. The Tigers’ last appearance was 2017 when they finished runner-up. LSU has won six national titles, the last one in 2009.
This is the sixth time Tennessee has played in the CWS, including two of the last three years.
LSU pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews were announced as the winners of two prestigious national awards earlier this week.
Skenes, a junior from Lake Forest, Calif., won the Dick Howser Trophy earlier this week. The award is given annually to the most outstanding player in Division I.
He leads the SEC in wins (12), strikeouts (188), earned run average (1.77), innings pitched (107.0) and opponent batting average (.170) He is ranked No. 2 on LSU’s all-time single-season strikeouts list, trailing only Ben McDonald, who recorded 202 strikeouts in 1989.
Crews, a junior from Longwood, Fla., won the Bobby Bragen National Collegiate Slugger Award as the nation’s top hitter.
He has a .434 batting average (3rd in the nation) with 17 home runs and 67 RBI.
Catcher/outfielder Jared Dickey is Tennessee’s top hitter. He is hitting .325 with six doubles, three triples, 12 homers and 51 RBI.
Outfielder Griffin Merritt is batting .315 with 11 doubles, 18 homers and 48 RBI; infielder Christian Moore is batting .313 with 12 doubles, 17 homers and 48 RBI.
The Vols pitching staff has a 3.57 ERA, best in the SEC. Drew Beam is 9-4 with a 3.78 ERA. Chase Dollander is 7-6 with a 4.50 ERA.
In the first two games of the CWS Friday, Oral Roberts defeated TCU 6-5 and Florida defeated Virginia 6-5.