DATE/TIME
- Saturday, June 17 @ 6 p.m. CT (ESPN)
STADIUM
- Charles Schwab Field (24,000)
RANKINGS
- LSU – No. 3 in NCBWA poll; No. 5 NCAA National Seed
- UT – No. 6 in NCBWA poll
RADIO
· LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates, including 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge
· Live audio at www.LSUsports.net/live [lsusports.net]
TV/ONLINE
- Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN and streamed on ESPN +
LSU SERIES RECORD VS. TENNESSEE
• LSU leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 60-29 … LSU has won 16 of its last 24 games versus UT; however, Tennessee has won seven of the past nine meetings ... LSU claimed a 2-1 SEC series win over Tennessee earlier this season (March 30-April 1) in Baton Rouge ... prior to this season, UT had won six straight games over the Tigers, including a 2022 SEC Tournament win, a two-game sweep in the 2021 NCAA Knoxville Super Regional and a three-game sweep in the 2021 SEC regular-season series, also in Knoxville.
LSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• LSU is in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight season and for the 35th time overall .... LSU has six national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009), the second-most in NCAA history ... the Tigers were an NCAA Tournament Top 8 National Seed for an NCAA-record six straight seasons (2012-17) ... LSU is a Top 8 National Seed this season (No. 5) for the first time since the 2017 Tigers were the No. 4 National Seed ... LSU has the second-highest all-time NCAA Tournament winning percentage (.706, 168-70).
• LSU is participating in its 19th College World Series, and its first since 2017, when the Tigers finished as the national runners-up to Florida ... LSU is 40-27 (.597) all-time in CWS games, including a 7-3 mark in CWS championship games/series.
• LSU last weekend won the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional with a two-game sweep over Kentucky, marking the ninth super regional title in program history.
QUOTING LSU COACH JAY JOHNSON
“Our players have done everything that we've asked them to do for the past two seasons. When we took the field last weekend (for the Super Regional), there was a really solid peace of mind that these guys were going to advance to the College World Series. To see the fans get behind them, they're going to get behind LSU no matter what, but this is a really easy group to get behind, how hard they play, how much they care, how invested they are in the program.
“So we have an amazing collection of talent, but in the first meeting I said that doesn't make us a team. Developing them as people, developing them as teammates, not just accepting their role, but embracing it, and communicating it might look different in Game 1 than in Game 10; it might look different in Game 20, Game 50, and then in Omaha.”
ABOUT THE TIGERS
· LSU enters the College World Series with a 48-15 record, its best mark through 63 games since the 2015 Tigers were 53-10 entering the CWS ... the Tigers last weekend won the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional with 14-0 and 8-3 victories over Kentucky ... LSU two weeks ago won the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional with consecutive victories over Tulane and Oregon State (twice) ... the Tigers were 1-2 in the SEC Tournament three weeks ago in Hoover, Ala. ... LSU was the No. 3 SEC Tournament seed, its highest since the 2017 Tigers were the No. 1 seed in the event.
· The Tigers completed the 2023 regular season 42-13 overall and 19-10 in conference play ... LSU recorded its most SEC regular-season wins since the 2017 club won 21 SEC games, and the Tigers posted their most overall regular-season wins since the 2015 squad ended the regular season with 46 victories.
· The Tigers, the SEC’s No. 4 seed last season, have finished in the Top 4 in the overall SEC standings in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015 ... LSU’s second-place finish in the SEC Western Division this season is its best since the Tigers won the Western Division in 2017.
· LSU has reached the 40-win mark in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 seasons … LSU finished 40-22 in last season and participated in the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional ... the Tigers this season are seeking their 14th 50-win season and their first since the 2017 club finished 52-20.
· LSU enters the College World Series at or near the top of several NCAA statistical categories … the Tigers are No. 1 in the nation in shutouts pitched (10); No. 1 in runs scored (588); No. 2 in on-base percentage (.438); No. 2 in slugging percentage (.569); No. 2 in home runs (133); No. 3 in strikeouts pitched per nine innings (11.6); No. 4 in hit-by-pitch (131); No. 5 in scoring average (9.3 runs per game); No. 6 in hits allowed per nine innings (7.70); and No. 6 in walks received (367).
· The LSU pitching staff has established the school single-season record for strikeouts with 695; the previous school mark was 682 set in 1997 ... LSU has 133 home runs this season, the third-highest total in school history ... LSU hit an NCAA-record 188 homers in 1997 and 157 homers in 1998.
· LSU’s six homers in Game 1 of the Super Regional vs. Kentucky was its most in an NCAA Tournament game since the Tigers hit seven HRs in Game 3 of the 2008 NCAA Super Regional vs. UC Irvine in Alex Box Stadium.
· LSU centerfielder Dylan Crews is No. 2 in the nation in on-base percentage (.576); No. 2 in runs scored (89); No. 3 in batting average
· (.434) and No. 3 in walks (65) … third baseman Tommy White is No. 2 in the nation in RBI (97), and he is No. 3 in the nation in RBI per game (1.67)
· LSU right-hander Paul Skenes is No. 1 in the nation in strikeouts (188), strikeouts per nine innings (15.81) and WHIP (0.78), and he is No. 2 in the nation in ERA (1.77) ... he is No.3 in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.44), and No. 6 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.47) ... LSU second baseman Gavin Dugas is No. 3 in the nation in hit-by-pitch (30).
· LSU is No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference in 10 offensive categories – batting average (.314), slugging percentage (.569), on-base percentage (.438), runs (588), hits (668), RBI (539), total bases (1,210), home runs (133), sacrifice flies (38) and plate appearances (2,679) ... LSU is No. 2 in the SEC in HBP (131).
ABOUT THE VOLUNTEERS
· Tennessee is hitting .284 as a team with 125 home runs and 59 stolen bases in 71 attempts … the Vols are No. 8 in the SEC in batting average and No. 3 in the league in home runs.
· The Volunteers’ pitching staff has a 3.57 cumulative ERA, which ranks No. 1 in the SEC; UT has recorded 708 strikeouts in 542.0 innings.
· UT is led at the plate by catcher/outfielder Jared Dickey, who is hitting .325 with six doubles, three triples, 12 homers and 51 RBI this season … 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.
· Two other Volunteers have recorded a double-digits home run total – first baseman Blake Burke and infielder Zane Denton each have 16 homers.
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