Tennessee vs. LSU College World Series Odds: Vols are Underdogs in CWS Opener

Thanks to the three-headed monster that is Tennessee’s pitching staff, the Volunteers find themselves back in the College World Series (CWS) for the second time in the last three years. They’ll kick things off against a familiar foe in LSU on Saturday, June 17, in Omaha, Neb. Here is a look at the Tennessee vs. LSU College World Series odds and a preview of the matchup.

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Tennessee vs. LSU College World Series Odds

Tennessee is the underdog for Saturday’s contest at all the major online sportsbooks, but the Vols are familiar with the Tigers and played them competitively this year even before they found their rhythm and solidified their rotation later in the season. Given the changes, the Vols’ have a great shot at the upset. 

Here are the odds for Saturday on the top sportsbooks.

• Caesars Sportsbook: LSU -210 | Tennessee +170
• DraftKings Sportsbook: LSU -205 | Tennessee +165
• FanDuel Sportsbook: LSU -215 | Tennessee +164

The Tigers won the regular season series with the Vols 2-1, but there have been significant changes since then. The Tigers won the first game 5-2, but Seth Halvorsen pitched the final three innings, and that’s when the Tigers did the bulk of their damage. Now, the Vols use their starters in relief a lot more, which has helped to flip their season around. 

Halvorsen has only seen the field twice in the playoffs, and of those two times, one was a 14-inning game against Clemson. In the second game of the Tennessee-LSU series, The Tigers won 6-4. They did so in large part to a three-run first inning thanks to a shaky start from Chase Burns. Burns is now only used in relief moments, which suits him far better. 

In the final game of the series, the Vols dominated the Tigers 14-7, although the Tigers did rattle Drew Beam in the first inning. Since then, the vast pitching changes from the Vols have helped them find a rhythm and return to the dominant pitching staff they were expected to be this season.

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In the NCAA Regional against Clemson, which was hot as anyone, Tennessee limited its lights-out offense to six runs in 14 innings after they scored double digits in four of their last five games. However, Tennessee’s offense will have to account for the Tigers’ ace Paul Skenes, who has an argument for the best pitcher in the nation.

On the season, he has a 1.77 ERA and a 12-2 record. In his last outing against the Vols, he pitched seven innings and only allowed one run with 12 strikeouts. The Vols haven’t encountered a pitcher of his caliber in quite some time. Fortunately for Tennessee, it is doing a good job of putting the ball in play and sending it out of the park in the postseason. They’ll need to do their best to keep Skenes from going deep in this one to give their offense more time against the LSU’s relievers. It’s a tall task, but not impossible. As a team, the Tigers’ pitching staff is far more vulnerable, although there are more quality arms in their bullpen besides Skenes.

Look for another close battle between the two SEC heavyweights in the showdown of aces if Chase Dollander and Skenes take the mound on Saturday.

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Updated College World Series Odds

The Vols have the fifth-best odds of the eight teams to win it all. If they are to defy the odds, they’ll have their hardest work to do early in their quest since they were placed in the most challenging bracket of the World Series. To get to the CWS Finals, they’ll have to go through LSU and Wake Forest, or Stanford. 

Here are championship odds at the top sportsbooks on the market.

As great as the Vols’ pitching has been, the Demon Deacons’ pitching has been even more dominant, and its staff has done it all season. Rhett Lowder, like Skenes, has an argument for the best pitcher in the nation, yielding an ERA of 1.92 and a 15-0 record. However, their dominance doesn’t stop with Lowder. Seth Keener has a 2.23 ERA and a 7-1 record. Josh Hartle has a 2.80 ERA and 11-2 record, and the cherry on top is Sean Sullivan, who has a 2.64 ERA and a 5-3 record. They are without a doubt deserving of the No. 1 overall seed and the biggest challenge to the Vols’ championship aspirations. 

However, they must get past LSU first.

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