Another exciting set of elimination games awaits college baseball bettors today. The TCU Horned Frogs and Oral Roberts Golden Eagles will square off at 2 p.m. ET, then the LSU Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers will do battle at 7 p.m. We’re targeting the late game with this play because both teams have chewed up their arsenal of pitchers and will play on minimal rest. Let’s dive into the college baseball odds to make our betting pick for today’s College World Series action.
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College Baseball World Series 2023 Betting Odds & Picks Today: Tennessee-LSU
Bracket 1: Tennessee (-120) vs. LSU | Tuesday, June 20 at 7 p.m. ET
These teams will have to rely on their offenses to get a win. The LSU Tigers used their ace, RHP Paul Skenes (13-2), against Tennessee on Saturday. They then used both RHP Ty Floyd (7-0) and RHP Thatcher Hurd (6-3), their usual second and third starters, against Wake Forest on Monday.
The Tigers will probably have to trust weekday pitching on Tuesday. Expect to see a heavy dose of LHP Riley Cooper (4-3), whose 4.89 ERA is quite beatable. Cooper went 5.2 innings in relief of Hurd against Tennessee earlier in the year and allowed six earned runs, good for a 5.66 ERA.
The story isn’t much different on the other side of the diamond. The Tennessee Volunteers still have a solid option in RHP Drew Beam (9-4), but Beam’s steady 3.40 ERA in Knoxville spikes to 7.11 in away games. He also lasted only four innings in Tennessee’s win over LSU earlier in the season after surrendering six runs, although only one of which was earned.
The Volunteers have also used a considerable amount of their bullpen already — RHP Chase Burns (5-3) went six innings on Monday, and six different Tennessee relievers saw action on Saturday.
It’s possible that we see one of these teams turn to the pitcher they started on Saturday, Skenes for LSU or RHP Andrew Lindsey (3-4) for Tennessee, out of the pen. But if they do, don’t expect either pitcher to be at full strength or to last more than two innings.
Fortunately for both sides, these offenses are more than capable of engineering a win. LSU ranks tied for second nationally in OPS (1.000) while Tennessee ranks 21st (.921). Likewise, LSU ranks second in total home runs (135), while Tennessee ranks sixth (125).
The total is trading between 11.5 and 12.5 across the market. Let’s lock in the over at the lowest point still on the board, the 11.5 at BetMGM, for a price of -120 (54.6%). New to BetMGM? You can get first-bet insurance worth up to $1,000 when you register!
College Baseball World Series Bet: UTK/LSU Over 11.5 -120 for 1 Unit at BetMGM
