This article is part of our College Baseball Picks series.
College Baseball Best Bets Today: Friday, May 9
Week 13 is upon us here in the college baseball world. With two weeks left in the regular season until conference tournament time, almost every team is scrambling to give their last good impression to the committee. Who's fighting to get in, host a regional, or even a super regional? There's a lot of action coming down the shoot these next couple of weekends. What happens between now and conference tournament time can dictate the outcome of what ensues in June.
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Arkansas Razorbacks vs LSU Tigers: A Battle for National Seeds
#7 Arkansas Razorbacks (-105) @ #3 LSU Tigers (-125) | Total: N/A
There are some great series this weekend, but I think this will end up being the best (and my favorite). It's two top-eight teams duking it out at the legendary "Box" stadium in Baton Rouge. Both of these squads very well may end up meeting each other in the not-so-distant future, potentially in Omaha, so there's a lot on the line.
Both Arkansas and LSU are firmly in the mix to be top eight national seeds, ensuring home field advantage until College World Series time. Aside from being two of the best teams in the country, it provides a big litmus test for these squads. Arkansas broke a three-week losing skid with an impressive sweeparoo against #1 Texas, while LSU lost a heartbreaker at Texas A&M.
Pitching Showdown: Kade Anderson vs Zach Root
One thing I love about the SEC is you're almost guaranteed to get great pitching matchups. Kade Anderson's ascension into the Friday night role has been not just been essential to the success of LSU, but ultimately catapulted him from a maybe 2nd-4th round pick to a potential top 15 arm this summer. After a limited work load last year, HC Jay Johnson took a chance on his lefty making a big leap in a draft year, and it's paid off.
The 3.57 ERA and 114 K/19 BB ratio in 70.2 innings has given Anderson - and LSU - an advantage in just about every start of his in 2025. It's also not even a true reflection to how dominant he's been. His 1.27 SIERA is a stark contrast to his actual ERA and .233 OBA. The high 90's fastball/mid 80's slider combo has been a work of art helping him miss a ton of bats and keeping hitters off balance all season. The one bugaboo has been the 12 taters he's given up, so for him to succeed on Friday night against an Arkansas lineup that's hit the 5th most bombs (102), he needs to avoid the mistakes.
The Arkansas lineup - much to my chagrin - has been night and day compared to last year, when I had them as my preseason winner, of course. A couple of returning players have turned it around in a big way, mainly SS Wehiwa Aloy with his .376 average/17 bops. His brother, Kuhio, transferred in from BYU and has made a big sophomore jump with 12 homers and a .359 average. Transfer Charles Davalan's contributions at the top of the lineup have made a huge different in setting the tone (.351 average/13 HR). The Hogs have five players in double-figures with homers and six everyday players with a .300 average or better. If Anderson wants to take control, he needs to dominant the top of the zone with the heater and tunnel that slider as this offense has some big uppercuts that like the lower third of the zone.
ECU transfer, Zach Root, was great as the Pirates' Saturday guy last season, where he was stuck in 2024 1st rounder Trey Yesavage's shadow. Originally slated as the Saturday guy in Arkansas to begin the year, Root got the jump to the Friday ace role after the struggles of Gabe Gaeckle. It's been a good first year in the SEC for Root, though he's definitely not as effective as he was in the mid-major conference.
Root's 3.95 ERA and 92 K/24 BB ratio is nothing to sneeze at. It's worth noting that most of his starts in conference play have been solid, with only two of them being truly outstanding. One of them was last week, where he blanked Texas with eight-shutty and 11 punchies to just two walks. A big takeaway from him has been a lack of efficiency to where he's only gone six innings in four of his 12 starts this year. The bigger problem has been his road struggles (6.10 ERA/.286 OBA).
The LSU offense hasn't been as good as what we saw earlier in the year, particularly in the power department. 75 total Jimmy Jacks isn't bad, but for a team like LSU where their known for bludgeoning the ball, it's a down year. Only Jared "Bear" Jones is in double figures (16 HR). The power is there, but it's been hibernating. The focus on the the lineup this season has been hit over power (.306 average). The big three bats in Jones (.349 average), freshman Derek Curiel (.361 avg/6 HR), and Daniel Dickinson (.327 avg/8 HR) will need to set the tone early. By the way, I love Curiel, he's a draft-eligible sophomore next year, and he's got top 10 overall juice.
SEC Baseball's Impact on College World Series Seeding
The 28-4 (at home) Tigers know they need this series to lock up that top-eight national seed. Thus far, they've won every home SEC series where they've average eight runs per game. The pitching matchup here is close, but I give Anderson the edge. Let's go TIGAHS!
Pick: LSU ML -125 (DK)
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