GAMETHREAD: #25 South Carolina (26-17) @ #11 LSU (30-15) [GM 1], SECN+, 7:00

After a seven game road trip that saw the Tigers go 4-3, LSU returns to the confines of Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field for the penultimate weekend series in Baton Rouge.

The Tigers welcome the South Carolina Gamecocks, and if you’ve been keeping your head out of the sand in terms of the national picture, things have been going great for the Gamecocks. They have lost five straight SEC series, and their two series victories came against cellar dwellers Alabama and Tennessee. The Gamecocks are in a flatspin, just trying to get things straightened up in time for the postseason because if this slide continues through this weekend, losses against Missouri and Georgia will all but rule the Gamecocks out.

LSU is in a slightly better place national seed wise, but still has room to improve their resume. You have to think that with this team, anything less than a national seed is a little underwhelming.

The Tigers lead the series all-time over the Gamecocks 34-25-1 in a series that is just barely older than I am, starting in 1992. The Tigers have won 12 of the last 17 against South Carolina, including a 2-1 series victory when the two schools last played in 2015.

Here are your starters for Game 1:

SCAR: Will Crowe (3.56 ERA, 68.1 IP, 2.86 K/BB [63/22])

LSU: Alex Lange (3.31 ERA, 65.1 IP, 3.31 K/BB [86/26])

@AUPPL