3 days ago
Baton Rouge Super Regional Preview: Schedule, analysis, prediction for LSU vs. WVU
Baton Rouge Super Regional Preview: Schedule, analysis, prediction for LSU vs. WVU
LSU baseball is two wins away from a return to Omaha and the College World Series. On Saturday, the Tigers will being a best-of-three series vs. West Virginia in the Baton Rouge Super Regional.
For LSU, it's the Tigers' 17th super regional appearance since the current format was adopted in 1999. It's the 12th super regional being hosted in Alex Box Stadium.
The Box has been kind to LSU in the postseason. The Tigers are 9-3 in Baton Rouge Super Regionals. And even when it looks like hope is lost, Baton Rouge has a way of figuring things out.
LSU's last super regional appearance came in 2023, when the Tigers swept Kentucky in two games. Led by Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, that team went on to win the national championship. The last time LSU dropped a super regional in Baton Rouge was 2019, when Florida State got the best of Paul Mainieri's squad.
Here's a complete preview of LSU baseball's Baton Rouge Super Regional vs. West Virginia.
LSU baseball vs. West Virginia Mountaineers Super Regional: Time and TV schedule
GAME 1: Saturday, 1:00 PM CT, ESPN
GAME 2: Sunday, 5:00 PM CT, ESPN2
If a Game 3 is necessary, time and TV information will be released this weekend.
Elite starting pitching could be the story of the weekend
Both LSU and West Virginia are built around elite starting pitching. Both squads have two pitchers at the top of the rotation who could be considered ace's 1A and 1B.
For LSU, Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson. For West Virginia, its Griffin Kirn and Jack Kartsonas.
Anderson and Eyanson are coming off dominant performances in the Baton Rouge Regional and are two of the best strikeout getters in college baseball. In their regional starts, they combined for 14.2 shutout innings. Then Eyanson was called upon again to get the final outs as a reliever in the final.
We know what we're getting with these, too. Anderson has a chance to be a top-five draft pick in this year's MLB Draft, while Eyanson is making a strong case to be a first-round pick too.
On the other side, Kirn is a tall lefty who can challenge LSU with a three-pitch mix. His fastball sits low 90s, but it has some cut. His wide release makes him tough on lefties. Kirn has a 3.13 ERA in 95 innings this year.
Kartsonas, with his 2.94 ERA, might even be better than Kirn. He's pitched fewer innings with 64.1 on the year, but Kartsonas' strikeout rate was one of the best in the Big 12.
Who has the lineup to equalize the starting pitching?
Both LSU and West Virginia enter the series with some questions about the lineup.
Both squads finished their respective regionals with double-digit runs, but that doesn't tell the full story. LSU struggled to score on Sunday night vs. Little Rock when the power disappeared. That's been a problem for LSU at multiple points in 2025. When LSU isn't driving the ball, the Tigers have failed to produce runs vs. quality pitching. And LSU will see quality pitching this week.
Jay Johnson altered the lineup in the regional final, and it paid off with Ethan Frey in the No. 2 slot. The struggling Jared Jones was moved down to No. 6, and he rewarded Johnson with a two-hit night, including a home run to put the game on ice. That's the Jones LSU needs to show up this weekend. With a lefty getting the start for WVU in Game 1, we could see Johnson make adjustments again.
Some of the same questions can be asked about West Virginia.
The Mountaineers rank No. 3 in the Big 12 with a .299 batting average, but ranked 11th in slugging and home runs. Just one Mountaineer has double-digit homers in 2025. This isn't a lineup that does damage with the home run.
That should work in LSU's favor. Anderson and Eyanson have been susceptible to homers, but it's not easy to string hits together vs. the Tigers' aces.
WVU doesn't strike out much, which means the ball will be put in play. But more good news for LSU: The Tigers' defense is good at converting balls in play to outs.
LSU's lineup has the advantage
With all of that in mind, I feel better about the LSU bats this weekend. Yes, there have been times when LSU has gone silent at the plate, but this is still a top 25 lineup. Meanwhile, West Virginia ranks outside the top 90 in key categories.
LSU needs a pitcher to step up
LSU is set with Anderson and Eyanson, but there are questions elsewhere on the pitching staff. Last week, Jay Johnson handed the ball to Jaden Noot on Sunday, and Noot couldn't make it out of the second inning. The same thing happened when Johnson gave Zac Cowan a start on Monday.
Casan Evans entered in relief of Cowan and was dynamite for six innings. It's clear Evans is the third-best pitcher on this staff right now, but LSU will need more than three pitchers to get it done this weekend. Yes, there's a scenario where Anderson throws a complete game and then Eyanson and Evans combine to shut down the Mountaineers on Sunday, but you can't count on that.
Whether it's Noot, Cowan, or Chase Shores, LSU needs another arm it can rely on. Cowan was one of the nation's top relievers before his recent struggles. If he can get back to the Cowan we saw in April, LSU is set.
Even if LSU makes it through the super regional without finding another pitcher it can trust, LSU will need guys to step up in Omaha. You can't win a College World Series with just three pitchers.
What does West Virginia's pitching depth look like?
WVU's top reliever is Reese Bassinger. After Kirn pitched 7.1 strong innings in the regional opener vs. Kentucky, Bassinger entered to shut it down.
Bassinger is far from unhittable, though. He's posted a 4.28 ERA in 61 innings this year and doesn't have the strikeout stuff you'd expect from a closer. Expect to see Chase Meyer in a high-leverage spot at some point. He owns a 4.09 ERA but has struck out 62 in just 44 innings.
What the Massey Ratings say
The Massey Ratings rank every team in the country based on scores and strength of schedule. Here's how LSU and WVU matchup:
Stat LSU WVU Overall Rating Ranking 5th 15th Offense Ranking 16th 29th Defense/Pitching Ranking 3rd 30th Strength of schedule 62nd 79th
LSU vs. West Virginia Betting Odds
Here are the Baton Rouge Super Regional betting odds, courtesy of BetMGM.
LSU -400, West Virginia +310
That puts LSU's handle-adjusted odds of winning the series at 76.61%.
Prediction
Its hard to pick against LSU in Baton Rouge, and I'm not going to be the one to do it. I think LSU sweeps West Virginia behind stellar outings from Anderson and Eyanson. I like the Tigers.
