LSU knows the who, now it’s a matter of when, weather permitting

Published 9:00 am Thursday, May 26, 2022

LSU has waited four days after the regular season ended just to find out which team it will open against in the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament.

Now the Tigers, the No. 4 seed in the affair, even have a tentative starting time.

Key word: Tentative.

Weather could still have a say in it as more showers are forecast today for the Hoover, Alabama, site of the tournament.

But No. 12 seed Kentucky hit back-to-back ninth-inning home runs to beat No. 5 seed Auburn 3-1 in the last of first-round play-in games to earn a shot at the Tigers, hopefully sometime today.

That would be the scheduled second game of the day at approximately 1 p.m., a time which assumes no more rain delays further backing up the tournament.

LSU (37-18) and Kentucky (31-24) did not play each other in the regular season.

LSU head coach Jay Johnson will wait a little longer before deciding on a starting pitcher.

Welcome to the first-year coach’s version of the LSU postseason.

All along, Johnson said he wasn’t planning on announcing a starting pitcher until an hour and half before the game.

“We’re not going to announce our starter yet,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to announce it the whole postseason.”

So he will keep Kentucky guessing.

His most likely choice is graduate senior Ma’Khail Hilliard (5-1, 4.35 ERA), who’s