Oklahoma opens the SEC Tournament on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT against LSU in Hoover, Alabama, a first-round meeting that sends the 11-seed against the 14-seed on SEC Network. Dave Neal and Lance Cormier will handle the television call, while Toby Rowland, Greg Norton and Carly Murray will be on the radio broadcast through The REF 99.3 FM/1400 AM in Oklahoma and the Varsity Network app.
The Sooners enter at 32-20 overall and 14-16 in SEC play, looking to steady themselves after dropping a series against No. 23 Tennessee in Oklahoma City last weekend. Deiten Lachance gave them one last lift before the tournament, hitting three home runs in Oklahoma’s 12-9 win over Tennessee. LSU arrives at 29-27 and 9-21 in league play, a season that has looked nothing like the one that began with the Tigers ranked No. 2 in the preseason.
Tuesday also puts Oklahoma and LSU against each other for the fourth time this season. The Sooners won the March 19-21 series in Baton Rouge after losing the opener and taking the final two games, their first series win over LSU in program history. LSU still owns the all-time edge 13-6 and has a 4-2 lead as conference foes after sweeping Oklahoma in Norman last year, the Sooners’ first season in the league.
That history gives the matchup some edge, but the larger picture is simpler: Oklahoma needs one more strong week to keep building on a season that has already produced long stretches of offense and enough inconsistency on the mound to make every run matter. The Sooners scored in double digits in seven straight games to open the year, have done it 13 times overall, and have outscored opponents 349-291 despite a staff ERA of 5.36 with 522 strikeouts and 227 walks.
For Oklahoma, this is only the second trip to Hoover for the annual Southeastern Conference tournament, and the memory from a year ago is a good one. The Sooners went 2-1 in their first appearance and reached the quarterfinals. This year’s tournament is being held at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for the 27th consecutive year and 29th time overall, with all 16 league members taking part for the second straight season. LSU also has a big tournament memory in the state: the Tigers beat Oklahoma in the 2013 Baton Rouge Super Regional to move on to Omaha.
The opening game will decide more than seeding and momentum. For Oklahoma, it is a chance to show the version of lsU baseball’s opponent that won in Baton Rouge is still in there when the calendar reaches May. For LSU, it is a chance to stop a slide and make the preseason No. 2 team look like a contender again.
