No.3 seed Florida (50-19) vs. No.4 seed LSU (52-18)

Best 2 out of 3 series

TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha, Nebraska, 24,000

Game times: Tonight, 6 CT, Tuesday, 7 PM CT, Wednesday, (if necessary) 7 PM CT

Network: ESPN

Pitchers for tonight’s game: Florida, RHP Brady Singer, 8-5, 3.18 ERA, LSU, RHP Russell Reynolds 1-1, 8.59. LSU has to start Reynolds because regular starter Eric Walker, 8-2, 3.49, was lost for the season with an arm injury last week. 

Tuesday’s starters: Florida, RHP Tyler Dyson 3-0, 3.55 or RHP Michael Byrne, 4-5, 1.74, LSU LHP Jared Poche, 12-3, 3.39.

Wednesday, Florida, TBD vs. LSU RHP Alex Lange, 10-5, 2.97. 

Note: Florida may not be able to use No.1 starter, right hander Alex Faedo, 9-2, 2.26, a first round pick of the Detroit Tigers, on Wednesday because Faedo just beat TCU 3-0 on Saturday and he may not have sufficient rest between starts. That would be tough for coach Kevin O’Sullivan and the Gators to try and figure that out. LSU coach Paul Mainiera is in better shape with his pitching though tonight is questionable. 

LSU has won 6 national titles, 5 under Skip Bertman from 1991 to 2000; ’91, ’93, ’96, ’97, 2000, and 1 under Mainieri, 2009. Florida has won a national championship, but made it to the championship series in 2005, where they lost to Texas, and in 2011 where they lost to South Carolina. Both times under O’Sullivan.

Final decision

I like LSU’s team better than Florida’s. They hit it better, field better, and their pitching is set up much better than the Gators. I like the Gators to win tonight, but for the Bengal Tigers to take games 2 and 3 with, Poche, a 9th round pick by the Oakland A’s, and their ace, Lange, a first round pick by the Cubs.

LSU in 3