LSU and Tennessee meet for the second time in Omaha, Nebraska in an elimination game of the College World Series.
LSU won the first meeting on Friday, 6-3, after taking two of three from Tennessee in the regular season, but is the pitching staff too taxed to hold off the Vols on Tuesday night? The Tigers have the higher ceiling on offense, but have questionable bullpen depth to hold up against Tennessee's pitching staff.
This game is lined as a near coin flip, how should we bet it? Here are the odds:
LSU vs. Tennessee odds, run line and total
LSU vs. Tennessee prediction and pick
This is going to be an interesting matchup with LSU's pitching staff coming into question. While the Tigers have the best pitcher in college baseball in Paul Skenes, the rest of the staff leaves a lot to be desired as the team checked in 44th in ERA during the regular season.
However, I can't deny the offensive firepower from the Bayou Bengals, who hit home runs at the third highest clip and are top five in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, headlined by lead-off hitter Dylan Crews.
The Vols have the superior pitching staff, top three in ERA and WHIP during the regular season with an elite offense as well, checking in top 10 in slugging percentage. The team couldn't get past Skenes on Friday, scoring two runs in the eighth before scoring another against reliever Gavin Gudiry, but the team should do much better against a patchwork LSU bullpen.
I expect both offenses to show up in this one. Each team has serious pop and I question if the depth of each bullpen can hold up.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.