Resume Check: Looking ahead to South Carolina baseball's next opponent, the LSU Tigers

For the first time since the calendar flipped to May, South Carolina baseball won a game. On Tuesday, the Gamecocks knocked off the Winthrop Eagles 6-5 in the team’s final mid-week contest of the year. Sure, it took a late-game error from the Eagles to make it happen, but USC picked up a win. Carolina finished the 2025 season a perfect 22-0 against mid-major teams.

Unfortunately for South Carolina, though, the team’s overall record is just one game above .500 at 27-26 thanks to a 5-26 mark against power conference foes. With just five conference wins, too, the Gamecocks could post the worst SEC record of the 30-game schedule era (a 5-24 mark from the 2000 Vanderbilt Commodores is a little better thanks to a rainout; this year’s Missouri Tigers could bail out USC as they are currently 3-24 in the league).

Avoiding making the wrong kind of history will be difficult. Coming to Founders Park this weekend is the nation’s No. 1 team, the LSU Tigers. Despite sitting atop D1Baseball’s rankings, Paul Mainieri’s old team is in third in the SEC standings and will be motivated as they need a sweep to have a chance of claiming a piece of the conference’s regular season championship.

Resume Check: LSU Tigers

Record: 40-12 (17-10 in SEC play)
D1Baseball Ranking: 1st
Last Week: 2-1 series win over Arkansas in Baton Rouge

Jay Johnson’s LSU Tigers are one of the best teams in college baseball. That might seem like a “well, duh” statement to make about the current No. 1 team in America, but there’s plenty of evidence that juices up the Bayou Bengals’ resume.

So far in 2025, LSU ranks in the top three in the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage, doubles, and fewest strikeouts. They also rank among the league’s top three teams in ERA, pitching strikeouts, fewest home runs allowed, and fewest extra-base hits surrendered. In short, the Tigers are an elite team at the plate and on the mound.

Derek Curiel, Jared Jones, Daniel Dickinson, and Ethan Frey make up arguably the best top of the lineup in America. All four players have registered an OPS number better than 1.000 (Frey’s is above 1.100). Despite Frey missing some time, the group has combined for 40 home runs, 51 doubles, and 121 walks. Jones is fourth in the SEC in total bases and 14th in walks, an impressive achievement. Only Georgia’s Slate Alford has matched it this spring.

Despite not having much power in the lineup past the top spots, LSU ranks fourth in the SEC in runs scored. Nine-hole hitter Chris Stanfield is also having a good year, and former South Carolina infielder Michael Braswell has been the team’s primary starter at third base.

On the mound, LSU boasts a strong 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation. Lefty starter Kade Anderson and right-hander Anthony Eyanson have combined for 240 strikeouts (good for third and second, respectively, in the SEC) in 150.2 innings. Eyanson has allowed just three home runs this season en route to a 2.91 ERA.

Freshman Casan Evans has been a good reliever for LSU, but he has moved into the Sunday starter role recently. Cooper Williams and Zac Cowan both own sub-2.00 ERAs out of the ‘pen and have logged more strikeouts than innings.

South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri hasn’t announced his weekend rotation just yet. Last weekend, the Gamecocks threw Brandon Stone, Jake McCoy, and Dylan Eskew as starters. In Tuesday’s matchup with Winthrop, Jackson Soucie drew the start, and Ryder Garino threw multiple innings.

The South Carolina Gamecocks and LSU Tigers will take the field for the first time at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. That contest will air on SEC Network and stream on the ESPN app.

First pitch for game two is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday night. The game will not be on traditional television, but SEC Network+ will make it available via streaming.

The series finale will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. That game also will not be on traditional television and will stream on SEC Network+.

Following the LSU series, the SEC Tournament will begin next Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama. The Gamecocks are locked into one of the bottom two seeds.

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