LSU vs. Fullerton
3 p.m. ET, ESPN2
The Tigers are facing elimination, but they have the advantage of being more rested thanks to the Titans having to complete their opening game from Sunday against Vandy yesterday.
A pair of freshman will start the game for these teams. LSU is going with the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year Alex Lange, who has a spotless 11-0 record and a 1.89 ERA. Justin Garza would typically be the guy for the job in this one for Fullerton, but he's out injured. Connor Seabold is getting the start instead, but he actually has a 2.84 ERA with 74 strikeouts in his 66.2 innings, compared to the 3.05 ERA and 53 strikeouts Garza had in the 65 innings he pitched before injury.
The Tigers are playing for their season after having lost their opener to TCU. They're going to need to shore up their defense, where costly mistakes allowed the Frogs to score some easy runs and get a lead before LSU's bats could wake up. Fullerton is the home team in this game.
Vanderbilt vs. TCU
8 p.m. ET, ESPN
The situation here is reversed for the SEC team, as Vandy is the one that had to play yesterday while TCU enjoyed a day off. Also unlike that game, the loser of this one won't be headed home just yet.
At time of posting, neither team has announced a starting pitcher. Vanderbilt used Philip Pfeifer in the second game of the Champaign Super Regional when it locked down a ticket to Omaha with a 4-2 win. Being a lefty, he would seem to be a logical option against a TCU lineup that has a five lefties in it. That said, the Frogs roughed up LSU's left-hander Jared Poche' in their 10-3 win over the Tigers. The other option would be Walker Buehler, whose 2.97 ERA is lower than Pfeifer's 4.09 and who has started twice as many games on the season.
TCU has three choices with lefties Tyler Alexander and Alex Young along with righty Traver Mitchell. Alexander started Game 1 of the Fort Worth Super Regional, so he might be the pick today. Young started Game 3 of that series, while the guy who beat LSU Preston Morrison started Game 2 of it. Young warmed up in the bullpen late in that one, so it may be a clue that he'll serve a relief role in Omaha. We'll have to see.
The Frogs won a regular season game between the teams 4-2 in March. TCU will be the home team for the game.
