Preview: LSU baseball set to rematch Wake Forest facing elimination after Ackenhausen heroics

If Monday night wasn’t LSU’s biggest challenge of the season, it’s Wednesday night. Both games are against Wake Forest, but the stakes of Wednesday night’s game are that much higher. 

The Tigers will take the field at 6 p.m. C.T. at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. The game will be aired live on ESPN.

LSU had its back against the wall Tuesday night going into an elimination game against Tennessee. Even though this was the first time this postseason the Tigers were facing elimination, they deemed that to be no problem thanks to a dominant pitching performance from Nate Ackenhausen.

However, in a way, LSU’s loss Monday is coming back to bite it. If LSU were to win on Wednesday, it would have to play Wake Forest again on Thursday because Wednesday’s loss would be Wake’s first. If Wake Forest were to win on Wednesday, LSU’s season would be over, and the Demon Deacons would find themselves in the national championship series. When Wake only needs to win one game, LSU needs to win two. If LSU had won on Monday, the roles would be reversed.

Changing the past isn’t an option for LSU; it has to work with what it has been given. Similar to Ackenhausen making his first start of the season, as he’s typically a relief pitcher, a pitcher will have to step into an unfamiliar role on Wednesday.

Javen Coleman is a likely candidate for the start. Despite being limited this season due to an injury, Coleman has started games on the mound this season, most recently being in LSU’s regular-season finale against Georgia. Also, Coleman is a left-hander. With two right-handers pitching against Wake Forest on Monday in Ty Floyd and Thatcher Hurd, a left-hander on the mound would give the Demon Deacons a required adjustment.

But with the longest outing of the season Ackenhausen came into Tuesday’s game with 3.1 innings, Coleman’s is less. Against Georgia, Coleman went 3.0 innings, struck out two, and gave up four runs on four hits. Expecting Coleman to go six innings like Ackenhausen did isn’t reasonable. But that’s why LSU only using two pitchers against Tennessee Tuesday night is the Tigers’ victory in disguise.

Griffin Herring is also a candidate for the start, but not having started all season decreases his odds. Herring is also a left-hander, meaning that it would still be a new look for Wake Forest to adjust to. But regardless, if Coleman were to start and was effective, Herring could come in relief and still keep Wake Forest off-balance.

Gavin Guidry has a small possibility to start, but his coming in relief is a lot more likely. Guidry has started on the mound this season, but it was against Southeastern Louisiana in a mid-week matchup. Safe to say, Wake Forest is a lot larger of an animal, and Jay Johnson will likely keep him in his typical bullpen role.

But Guidry being right-handed could work in LSU’s favor. If Coleman or Herring were to start or at least come in before Guidry, and the Demon Deacons had success in getting hits off them, Guidry could provide a different look for Wake Forest to adjust to. Blake Money, Sam Dutton and Christian Little are also right-handed pitching options to come out of LSU’s bullpen.

LSU fans usually know what to expect from their Tigers at the plate, but with a pitching staff as good and consistent as Wake Forest’s, it’s almost inevitable that LSU will face adversity. The Demon Deacons are coming into Wednesday’s matchup able to use all their relief pitching from Monday night, as all their relievers threw less than 15 pitches each.

Sean Sullivan is the most likely candidate for the starting job for Wake Forest. Sullivan comes into Wednesday’s matchup with a 2.59 ERA, and he has started in 10 games this season. He’s a left-hander and in just 66 innings pitched, he’s recorded 108 strikeouts. 

Defeating a team as good as Wake Forest not once, but twice, is a tall task. In fact, the Demon Deacons have not lost back-to-back games all season.

But many LSU fans had their doubts that the Tigers would make it this far given the team’s inconsistencies, and it was still able to make it to Omaha. Accomplishing this feat will require LSU’s best baseball of the season. However, rather than looking at Wednesday’s matchup as a challenge, the Tigers are looking at it as an opportunity to be the ones who beat the best.