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SEC Baseball: Top series for Week 2 of 2019 conference play

By Justin Strawn

BATON ROUGE, LA - MAY 12: LSU Tigers head coach Paul Mainieri during a game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers on May 12, 2018, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - MAY 12: LSU Tigers head coach Paul Mainieri during a game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers on May 12, 2018, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE, LA – MAY 12: LSU Tigers players huddle before a game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers on May 12, 2018, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA – MAY 12: LSU Tigers players huddle before a game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers on May 12, 2018, at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. (Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The best SEC baseball series of the weekend:  (5) Georgia Bulldogs at (10) LSU Tigers

Why it’s important

The Georgia Bulldogs and LSU Tigers both got off to fast starts in SEC play last weekend. Georgia completed a sweep of the South Carolina Gamecocks, and LSU was able to get a sweep of their own over the Kentucky Wildcats.

But both teams come into this series with something to prove. The Georgia Bulldogs nonconference schedule did not feature a team which could adequately challenge the Bulldogs. Georgia lost just two games against their nonconference opponents, so the sweep of the Gamecocks went a long way to helping establish how legitimate the 16-2 record before the SEC opening series was.

For LSU, the Tigers need to prove they can beat a really good team. The Tigers have a solid record at 15-5, but the best team they played, the Texas Longhorns, swept the Tigers. Kentucky is not a bad team, but they are not close to the level that the Texas Longhorns are playing.

The winner of the series will establish themselves as a definite contender for the SEC baseball championship. The loser can still rebound, but it would be nice to have a big series against one of the other top teams in the SEC in your back pocket.

Prediction

This series comes down to who will need it more. Even though it is still early, those early impressions tell us the SEC West is going to be a much more difficult gauntlet than the SEC East. Because of that, I think LSU will go into the series with a greater sense of urgency and be able to take two of three games in front of their home crowd.

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