LSU super regional preview: Getting to know Kentucky

LSU advanced to the super regionals for the first time under Jay Johnson, in just his second season. The No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers took care of business in the home regional, winning three straight games and proving they are ready for a postseason run.

Now, Johnson’s team will host 12-seed Kentucky in the super regionals series in Baton Rouge this weekend. An all SEC affair between two teams who played a series earlier this season with plenty of fireworks, LSU will be looking to reach the College World Series for the first time since 2017, while Kentucky looks to make it to Omaha for the first time in program history.

Two extremely different styles of play go head to head, setting up a fascinating week at Alex Box Stadium with everything on the line. Here’s a rundown of everything to know about Kentucky.

Schedule: Saturday 2 p.m. CT (ESPN), Sunday TBD, Monday TBD, all in Baton Rouge.

Series earlier this year

LSU won the series 2-1, winning game one 16-6, losing game two 13-10, then winning game three 7-6.

The Tigers went up 14-1 in three innings in game one and never looked back, but games two and three were highly competitive games with lead changes and intensity that will be replicated this weekend.

“They did a really good job in the transfer portal in high volume with the transfers they got,” Johnson said before LSU’s meeting with Kentucky in April. “It’s a relatively new team but they’re really old and they’re only about winning. No one is worried about getting drafted, they do what they need to do to win and have done it very successfully.”

Kentucky’s pitching

With the fourth best ERA in the SEC and 17th best in the country as a team at 4.21, Kentucky has the arms to bother most lineups in the country.  LSU was able to score 33 runs in the weekend series in April, but the Wildcats come off of an impressive regional here they allowed just 13 runs in five games.

They also rank ninth in hits allowed per nine innings and 65th in strikeouts per nine innings as a staff

Winning three games in two days after the loss to Indiana in the 1-0 game shows the depth of arms Kentucky. LSU has been able to burn through starters in some series this year and will look to do the same in this weekend’s super regional.

Names to know

RHP Travis Smith – 48.1 IP, 4.84 ERA, 40 hits, 26 BB, 43 SO, 5 HR

RHP Zack Lee – 67.1 IP, 3.74 ERA, 58 hits, 27 BB, 73 SO, 9 HR 

RHP Austin Strickland – 52.2 IP, 4.44 ERA, 42 hits, 16 BB, 57 SO, 6 HR

RHP Darren Williams – 58.1 IP, 4.01 ERA, 49 hits, 21 BB, 57 SO, 6 HR

Smith, Lee, and Strickland have been their three go-to starters for the last two weekends, but none started against LSU in the series in April. Williams came in and got the win in game two of that series, allowing three runs in three innings with three strikeouts. Then in game three, Strickland picked 2.2 innings in relief and allowed two hits and two runs with one strikeout. Then Lee pitched 1.1 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs. 

Additionally, the defense is elite, with a .984 fielding percentage, good for second best in the country. 

Kentucky’s bats

The Wildcats’ small-ball approach has gotten them this far and it won’t change this weekend. Kentucky ranks 213th in the country in home runs per game with just 51 homers in 58 games this season. 

Base runners and moving base runners logistically is most important for a team like this. Kentucky ranks just outside of the top 50 in the country with 296 walks on the year, is a modest 74th in the country with a .294 team batting average, and is 114th in doubles per game at 1.91.

Since the Wildcats don’t produce a ton of offense naturally, they manufacture it in the form of bunts, steals, and capitalizing on mistakes. They are No. 5 in the country, with 55 sacrifice bunts on the year. The next most for an SEC team is Alabama who has 21.

Kentucky also had the most steals per game of any SEC team at 1.55. 

“Really good identity and they play to that well,” Johnson said in April. “They bunt as well as any team I’ve seen since I’ve been here at LSU. They do a good job with the running game, so we’ll have to control that, which we have been very good at this year – handling the bunt and being tough to steal on with our pitchers being quick to the plate and the catcher’s throwing well.”

Names to know

2B Emilien Pitre – All-SEC Second Team – .327 avg, 16 2B, 1HR, 42 BB, 50 RBI

CF Jackson Gray – .348 avg, 15 2B, 5 HR, 41 BB, 32 RBI, ,514 OBP

1B Hunter Gilliam – .324 avg, 12 2B, 12 HR, 30 BB, 69 RBI

C Devin Burkes – .292 avg, 17 2B, 8 HR, 37 BB, 52 RBI